(Ad) Finding the best small business web hosting is crucial to building an online presence for your business. But with so many web hosts to choose from, picking the best web hosting services can feel like an overwhelming task.
To help you decide, we’ve reviewed the best web hosting services that offer plans catering to small businesses. Each of the web hosting providers below was evaluated on a variety of factors, including uptime guarantee, features, price, storage, and customer reviews.
These are our picks for the best web hosting companies for small businesses.
Best Web Hosting for Small Business
1. Hostinger: Best Web Hosting for Small Businesses
Hostinger is the best web hosting solution for small businesses. This company is trusted by more than one million websites worldwide. With LiteSpeed technology and a 99.9 percent uptime guarantee, Hostinger has ten data centers across four continents to provide the fastest website loading speed.
Hostinger provides Windows and Linux hosting services with reliable 24/7 live chat support in multiple languages. Most of its plans offer free domain name registration, while an unlimited free SSL certificate is available in all plans. Another benefit is its built-in website builder that’s included with all hosting services.
Hostinger has advanced security modules and is equipped with solid Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection and a web application firewall. All the nameservers are Cloudflare-protected, with regular malware scans and software updates.
Hostinger uses its own control panel, called hPanel, to ease the hosting account configuration process. It has an intuitive, user-friendly interface that’s perfect for beginners and also enables easy installation for hundreds of applications.
All of Hostinger’s plans are scalable and come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. It offers three small business website hosting plans:
Single Shared Hosting – costs $1.99/month for a 48-month subscription. This plan can receive up to 10,000 monthly visits for a single website, offers 50GB SSD storage, has 100GB bandwidth, and performs automated weekly backups. It does not include free domain registration, a WordPress staging environment, or SSH access.
Premium Shared Hosting – costs $2.49/month for 48 months. This plan hosts up to 100 websites and includes free domain name registration, up to 25,000 monthly visits, 100GB SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, and automated weekly backups. There is no WordPress staging tool in this plan.
Business Shared Hosting – costs $3.99/month for a 48-month plan. This plan hosts up to 100 websites and includes free domain name registration, up to 100,000 monthly visits, 200GB SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, automated daily backups, and WordPress staging.
If you want to upgrade the hosting type, Hostinger offers managed WordPress, cloud, and VPS hosting services. It also provides Hostinger Tutorials and Hostinger Academy, which are knowledge-based resources that help you grow your website.
Click Here to Learn More About Hostinger
2. SiteGround: Great Selection of Web Hosting Options
SiteGround is another of our best small business website hosting providers. Its data centers, spread across four continents, use the Google Cloud infrastructure. In addition, SiteGround emphasizes an eco-friendly approach by using carbon-neutral renewable energy-sourced data centers.
This small business hosting solution has a monitoring system that runs 24/7 and checks its server status every 0.5 seconds. It functions to prevent and immediately fix any performance issues.
To ensure page loading speed, SiteGround uses a SuperCacher technology that allows customers to enable static and dynamic cache or Memcached for their hosting accounts. Users can easily configure these website settings via a beginner-friendly custom control panel provided in all plans.
SiteGround provides spam protection with SolarWinds Spam Experts for all its hosting plans. There is also an automated daily backup to protect your website data while proactively updating software patches. A notable security feature from SiteGround is the Site Scanner, which regularly checks for any threats on your hosting accounts.
SiteGround’s hosting plans that are suitable for small businesses are:
StartUp – charges $2.99/month, billed for a year. With this plan, you get 10,000 monthly visits on one website, 10GB SSD storage, and unlimited bandwidth. There is no WordPress staging environment with this plan.
GrowBig – charges $4.99/month, billed for a year. With this plan, site owners get 100,000 monthly visits for unlimited websites, 20GB SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, and WordPress staging.
GoGeek – charges $7.99/month, billed for a year. With this plan, users get 400,000 monthly visits for unlimited websites, 40GB SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, and a WordPress staging tool.
Other hosting types available on SiteGround are WordPress, WooCommerce, cloud, and reseller hosting. All of them include 24/7 chat, ticket, and phone support but exclude domain registration costs. There is also a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Click Here to Learn More About Siteground
3. Cloudways: Best Cloud Hosting for Businesses
Cloudways is a good small business hosting solution for those who prefer short-term commitment. Providing only cloud hosting services at relatively affordable prices, Cloudways is a popular small business web host due to its 99 percent uptime guarantee, performance, security, and ease of use.
