Bluehost Review: Best Web Hosting For WordPress Websites.
New to WordPress, and you you’re considering which website host to use? Here are 7 reasons why Bluehost is considered the best web hosting for WordPress websites.
As a web design agency owner, one of the most common questions I hear people ask when they’re looking to create a website for their business is “What is the best web hosting to use for websites”?
Here’s the challenge, there are many web hosting companies out there, and majority of them have met the WordPress minimum hosting requirements, and many people find it difficult to decide which hosting service to choose among the many available, especially for non-techies.
So, in this article, I’m going to focus on BlueHost; and why it’s considered the best web hosting for WordPress websites. I will be breaking down the 7 major reasons why you should be hosting or consider moving your websites to Bluehost.
Bluehost Overview
First, let’s take a look at the company bio.
Bluehost started in 1996 and steadily grew to become one of the largest web hosting companies in the world. It now powers more than 2 million websites from all over the world.
Bluehost has a long-standing relationship with the WordPress community. They are an official WordPress.org recommended web host since 2006.
They pride themselves on their 24/7 customer support, great hosting infrastructure, and support for free open source software like WordPress.
Bluehost Pros & Cons
All best web hosting services have their respective pros and cons. Some you can live with, and some you cannot ignore. Here are the pros and cons of Bluehost that we’ve learned.
PROS
First, let’s take a look at the advantages that make Bluehost one of the best web hosting for WordPress.
- Pricing: Their hosting plans are well within the reach of most users, particularly those who are just starting out.
- Reliability: They power a large number of websites with minimum downtime.
- No hidden charges: There are no hidden fees when signing up for your account.
- Free domain: You get a free domain name for the first year when you signup.
- Free CDN + SSL: For each website, you get a free SSL certificate and free Cloudflare CDN to block malware and improve security.
- Money Back Guarantee: They offer a 30 day money back guarantee on all plans.
CONS
As we mentioned earlier, there are always downsides to every hosting company. The following are some supposedly cons that you might notice when choosing Bluehost.
- Higher domain renewal price: Their free domain renewal price is higher than average. (Of course this can be avoided by purchasing your domain from a third party domain registrar like Godaddy)
- Upselling Addons: They have an aggressive upsell process during signup. But you can easily uncheck all the addons if you don’t need them.
Bluehost Review Summary
So far, here’s the quick scorecard of Bluehost with our verdict right below it.
| Performance Grade | A+ |
| Average load time | 1.48ms |
| Average response time | 1.26ms |
| Free domain | Yes |
| Free SSL | Yes |
| 1-click WordPress | Yes |
| Support | Phone / Live Chat / Knowledge base |
Bottom line: In the above Bluehost review, I found Bluehost to be reliable, fast, and affordable with friendly 24/7 customer support.
That’s why I’ve chosen to recommend Bluehost as one of the best web hosting for WordPress websites.
Now let’s dive right in, and discuss the 7 major reasons why Bluehost is one of the best web hosting for WordPress websites.
7 Reasons Why Bluehost is the Best Web Hosting for WordPress Websites
1. Ease of Use
Bluehost dashboard comes with a friendly user interface. This is extremely helpful for anybody who’s not too tech-savvy.
Everything is laid out in such a way that even if you’re completely new to web hosting, it’s not going to seem too complicated.
When you’re logged in, there are minimal different sections and menus and everything on there is clearly labeled and fairly self-explanatory.
So if you’re new to all of this and you don’t want to get overwhelmed then Bluehost could definitely be the option for you.
2. Pricing and Plans
Budget-friendly pricing is one of the big selling points that made Bluehost one of the best web hosting for WordPress websites. They have a variety of really good plans. The more expansive the plan, the more features available.
The Basic plan starts at 2.95$/month, it’s limited to 1 website and limited storage (50 GB SSO storage), with a FREE domain for 1 year. Free SSL Certifications and Cloudflare’s CDN are part of the basic package.
As you upgrade, you have access to unlimited websites and storage. For plans above the basic, a 30-day office 365 free trial is added.
When you choose the “choice plus” plan, you get a free automated backup for one year, and if you go for the “pro plan” you get the backup plus a free dedicated IP.
All of the plans include SSD drives that provide just naturally higher speed and performance to your website.
3. Customer Support & Service
No matter your expertise, we all need help every now and then. And Bluehost really does understand this aspect very well, as they remain one of the best web hosting companies that prioritize the need to help and support their customers anytime they need help.
Bluehost maintains a huge library of articles, step-by-step guides, and video tutorials as part of their extensive knowledge base. This is a huge help for beginners and most common issues can be quickly resolved by a simple search.
