Man, there are so many hosting providers out there to choose from, how do you decide? Go with the cheapest? Pick the one you see on the tv all the time? Try the one your friend is using? Sigh. With all the different hosting options out there, why choose SiteGround?
And while there is a long list of reasons why you should choose SiteGround, I have limited this post to the top ten reasons it’s a great hosting company for you guys – my newbie to online business friends. Let’s go!
1. SiteGround is recommended by WordPress (the master CMS themselves!)
Yep, you got it, WordPress (the best system to build websites with!) even recommends SiteGround. This is a big deal, because if you’re going to use WordPress (which you should 😉), you want to choose a hosting service that they agree is optimal for their product. And they don’t recommend everyone! Only three, and SG is one of them. Well done!
2. SiteGround‘s pricing is in line with other very affordable providers
Pricing is almost always a big deal for newbie online biz owners, and so often people choose the cheapest (or worse, free) hosting providers. Cheapest is NOT always the best, guys! I know you don’t want to pay a lot of money at the outset, but if you’re serious about getting a business online, you have to be smart about it.
The awesome thing is, SG is well in line with some of the famously affordable providers out there. A startup site with one domain is only $7 a month. And seriously guys, if you can’t afford $7 a month for great, secure hosting, then maybe an online biz just isn’t for you. 🤨
3. Their security is excellent
Back when I had hosting with Bluehost, I had to fire them because their security was so bad (several years ago now). You can read about my experience here. SiteGround, on the other hand, is tight. I’ve been using them for the last couple of years and not once have I had any trouble with hacking or questionable behavior. And I have many sites (50+) on my hosting with them. They are tight.
4. They have free SSL certificates
If you read this post, then you know the value of getting SSL certificates for your websites. You really do want to put SSL on all of your domains. And hey! SiteGround offers you them… for free. The basic level certificate, which validates your domain is the one people are actually wanting to land on, is invaluable – priceless. And you get it for free! How can you not love that? If you want a higher level of security and validation, there is a cost to that (minimal), but for a starter site, all you need is the basic cert. Awesome!
5. They also have free backups
Now if you’ve watched this video, you already know how to do your own backups. 🤓 However, it’s certainly comforting to know that your host is backing up your site as well, if and when you need it – every day! And, you can easily restore the full backup in the event of a site failure (happens rarely, but you never know!). And, if it’s been a while since you’ve done your own backup, you can always call on SiteGround to grab the latest version from their stores and put everything back to normal again. Gotta love that!
6. They also offer you a free test copy of your site
When you’re just building your website, you’re going to make mistakes, and/or have unfinished pages out there. You’re still working out the kinks and perfecting the design. Do you want the world to see that? Or, once your site is up and running, and you’re told everyone you know it’s ready to look at, what happens when you need to make updates? Do you want the world to see that?
I’m guessing probably not. Especially if an update results in a broken site (it happens sometimes, but don’t worry, it’s not the end of the world! Learn how to restore here).
The beauty of having a test copy of your site is so you can mess around in there and not worry that people are going to see it. Test out that new plugin! Play around with purple backgrounds! No one will know, it’s your secret. And SiteGround provides the space for it, for free.
7. SiteGround‘s outstanding support
This probably should be number one, since support and customer service anymore with most companies is so completely shit. But not with SiteGround! They are wonderful. Wait times on calls are non-existent, they are highly responsive to tickets, and everyone speaks phenomenal English. I don’t have many issues, but when I do, the last thing I need is a bigger issue to come up because a company’s support lives in the toilet. Not with SiteGround – they live in a palace. You almost want something to go wrong just so you can call them. 🥳
8. They give you free unlimited email addresses
This is a nice feature for new online biz owners, because whether you realize it or not, you actually need quite a few different email addresses just to keep communications organized. You might want an info@yourdomain.com for general inquiries, a contact@yourdomain.com to track submissions through contact forms, a yourname@yourdomain.com to give to specific clients, a privacy@yourdomain.com for any concerns about privacy, etc. The list can go on and on.
I know I have a ton of email addresses just to track signups from different optin locations!
The thing is, if you have to pay for every email address you might want, that can add up fast. Knowing you can get as many as you need without additional cost is just another reason to feel comfortable working with SiteGround.
9. They have superior uptime
You probably never think about (or want to think about) your site going down. And I don’t mean because of something wrong with your site, but because the hosting server is having some kind of problem. And, they can! If you are using shared hosting (which most newbies will because it’s economical and simple), you share your plot with many other people. If any of those people are doing nefarious things, it can create terrible response times for everyone else using the same server. Your website is slow to show up in browsers, or worse, doesn’t show up at all.
(this was another thing I noticed happened a lot with Bluehost)
SiteGround’s uptime is close to 99.9% of the time. No one is perfect, but that’s pretty damn good. I have never had a problem with any of my 50+ sites not coming up since I’ve been with them. That’s pretty great! I know I sleep better at night.
10. SiteGround has a great affiliate program
Well, I couldn’t finish out this post without commenting on SG’s affliate program. For newbies, the easiest way to make money online is affiliate marketing, which is promoting and recommending other people’s products and making small commissions if people end up buying through your recommendation. I have a few items that I promote across my site, and SiteGround hosting is one of them. I use them, and I think they’re great. So of course I’m going to recommend them to anyone who is in the market for hosting.
And, it’s nice that I get a few bucks every time someone decides to take me up on my recommendation. If I didn’t, I’d still recommend SiteGround, because they’re great! I was using them long before I became an affiliate. But, if you use them, and can recommend them to others, they reward you with some cash. No harm in that.
A lot of companies don’t.
And there you have it! The top ten reasons fledgling online biz owners should use SiteGround for their hosting. I’m sure you have done some research (let’s hope!) when it comes to hosting, so if you’ve heard other people also recommending SiteGround, you can understand why. Or, you can just go to their website and read all about them.
But the best referral is from someone who uses them. Me! Try them out!