Even with cloud hosting technology, Cloudways doesn’t require users to have any technical knowledge. It has one-click solutions that ease any configuration process, from installing software to monitoring and scaling server resources.
Another great feature is its 24/7 live chat customer support. For the premium support service, Cloudways offers a one-on-one expert consultation through a dedicated Slack channel and direct phone call.
Cloudways has robust security features, including Cloudflare integration, dedicated firewalls, IP safe listing, and one-click SSL activation. Regarding website speed and uptime, its data centers are located in more than 60 countries to ensure your website is always live.
All of Cloudways’ hosting plans come with extensive features, including free SSL certificates, NVMe-based servers, a staging area, a content delivery network (CDN), and SFTP access. Each of its five cloud infrastructures offers four plans:
- DigitalOcean – starts at $10/month (standard) or $12/month (premium).
- Vultr – starts at $11/month (standard) or $13/month (high frequency).
- Linode – starts at $12/month.
- AWS – starts at $36.51/month.
- Google Cloud – starts at $33.18/month
Cloudways uses a pay-as-you-go model, meaning that you’ll be charged only for the server resources you use. It also grants a three-day free trial without having to give your credit card information, although this benefit does not apply to the AWS infrastructure.
This web hosting site also provides learning resources and a Facebook community group to support your website-building journey.
Click Here to Learn More About Cloudways
4. DreamHost: Great for Automated Backups, Free SSL, and Unlimited Storage
Another reliable web hosting option for small business websites is DreamHost. This hosting service is officially endorsed by WordPress, alongside SiteGround and Bluehost, so it has a solid reputation and performance.
DreamHost’s web hosting services are guaranteed 100 percent uptime. Moreover, all plans come with unlimited SSD storage and bandwidth. However, it has a limited RAM and CPU capacity compared to other providers on this list, so users with larger websites might need to upgrade their hosting resources.
You’ll get free domain registration and an SSL certificate with every purchase. It also has a one-click WordPress installation feature that’s pre-configured for your convenience. Additionally, DreamHost provides in-house WordPress assistance and automated daily backups.
The shared hosting plans DreamHost offers are:
Shared Starter – costs $2.59/month, billed for three years. You can host a single website using this plan with unlimited storage and traffic. Email hosting services are available for an extra fee.
Shared Unlimited – costs $3.95/month, billed for three years. Users on this plan can host unlimited websites with unlimited storage and traffic. An SSL certificate will be pre-installed and you’ll get a free email hosting service.
If you want to purchase another hosting type, DreamHost offers managed WordPress, WooCommerce, cloud, VPS, and dedicated hosting.
The DreamHost customer support team is available 24/7 through email, live chat, ticket submissions, and phone callbacks. If the provider’s shared hosting service doesn’t satisfy you, you can get a full refund when canceling within 97 days of signing up.
There is a newly launched web pro service for small business owners who prefer having an expert configure their business website. DreamHost provides expert services for website design, development, marketing, and multisite management.
If you prefer to enrich your own website-building skills, DreamHost Academy provides resources and solutions to independently solve site issues.
Click Here to Learn More About DreamHost
5. Bluehost: Top Recommended Hosting Solution for WordPress Sites
Bluehost is another web hosting company that is endorsed by WordPress, making it a great option for WordPress-powered small business sites. For beginners in web design and development, Bluehost’s shared and WordPress hosting plans provide a site builder tool equipped with pre-designed templates.
This web hosting for small business sites provides a one-click WordPress installation in all plans. What’s more, every hosting package grants you access to hundreds of free and premium WordPress themes and plugins.
Though there is no uptime guarantee stated by Bluehost, real user experiments show that it can maintain a 99.98 percent uptime. However, note that this web host does not accommodate hosting on a Windows server. It also offers no monthly pricing plans for shared hosting, so users need to commit to an annual subscription.
Here is a list of Bluehost’s shared hosting plans to kickstart your small business site:
Basic – costs $2.95/month for a yearly commitment. It supports a single website with 10GB SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, free domain registration, and a free one-year SSL.
Plus – costs $5.45/month for a minimum of one year. It supports unlimited websites with 20GB SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, free domain registration, free SSL certificates, and spam filtering for one domain.
Choice Plus – costs $5.45/month for a yearly subscription. It supports unlimited websites with 40GB SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, free domain registration, free SSL, spam filtering for one domain, and one year of automatic backups.