However, sometimes you may need to talk to an individual to get more help.
Bluehost offers a 24/7 support system where you can talk to their support team representatives using live chat or phone support. This is really helpful when you need quick help from technical support staff and you know they are just one click away.
4. 1-Click WordPress Install
One of the major reasons why many people chose to run their websites on WordPress is because it offers them the opportunity to design and manage their websites all by themselves with little or no prior experience.
And Bluehost has made it even easier with their 1-Click Script Install, which provides a simple, and quick step-by-step process of installing WordPress to your Bluehost account, even for a complete beginner.
5. Speed & Performance
The most important performance metric that you should look for is speed. It not only affects user experience on your site, but it also affects your WordPress SEO rankings.
Bluehost hosting server is extremely quick. On average, the websites on Bluehost load from 236 milliseconds to 566 milliseconds. This is just an amazing load time.
6. Server Uptime Guarantee
There is no hosting service that can offer 100% uptime. That’s a fact, it’s simply impossible.
With Bluehost, there is no official uptime guarantee. However, year by year, they deliver easily above 99.9% of uptime, and this is one of the best things about this hosting solution.
7. User-Friendly Cpanel
Control panel (cPanel) is one of the most important features that help to control your website.
Many important tasks like webmail setup, database management, file manager, and more can only be done from the control panel.
And Bluehost offers a very user-friendly cPanel – it has everything easily accessible, and it looks clean. A new user will definitely not be confused by the dashboard.
Bluehost Frequent Asked Questions
Is Bluehost good for beginners?
Absolutely! Bluehost is the most beginner-friendly WordPress hosting company on the market. They automatically install WordPress for you when you sign up. They also have an easy-to-use control panel that allows you to manage your hosting account by yourself.
There is plenty of help available with detailed guides, video tutorials, and articles. You also have 24/7 access to their expert support via live chat and phone.
Can Bluehost handle high traffic?
Their shared hosting plans are suitable for starter websites and small businesses. These plans can handle reasonable and sudden traffic spikes.
However, they are still quite limited in server resources. If you are expecting high traffic then you’ll need to upgrade your hosting plan.
Why use Bluehost for WordPress?
Bluehost is one of the largest hosting companies in the world and an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider. They have been supporting the WordPress community for a very long time and know WordPress very well.
Their platform is highly optimized for WordPress websites and engineered to run WordPress at peak performance. They also have WordPress engineers in their team so you know your website is in safe hands.
Can I make an online store using WooCommerce on Bluehost?
Yes, you can. In fact, Bluehost is one of the best WooCommerce hosting service providers. Their starter plan is perfect to start an online store.
However, keep in mind that you’ll need to upgrade as your store starts getting more traffic.
Do I need a credit card to sign up with Bluehost?
Bluehost accepts credit cards but you can choose to show more payment options during checkout and select PayPal as your payment method if you wish.
Is Bluehost better than GoDaddy?
In terms of Hosting, We believe that Bluehost is better than GoDaddy because their pricing, support, ‘My Sites’ dashboard, and overall onboarding experience are a lot better and beginner-friendly.
How does Bluehost compare with SiteGround and HostGator?
When comparing Bluehost with SiteGround and HostGator, there are several pros and cons you should be aware of.
Bluehost offers more value for the price when compared to SiteGround. Their plans start at $2.75 per month and include a free domain, whereas SiteGround plans start at $4.99 and do not include any free domain.
On the other hand, SiteGround platform comes with better speed and security features.
In terms of Bluehost vs HostGator, they’re pretty similar when it comes to hosting CPU resources, site migration tools, pricing, and more.
We find Bluehost user experience to be slightly better as they’ve invested heavily in their WordPress website builder platform.
Where are Bluehost servers located?
Bluehost operates its own in-house data center located in Utah, US. It is a massive 50,000 square feet facility that serves as their primary data center.
What Bluehost plan should I get?
If you are just starting out a brand new website, blog, or online store, then we recommend starting with the basic plan. It is good enough for a starter website and you can always upgrade later.
Final Thoughts – Best web hosting for WordPress
To summarize, Bluehost is definitely one of the best web hosting for WordPress websites. Its plans come at very reasonable prices.
To give a complete image, If WordPress is your thing, Bluehost shall be your right choice. If you’re completely new to web hosting, Bluehost would also be the right alternative for you.
Bluehost’s main strengths are Price, support, speed, and uptime – which are fundamental to any growing website.
Ready to start your website with Bluehost? Click the button below to get started
