Our Top 5 Web Hosting Companies

There are literally thousands of web hosting companies floating around the interwebs today. Which one do you choose?

Whether you are a seasoned web veteran or buying your first website, hosting is the foundation you build on, and picking out the perfect host can be a daunting task.  With over 300 domains under our belts, we have picked up a thing or two about web hosting companies, and wanted to share our favorites with you.

While assembling this list, we asked ourselves, what makes a great host?  The answer is simple:

A host not only has to offer value, but great customer service, an easy interface with a mellow learning curve, and some marketing bonuses are great too!

Web hosting is a very competitive market, and most companies will try to lure you in with a bunch of bonuses, unlimited this, unlimited that, or just flat out claim to be the best.  When looking for a host here is a common list of features you will see:

• Unlimited Bandwidth
• Unlimited Email Accounts
• Unlimited Disk Space
• Unlimited Domains
• Unlimited FTP Accounts
• Unlimited Databases
• 99% Uptime

These are generally basic features offered by web hosting companies today.  Though some may not offer all of the above, think hard about the purpose of your site when determining which host to buy.  If you are just building a landing page to showcase a product, chances are you will not need unlimited disk space.

Without further ado, our favorite hosts:

1. Ipage – $2.95/mo

Ipage is my personal favorite.  With unlimited disk space and bandwidth at only $2.95/mo what more could you ask for? They provide a super user-friendly control panel and a ton of freebies (over $450 worth). Along with top-notch web hosting, they also offer a slew of other features to assist with e-commerce, securing your site, and more.  Most importantly, they offer 24/7 support and are always there to help.

2. HostGator – $3.95/mo

HostGator is home to most of our domains.  A favorite of Francis and Vel, they offer the best customer support in the business.  We have encountered our fair share of issues in our endeavors and no matter what time of day, HostGator’s support has always come through to help.  A standard Cpanel interface is found on the backend and is easy to navigate / learn.  They also offer a number of freebies and ton of website templates.

3. Brain Host – $7.95/mo

Though they are not the cheapest web host, they are one of the best.  You get what you pay for right? Staying competitive with unlimited email, hosting, disk space and bandwidth, they also a 99.9% uptime guarantee.  The best part about Brain Host is that they offer a hosting solution that is perfect for newbies.  You do not have to be a designer to set up a killer professional website.  Just use their built in web design tools.  The user interface is easy to learn (cpanel) and their support is killer!

4. GoDaddy – $4.24/mo

Who hasn’t heard of GoDaddy? When it comes to domain registration, they are second to none, but hosting however is another story.  Unlike most other host’s in their price range, they do not offer unlimited storage, a limited number of email accounts and databases, but do have unlimited bandwidth (who doesn’t).  The user interface isn’t the most user friendly, but their support staff is very friendly and always there to help.

 5. Bluehost – $3.95/mo

A great hosting company that many still have not heard of.  Bluehost offers the basic unlimited this and unlimited that, but also offer a free domain when you sign up (we love saving money).  Running the standard Cpanel, it is very easy to learn and use.  They do not offer the slew of freebies that most other hosts have, but they back it up by having a solid hosting platform at a great price with killer support.

I hope this list helps you find the right host. There are still a ton of hosts out there and I’m sure we have missed some great ones.

Have a suggestion or a host we should review?  Leave me a comment below!