Is it worth signing up with this web hosting company? Bluehost User Forum
Bluehost is home for more than 2,000,000 websites.
That’s quite a lot.
This is proof enough that they are doing something well. They offer reliable uptime, fast server speeds, and all hosting plans have useful features that are suitable for both intermediate and advanced users.
Bluehost provides live chat support and phone support 24 hours a day, and a 30-day money back guarantee.
However, there are a few downsides, too, like higher renewal prices and some restrictions on the cheapest plan.
Our reviews are based only on data such as cost, speed, uptime and availability.
Let’s have a look at Bluehost now to find out if they offer the quality website hosting services you are looking for. Bluehost User Forum
Bluehost Video Review
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General Info & Hosting Overview
Our Verdict: 5.0
SPEED 688 ms (April 2020-March 2021).
UPTIME : 99.96% from April 2020 to March 2021
SUPPORT: Live Chat, Email and Phone Support Available 24/7
APPS: WordPress. Joomla. WordPress. Drupal. PHPBB. Plus More Than 75+ Open Source projects
FEATURES include Unlimited Bandwidth, Unlimited Websites and Space, Unmetered Bandwidth and SSL Certificate and CDN. Spam Experts are available to help you. Domain Privacy is also included.
HOSTING PLANS: Shared, WordPress, VPS, Reseller, and Dedicated Servers
SITE TRANSFER: One WordPress site for free starting at $2.75/mo Bluehost Hosting Bluehost was founded in 2003. Their experience has allowed them to understand what makes hosting services great.
Their introductory prices are affordable, customer support is easy to reach and helpful, and you get many useful features to go with your hosting plan. In addition, they provide reliable uptime and fast server speeds.
Let’s take a more detailed look at Bluehost’s strong points. Bluehost User Forum
1. Amazing Uptime through 12-Months (99.96%)
It is essential to choose a reliable web host. Users can’t access your site if the server is down. You should make sure you have consistent uptime when looking into hosting services.
Our benchmark for “good uptime” is 99.93% after reviewing more than 40 web hosts. We want to see at least 99.93%.
The good news is that Bluehost easily surpasses this benchmark, comfortably keeping our test site live for 99.96% of the time during the last 12 months (April 2020 to March 2021). The total downtime was a bit less than four hours for the whole year.
See Stats Bluehost’s average Uptime for the past 12 Months is:
March 2021: 100%
February 2021: 99.95%
January 2021: 100 %
December 2020: 99.98%
November 2020: 100%
October 2020: 99.67%
September 2020: 100%
August 2020: 99.99%
July 2020: 99.98%
June 2020: 100% Bluehost User Forum
May 2020: 99.90% (scheduled maintenance)
April 2020: 99.99%
2. Rapid Page Loading Speed (688ms)
Google conducted research that found that pages load faster when they are loaded from 1s to 3s. This makes it 32% more likely for visitors to leave your site. This trend only worsens if your page load time is longer.
Furthermore, Google is more geared towards mobile-first indexing.
This means that your site also needs to be optimized for mobile users, or otherwise, you’re losing traffic.
A slow website will almost always lead to less traffic and lower sales. Page loading speed is second-most important. It can either make or break your website’s success.
Average load speed for Bluehost Although it’s not at the top of the heap, it’s still quite acceptable. Bluehost User Forum
3. Low Introductory Pricing ($2.75/mo)
Bluehost’s default price starts at $3.95/month. That is a introductory price that is lower than the $8.99/month standard rate.
However, the good news is that we’ve been able to work out a deal with Bluehost for our readers that takes the starting price down even further to $2.75/month For this price, you get pretty much everything you need for a single website. This includes 50GB SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, a free SSL certificate, as well as unmetered bandwidth. This would give you a great deal considering their uptime and page loading speed.
Even so, the cheapest plan comes with some limitations that we aren’t happy about – but more on this later.
4. Included with Security Options and Features
Bluehost is among the most affordable options on the market. This makes it easy to be happy that they aren’t skimping on security options and features.
Bluehost gives your site a free SSL Certificate even though it is the most expensive plan. Bluehost also offers great features such as a free CDN (Cloudflare), a one click WordPress install, multiple CMS integrations and additional eCommerce plugins.
Higher-tier plans come standard with the Spam Experts addon and domain privacy protection. Server backups are also available. Also, you get more advanced security features such as SiteLock, which helps prevent malware attacks.
Codeguard provides another level of protection. It offers daily backups that allow you to rollback previous versions of a website in case it is hacked.
Postini by Google is the last security feature worth noting. It provides spam protection for your email, so anything suspicious is prevented from getting into your inbox. Bluehost User Forum
5. Simple to Use for Beginners
Some web hosts can only be considered the best if you are an experienced user. But, Bluehost is great for beginners, too.
Although it’s intuitive and simple, the customer portal can be slow at times. Bluehost’s control panel, cPanel, is also easy to use. You can install WordPress quickly and easily through cPanel. You can install WordPress in most cases with just a click and point.
You don’t have to use WordPress. Instead, you can create a website using a website builder tool such as Weebly and Drupal. The template can be customized by simply dragging and dropping components on the page.