Pro – costs $13.95/month for an annual commitment. It supports unlimited websites with 100GB SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, free domain, SSL certificate, spam filtering for two domains, and unlimited automatic backups.
If you prefer other hosting types, Bluehost offers WordPress, WooCommerce, VPS, and dedicated hosting. The hosting plans for online stores start at $9.95/month.
Bluehost provides 24/7 customer support via live chat and phone calls for all users. If you want priority expert support, purchase a Blue Sky add-on for premium assistance with marketing, design, and security solutions.
Click Here to Learn More About Bluehost
6. A2 Hosting: Great for Cheap Plans and Reliable Security
A2 Hosting is a great choice for affordable web hosting for small business owners. This provider is known for speed and security – it claims to have 20 times faster loading speed with robust security measures. Some notable features are dual firewalls, 24/7 threat monitoring, brute force defense, and DDoS protection.
If you want to migrate your cPanel-based website to A2 Hosting, the provider can help you free of charge on all plans. It also has a 99.9% uptime guarantee and a site builder tool to ease the website creation process. Plus, there is a staging environment to ensure seamless website development.
A2 Hosting also provides a one-click installation for many eCommerce platforms like WooCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop, OpenCart, and AbanteCart. However, this provider doesn’t support Windows hosting.
If you want to opt for a shared hosting plan, here is an overview of the features:
Startup – costs $2.99/month for a three-year commitment. It works for a single website with 100GB SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, and a free SSL certificate.
Drive – costs $5.99/month for three years. It works for unlimited websites with unlimited SSD storage and bandwidth, free SSL certificates, and automatic backups.
Turbo Boost – costs $6.99/month for a three-year plan. It supports unlimited websites with unmetered NVMe storage and bandwidth. The websites will be hosted on a LiteSpeed server.
Turbo Max – costs $12.99/month for a subscription of three years. It supports unlimited websites with unmetered NVMe storage and bandwidth. Websites will run on a LiteSpeed server with five times the resources.
All A2 Hosting plans come with 24/7 customer support via live chat and phone calls. There’s also a 30-day money-back guarantee in case customers are dissatisfied with the service.
Click Here to Learn More About A2 Hosting
7. Hostgator: Excellent Small Business Website Host with Free Domain Name Registration
HostGator has years of experience providing the best website hosting for small businesses. The reputation of HostGator among web hosts lies in its WordPress hosting prices and solid uptime records, which are 99.9% guaranteed.
Some of HostGator’s notable features include free WordPress website migration, multiple WordPress themes on Mojo Marketplace, and free SSL and domain name registration. Plus, there’s a single-click website restore feature and an automatic backup service for the majority of its hosting plans.
HostGator has a WordPress SuperCache plugin pre-installed for faster website loading speed. Hosting account configuration using this provider is also simple via the beginner-friendly custom control panel.
This web host offers reasonable prices for its web hosting services. To illustrate, here are its shared web hosting plans:
Hatchling Plan – starts at $2.75/month, billed for three years. It works for a single website with unmetered SSD storage and bandwidth. You’ll also get a free SSL certificate and domain name registration.
Baby Plan – starts at $3.50/month, billed for three years. Unlock unlimited websites with unmetered SSD storage and bandwidth. It comes with a free SSL certificate and domain name registration.
Business Plan – starts at $5.25/month, billed for three years. Users get unlimited websites with unmetered SSD storage and bandwidth. You’ll also get a free SSL certificate, domain name registration, dedicated IP, Cloudflare CDN, and SEO tools.
A notable factor is that HostGator provides $100 Microsoft Advertising credit and $500 Google Ads credit in all shared plans, making it stand out from other hosting services.
If you are looking for other hosting solutions, HostGator also offers managed WordPress, dedicated server, reseller, and VPS hosting. All include 24/7 assistance through phone support, online live chat, direct mail, and fax. If you aren’t satisfied with the service, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Click Here to Learn More About Hostgator
How to Choose the Best Web Host for Your Small Business
To find the perfect solution for your website needs, narrow down the hosting providers based on the parameters below.
Uptime Guarantee
Server uptime refers to how long a web hosting provider’s servers are running and available online. A rule of thumb when choosing a web host for your business website is to go with one that offers at least 99 percentuptime.
Uptime is a crucial metric, as several companies have experienced losses after a period of downtime. As a startup business owner, downtime issues might cause you to lose leads, conversions, and even sales.
