Good uptime in testing
Monthly and annual hosting plans
Free SSL certificate with all plans
Many useful free services included
Lets customers choose server locations
Excellent customer service View More Cons Lacks dedicated, VPS, and Windows server options
5 Things You Need to Know About Web Hosting 5 Things You Need to Know About Web Hosting
For Beginners, Businesses, and Beginner Businesses
SiteGround is clearly positioning itself as a hosting provider for newbies, and especially small business newbies. The StartUp plan (starting at $14.99 per month) includes one website, 10GB of storage, network traffic suitable for roughly 10,000 visitors a month, a one-year free Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate, daily data backups, unlimited email, and support for CloudFlare (more on this later) and managed WordPress.
The four Cloud Hosting plans start at $80 per month for 4GB of RAM, 40GB of storage, and 5TB of monthly data transfers, and max out at $240 per month for 10GB of RAM, 120GB of storage, and 5TB of monthly data transfers. Shared Web Hosting
If you’re interested in low-cost web hosting, shared hosting is the tier you want to investigate. DreamHost’s Linux-or-Windows-based packages start at $4.50 per month (for 512MB of RAM, 100GB of storage, and unlimited monthly data transfers) and top out at $48 per month (for four CPU cores, 8GB of RAM, 100GB of storage, and unlimited monthly data transfers).SiteGround’s cloud hosting plans, as well as its shared GrowBog and GoGeek packages, have a cool Collaborator feature that lets users who don’t need access to a site’s management tools (think freelancers) to upload and create content.
It has everything included in that tier, plus support for unlimited websites, unlimited databases, 20GB of storage, site staging, and network traffic suitable for approximately 25,000 visits a month.
The top-tier Managed plan ($75.48 per month) adds site staging so you can experiment with site changes before they go live, unlimited websites, and unlimited databases.
Furthermore, if you aren’t expecting a flood of users to your site each day, you don’t really care about unlimited storage or unlimited monthly data transfers, so SiteGround’s limitations in those regards might not bother you.
Still, if you need greater storage and bandwidth allotments, or high-powered VPS or dedicated hosting, consider moving to Editors’ Choices Dreamhost, HostGator, Hostwinds, or Liquid Web for more advanced features and beefed-up storage.
Revamped Reseller Web Hosting
SiteGround no longer offers standalone reseller hosting packages.Security Features
SiteGround offers several security options, including the SG Site Scanner to let you know if your site is under attack, antispam tools SpamAssassin and SpamExperts, hotlink protection, and IP address blocklists. No Dedicated Web Hosting
SiteGround also lacks a dedicated hosting tier.WordPress Web Hosting
Like many of its competitors, SiteGround offers WordPress hosting. It takes GrowBig to the next level by including 40GB of storage, network traffic “suitable” for approximately 100,000 visits a month, priority support, white-label support, and a Git repository.
And SG Optimizer, which works in addition with SuperCacher, enhances your site’s performance by optimizing CSS, images, javascript, and other web hosting tech.
Although SiteGround lacks VPS, dedicated, and Windows servers, it’s a quality web hosting service for both individuals and small businesses.
I asked about the differences between SiteGround’s cloud hosting and dedicated hosting, and received a prompt and clear response.
I give props to SiteGround for its limitation transparency; most web hosts, even the ones that boast “unlimited” visitors and/or data, have some traffic restrictions buried in their terms of service.
Cloud, not VPS
SiteGround no longer has VPS hosting, but boasts cloud hosting. That said, the multiple sites literally share the server’s computing power, which means your site’s performance could be negatively impacted if another bunk-mate has a huge traffic surge from a Reddit hit.
Ionos, on the other hand, has prorated plans, custom hosting packages, and big specs for big businesses.
If you’re in the hunt for traditional VPS hosting, check out Hostwinds, the category’s Editors’ Choice, which offers a fine virtual private server package.
Excellent Uptime
Website uptime is one of the most important aspects of a hosting service. It not only has a choice of Linux and Windows operating systems, but also tops out at 512GB of RAM, 2TB of storage, and 20TB of monthly data transfers.
Each of its plans, starting with the $7.99 per month Lite plan, includes unlimited storage and monthly data transfers. The Linux-based platform, which draws resources from multiple servers, is designed to auto-scale with traffic surges, so that your site won’t go down due to a lack of power.
SiteGround’s base WordPress tier, StartUp ($9.95 per month), offers a skimpy 10GB of storage, a mere 10,000 monthly visitors, and the ability to host just one WordPress site. While any site owner can easily sign up with CloudFlare, the integration (available for free!) means more people who had no idea this was an option are now able to benefit.
Customer Service
SiteGround says its main focus is on customer service, and it shows in the service’s many wizards, knowledgebase articles, and tutorials. The reseller handles the hosting support and billing, and charges clients.
In fact, SiteGround oversees your installation with optimized managed WordPress hosting, a service that grants your website enhanced security, automated daily backups, page caching, staging, and automatic content management system updates. Customer support is available through a ticket-based system, live chat, and 24/7 telephone support.
The Editors’ Choice for shared web services matches SiteGround’s specs, plus has the option for users to select a Windows-based server (SiteGround only offers Linux-based shared servers).Instead, the company lets GoGeek and Cloud hosting subscribers give clients access to their site management tools using the Client white-label option.E-Commerce and SSL
Instead of using Weebly, I could have also set up my site from the get-go with e-commerce software, such as PrestaShop, CS-Cart, or Magento. SiteGround includes many useful in-house tools for building your WordPress site: WP Migrator, SG Optimizer, and SuperCacher.
If you’re looking for take hosting type, we suggest taking a look at AccuWeb, PCMag’s Editors’ Choice for dedicated web hosting.I can’t imagine a lot of businesses will need this feature, but it’s a surprisingly advanced option for such a newbie-focused provider.
For more information on this simple site builder, please read our Weebly review.
WP Migrator, the company’s migration tool, helps transfer data from an old site to your new Siteground-powered site.