Bluehost also offers advanced features for users who wish to use their code to build their sites.
6. 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
Bluehost offers a 30-day guarantee for all hosting plans.
To test the service, you can do so to get a feel for it and request a refund if not satisfied. However, we do have some words of caution.
Bluehost’s terms state that these are the conditions under which Bluehost will guarantee your satisfaction.
Only the cost of web hosting can be refunded.
Bluehost will deduct $15.99 from your account if you receive a domain name for free.
Bluehost cannot refund any request after 30 calendar days.
This isn’t a blanket policy with no questions asked, like some hosts have made it out to be. So make sure you agree with these points before signing up. Bluehost User Forum
7. Customer Support Available 24/7
Bluehost provides 24 hour customer support through live chat, phone, or email. A vast knowledge base is available that contains answers to frequently asked questions as well as useful information.
We decided to test their live chat option and found it pleasant.
The representative was very knowledgeable and quickly provided answers to our questions. While some answers felt like they were copied, others were helpful and improvised.
8. One Free WordPress Site Transfer
This perk applies to site owners who want to move to Bluehost’s hosted plan.
Bluehost only recently started offering a free site transfer with all of their plans.
However, there are some terms that apply to this free service. First, the site needs to be a WordPress site. Second, you must request the migration within the first thirty days of signing up for hosting.
Contact their customer support and follow their instructions. The average time it takes to migrate is 1-3 business day.
You can only purchase this price if you do not have a WordPress website, or if you have more than one. This gets you up to 5 website migrations and 20 email account migrations.
9. 9.
WordPress is the most used platform for website creation – approximately 44% of the Internet’s websites are built with WordPress.
You can be sure that they are an authority when it comes hosting solutions. WordPress recommends only three hosting partners for WordPress sites. Bluehost User Forum
To create a WordPress website, you can use any web hosting provider. But the fact that Bluehost is one of the few officially recognized partners is encouraging.
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Cons of Using Bluehost Hosting
Even though we’re happy to see such low introductory prices, the renewal rates can get a bit steep.
Let’s examine these downsides.
1. Higher Renewal Rates
Prepaying for hosting upfront is the best way for you to get the lowest price. While the average monthly price of hosting drops, you still have to commit hundreds of dollars upfront.
To ensure your satisfaction, the 30-day money-back promise will be honored. The rates will rise sharply after the initial plan period is up.
Let’s take the example of a plan that costs $2.75 per month. After the initial period, the next renewal price is $8.99/month. This requires a three years commitment.
In this case, the subsequent period is three times more expensive than the first.
2. Cheapest Plan Restrictions
Bluehost’s shared hosting plans are the most expensive, but they come with heavy restrictions.
Only one website can be allowed. Storage space is limited, and there is no SSL certificate. You will need to purchase at least the next pricing level if you have multiple sites and require more security.
Unfortunately, restrictions on the lowest priced plan are very common in the web hosting industry. Companies are competing to be the best at selling hosting services for the lowest price. Bluehost User Forum
Bluehost Pricing, Hosting Plans & Quick Facts
Here are the pricing plans for Bluehost shared hosting.
| Pricing | $2.75/month Renews at $8.99/mo |
$5.45/month Renews at $11.99/mo |
$5.45/month Renews at $16.99/mo |
$13.95/month Renews at $26.99/mo |
| Websites | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Storage | 50 GB | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Email Accounts | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Other Features | – | • Spam Experts | • Spam Experts • Domain Privacy & Protection • Codeguard Basic |
• 2 Spam Experts • Domain Privacy & Protection • Codeguard Basic • Dedicated IP |
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Quick facts
- Money-Back: 30-day money-back guarantee
- Website Migration: Free transfer for 1 WordPress website. Other migrations: $149.99 up to 5 websites, 20 email accounts.
- You get a domain for free? Yes, for the first year. You can renew at $15.99 per annum.
- Sign-up is simple: The process is straightforward and easy.
- Payment Methods – Major credit cards and PayPal.
- Hidden Fees and Clauses: Domain names are not refundable. The renewal rates for hosting and domain names are significantly higher than their introductory rates.
- Upsells: You may receive upsells at sign-up but they are not aggressive.
- Account activation: In most instances, you will receive an instant activation. Activation may be delayed in the event of incorrect information or suspicion of fraud.
- Control Panel and Dashboard Experience – Easy-to use cPanel
- Installation of Apps and CMS (WordPress, Joomla, etc. Mojo Marketplace makes it easy to install apps. Bluehost User Forum
Bluehost: Can We Recommend it?
Yes.
Bluehost has performed slightly better in the past, but they still provide a reliable service with decent server speeds.
They provide strong security options and a great money back guarantee. There are many user-friendly tools, as well as multiple tiers to choose from for different customers. Prices start at $2.75/month, with our special discount.
Bluehost isn’t perfect. The hosting plans’ renewal rates will increase dramatically after the initial signup period, and the cheapest plan has some critical restrictions compared to the next tiers.
But overall, Bluehost delivers decent performance and good value for your money.
Have you used Bluehost before? You can leave a review below, good or bad, as long you are helpful to other visitors. Bluehost User Forum
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