Find out if your web host has a good uptime track record and what measures they have in place in case downtime occurs. For example, will they provide compensation, reimbursement, or a backup server?
You can also check the uptime of any website hosted by your preferred provider using uptime checker tools.
Security
An online business site collects sensitive customer data regularly, including addresses, payment details, names, and phone numbers. So, it’s important to ensure your web host can support secure transactions to enhance your store’s credibility and customer trust.
To avoid data breaches and other cybersecurity risks, choose a good hosting provider that uses secure web servers and can assure you of strong security safeguards.
While doing your research, here are several security aspects to look for:
- SSL certificate. This protocol ensures the connection between a server and a web browser is encrypted. Check if the web hosting provider offers an SSL certificate with your chosen plan.
- Software updates. Outdated software can make your hosting service vulnerable to cybercrime. Ensure your chosen web host conducts updates regularly and runs the latest version of scripts on your website.
- DDoS attack protection. DDoS is a type of cyberattack that aims to shut a web host down by sending an overwhelming number of requests. A CDN can prevent this from happening, so check if the hosting provider uses one to protect your site.
- Malware scanning. Malware is malicious software that can harm and steal your data. For that reason, a good web hosting provider should run regular malware scans on their servers to prevent damage to your website.
- Firewall protection. The use of firewalls at the data center level protects the network from malicious attempts, as it monitors and secures all data traffic. Ensure your chosen web host utilizes firewalls to reinforce website security.
Website Builders
If this is your first time building a small business website, it’s crucial to find a web host that makes the process seamless. With so many available resources and tools nowadays, you’ll need to make sure your web host is compatible with the tools you plan to use.
After that, check to see if the integration process is straightforward or requires extra configurations. For example, if WordPress is your chosen content management system (CMS), see if the web host provides a one-click installation feature.
Alternatively, if you are open about which tool to use, several hosting companies like Hostinger and Bluehost provide a custom, built-in website builder. These tools are generally sufficient to design a small business site.
Some providers offer website builders as separate products or as a premium feature with specific plans. Be sure to research this up front if you are considering using the web host’s built-in website builder.
Site Speed and Performance
Good website performance is indicated by quick website loading time as well as a seamless user interface. Aside from affecting the user experience, a website’s performance also has a significant part in search engine optimization (SEO), which can help enhance your business’s online presence.
Web hosts play a crucial role in providing the best resources to enhance a website’s performance. Some server-side indicators include:
- Usage of the latest PHP version.
- Substantial SSD storage.
- Large bandwidth capacity.
- Compatibility with CDNs.
Price
Pay close attention to the price of hosting plans from different companies, as this can vary greatly. The more resources, services, and features offered, the more expensive it will be, in general. However, a pricey web hosting service doesn’t necessarily signal quality.
It’s important for small business owners to know what their website needs from the start. Consider which hosting features are necessary and which will be redundant or deferrable for the business site. Then, pay attention to the subscription renewal price, as this generally differs from the initial cost.
Moreover, look for any extra benefits offered by the provider, such as free domain name registration, SSL certificates, automatic backups, migration services, or a staging environment. However, note that some may charge more for these services or only provide them for free for a limited time.
Customer Support Options
A sign of a reliable web hosting service is good quality customer support. As most small business owners are beginners in building websites, quick response times and website assistance are excellent features of their web host.
Even for experts in website building, a responsive hosting customer support team can offer help in times when errors occur. As such, find a web host that can guarantee 24/7 support to keep your site running smoothly.
Furthermore, find out which type of support channels the company offers. This may include live chat, social media, phone call, and email support. It’s also good to find a hosting provider with a knowledge base or resource documentation to aid your website-building journey.
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Types of Web Hosting Services
Web hosts generally offer four main types of hosting services. To support your site’s long-term growth, find a web host with several hosting options so you can scale resources as your business website grows.
Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is the cheapest solution among all web hosting services. It works by running several websites on a single server, so website owners are sharing resources. For the end user, shared hosting is considered the most beginner-friendly, as site owners can easily manage their hosting accounts via a control panel.
Another convenience of using shared hosting is the option of a managed service. For example, some hosting providers offer a managed WordPress hosting plan that’s tailored to optimize websites on this CMS. Some also provide a WordPress expert customer support team to help.
If you’re starting a small to medium business website, a shared hosting plan can be the perfect option to kickstart your online journey.
