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Pros & Cons
We’ll detail some quick pros and cons to give you a bit of an overview of Bluehost
Pros
Cons
It’s hard enough to build a website, but sometimes it's more difficult deciding where to host it.
Do you sometimes wonder what money you’ll shell out for this service?
What about the learning curve?
Will you need to watch tutorials about whether a website host will do what it promised?
We’ll keep all these questions in mind in our Bluehost review down below. We know you’ve put some hard work into your site, so we’ll try to make this part easy.
About Bluehost
Bluehost is a web hosting service known for its expertise with WordPress software. It hosts over 2 million websites, especially small business sites and digital marketing sites.
The company was founded in 2003 in Orem, Utah, but Endurance International Group acquired it in 2010.
Shortly after the acquisition, EIG consolidated its customer service operations to now run out of Burlington, Massachusetts.
Bluehost Features
What is it that makes Bluehost stand apart from other web hosts? A variety of reasons, as you’ll see below.
Hosting Services
WordPress Hosting
Bluehost hosts several WordPress plans. The three big ones are called Build, Grow, Scale, all of which run on VPS. They also come with pre-installed CMS, automatic site backups, plug-in updates, CDN, and others.
As established, WordPress hosting makes e-commerce web hosting easy through Bluehost. You can create one through “E-commerce hosting” under the WordPress Hosting navigation tab.
The WooCommerce storefront is already installed, along with a free, dedicated IP address.
Plenty of Apps to Install
Apps help you build, manage, and make your website or business all your own. Lots of these apps are easy to use and fun to play with. You can find apps under your WordPress control panel in the MOJO Marketplace.
Some abilities you can add to your site with apps include:
- Create forums
- Image galleries
- Add and customize a calendar
- Event registration
- Create and sell online courses
You may also purchase professional services that go more in-depth in customizing your site. That way, you can create a better graphic design with brands and posters and such. Other services include PayPal integration and adding Google Analytics.
WordPress itself also makes it easier to build a site. You may also use the Weebly website builder or the goMobi Mobile Web Builder.
Excellent Speed and Server Performance
Bluehost usually has a 99% uptime and consistently tries to hit 100%. If you get any downtown below that score, you can cancel your hosting agreement without cancelation fees.
Their page loading times are usually great too. They average at least 500 ms each year, even with their Basic shared hosting plan, and that number continues to rise. If you think you’ll add a lot of apps or widgets to your site, a more advanced pro plan would work best.
Easy-to-Use Control Panel
Bluehost’s control panel recently got an upgrade to include more features and still be easy to use. All plans come with this control panel, which manages everything from domain name management, email addresses, and payments/billing for your services and purchases.
The control panel also gives you access to all of Bluehost’s technical support and help features. It’s also where you can manage your upgrades so you can customize and change your website’s hosting.
Decent Security
Although Bluehost only does security backups at its discretion, rather than automatically, it still allows you to choose what security measures you want. Some of these measures can include:
- Creating filters for email accounts
- Password-protected directories
- Manage private keys
- Create IP address blacklists
You’ll also create an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) to help encrypt your website’s information. These are files installed on website pages that create a secure connection between a user and the site’s info.
You may need to submit a name or password to make that connection.
The good news is that Bluehost includes an SSL certificate in all its hosting plans, so you’re already good to go, especially if e-commerce regulations may require you to have one.
Currently, every site requires an SSL certificate, regardless of its intended purpose. However, they are essential if you are selling online because they help keep data secure and increase customer’s trust in your site.
An SSL certificate may even improve your search engine rank.
Bluehost Hosting Plans & Pricing
Bluehost is known for its low hosting prices. Their lowest and most basic is at a measly $2.75 a month.
Their two cheapest plans include the Basic and Plus packages. The Basic contains 50 GB worth of storage, a free domain name for the first year, an SSL certificate, unlimited monthly data transfers, and a free domain name transfer. Y
ou can only host one website under this domain.
The Plus package has many more unlimited options, including storage, websites, and mailboxes. It also has an anti-spam tool. They also have Choice Plus and Pro plans with more security features, including domain privacy.
All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
FAQ's
Before you get too far ahead of yourself, we’ll answer a few basic questions about Bluehost below.
This is a subjective question. However, given all the features that Bluehost carries, especially the security measures, we think it’s worth a try.
It's shared web hosting capabilities put it a cut above other hosting services.
Bluehost works on a small scale. When you’re getting started running your site, you can start with basic plans and work your way up as you grow, free.
There’s also a dedicated team of experts who can answer questions 24/7 if you need clarification.
WordPress is seamlessly integrated with Bluehost in case WordPress is too complicated for itself to use.
Plus, if you purchase a free domain from Bluehost, it will automatically install and set up WordPress for you.
Although Bluehost is based out of Massachusetts, it has server locations across the country. Much of their server space is in Utah, where they are headquartered until 2010.
Who Should Use Bluehost?
Bluehost caters to many people, but their focus lies, again, in digital marketing and e-commerce websites. They’re perfect for people just starting, considering their cheap hosting plans.
People who use blogs or personal websites could also benefit from Bluehost.
If you have a company with around 10-50 employees, you could also use Bluehost. Either way, their interface is easy to navigate and update as needed for anyone to use.
Final Verdict
Based on the benefits and pros we’ve discussed above, Bluehost is not a bad place to begin for anyone looking to start their site. Even if you don’t plan to sell online or advertise a small business, it comes with decent security and does some heavy lifting for you.
You don’t have to worry about procuring your SSL certificate, and the control panel has everything ready to go in one place. Plans also come pretty cheaply, even if you have an advanced plan.
In short, if you’re going to create your site, Bluehost should have you covered to save money without sacrificing security and quality.
Bluehost is one of the largest website hosting providers and powers millions of websites.
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Bluehost is one of the largest website hosting providers and powers millions of websites.
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