Cloud Hosting
This web hosting service uses cloud computing technology to deploy data from a network of servers, so it guarantees the best uptime and security among all hosting types. If a server shuts down, other servers are ready to keep your website running and maintain optimal performance.
Cloud hosting also enables users to employ resources according to their needs. Therefore, it is highly scalable—meaning you can easily add or reduce resources as necessary.
Though it might require some technical knowledge to configure the server, cloud hosting is an excellent solution for high-traffic websites like eCommerce stores. It can also be a good option if you plan to expand your business website.
VPS
VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. VPS hosting works by virtually separating hosting resources in a single server. So, although you are sharing one server with other users, your website gets an allocated server space.
VPS hosting gives you more control over the server environment as well as dedicated resources to enhance website performance. As such, it can be a suitable upgrade from shared hosting.
Those running a website using VPS hosting will have root access, meaning they will need more advanced technical knowledge to configure the server. Some providers have a dedicated VPS control panel, but this is not common.
VPS hosting is typically more expensive than shared hosting but is still a cheaper alternative than getting your own dedicated server.
Dedicated Hosting
A dedicated hosting plan gives you an entire server to host unlimited websites. Users have complete control over configuring their servers and hosting resources. For that reason, this hosting type is the most expensive solution.
Small business sites won’t need dedicated server hosting to begin with, as it is mostly aimed at enterprise-level businesses. However, dedicated servers might become preferable once your website grows, experiences a high load of traffic daily, and handles large amounts of confidential customer data.
Note that since dedicated hosting clients will get full root access, they’ll need advanced technical knowledge to set up and maintain their servers.
Frequently Asked Questions
In this section, we’ll provide answers to some frequently asked questions about web hosting for small businesses.
How Much Does Small Business Web Hosting Cost?
Shared hosting and managed WordPress hosting are the best web hosting services for small businesses.
On average, the cost of shared hosting ranges from $1 to $15/month. Alternatively, managed WordPress hosting costs around $2 to $17/month. Though the latter is slightly more expensive, it gives you the freedom to focus on developing your business site while the provider’s web hosting team manages the server’s technical aspects.
Before purchasing a hosting plan, make sure to read the inclusions carefully. Sometimes, the fees for domain names, SSL certificates, email hosting, or other security features are not included.
Which Website Host Is Best for Beginners?
Hostinger overall provides the best web hosting for small businesses. It has good value for the money and offers added benefits like free domain registration and SSL certificates.
You also won’t have trouble finding a hosting plan that fits your business needs due to the extensive hosting options. Additionally, with LiteSpeed Cache and Cloudflare-protected nameservers, your website’s security and loading speed are guaranteed.
Is GoDaddy a Good Web Host?
Yes. GoDaddy is a popular web hosting provider that offers good performance and data storage.
However, in comparison to some of the other hosting providers featured in this guide, it lacks some of the added resources to fully support your website hosting needs.
Which Web Host Is the Cheapest?
If you want a long-term solution, Hostinger offers the best deal with its Single Shared Hosting plan that only costs $1.99/month. After your four-year subscription ends, its renewal price only costs $3.99/month.
However, if you prefer a short-term commitment for your small business web hosting, Cloudways offers the best value for money at $10/month for its Standard plan using a DigitalOcean server. Since some other web hosting companies have similar monthly pricing for a shared hosting plan, it can be more beneficial to sign up for a cloud hosting one.
Final Thoughts on the Top Web Hosting for Small Businesses
We recommend choosing shared hosting as it is the best small business web hosting solution. Most web hosts offer low-cost subscriptions for shared hosting, and it is the most beginner-friendly among all hosting types.
Once your website outgrows the hosting plan, we recommend upgrading the hosting type as necessary.
After reviewing our list of the seven best website hosting for small businesses, here are our top three picks:
- Hostinger offers value-for-money web hosting solutions with reliable performance. Perfect for beginners who want reliable hosting options for their small business.
- SiteGround is one of the three web hosting companies officially endorsed by WordPress. With this web host, you can experience a cloud server infrastructure on all hosting plans.
- Cloudways is an easy-to-use cloud hosting option that’s good for small business owners who prefer short-term commitment, as it’s possible to pay for hosting resources hourly. It can be a good option in case you want to run a temporary online store.
We hope this article helps you find the best web hosting solution for your small business. Note that all prices featured in this article are starting prices, and renewal costs may differ – so make sure to check this with your preferred hosting provider.
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