Using WordPress to create a small business website can be remarkably simple. The Content Management System (CMS) is easy to set up and use. However, before you can get started working on your website, you’ll need to pick the right web hosting provider for your needs.
Web hosts come in all shapes and sizes. Some hosting providers focus on offering the cheapest options possible, whereas others are all about bespoke features or top-of-the-line performance. Understanding which web host suits your needs best is key to making the right decision.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at web hosting and share some tips to help you choose the right option for your site. We’ll then review five of the best web hosts for small businesses. Let’s get started!
What web hosting is (and how to choose the best option for your business)
You’re probably somewhat familiar with the concept of web hosting. You pay a provider a recurring fee in exchange for them “hosting” your website on a server. In a nutshell, it’s like renting a public storefront so visitors can find and access your site.
There are hundreds of web hosting companies to choose from, ranging from budget options to VIP providers that hand-pick their clients. If you’re working on your first website, you don’t need to use a provider that costs you hundreds of dollars per month. However, settling for the cheapest web host you find isn’t a good idea, either.
Web hosts can vary a lot in terms of their performance, the quality of their support, and the features they offer. When looking for a host for your business website, we recommend paying attention to the following:
- The number of sites each plan supports
- The monthly versus annual costs of the plan
- The amount of storage and bandwidth that you get
- Quality of Life (QoL) features such as automatic backups, updates, and website optimization
If you’re working with a WordPress developer, you’ll also want to look for features that make their life easier, such as staging websites and WP-CLI support. Additionally, we recommend that you opt for managed hosting plans. This type of service usually comes at a premium, but translates to better website optimization, additional QoL features, and professional support.
5 best web hosting options for small businesses
For this roundup, we decided to focus on WordPress-friendly web hosts that offer managed plans at affordable prices. Each web host caters to a different audience, and one of them might be perfect for your business website.
1. Pressable
Pressable is a managed WordPress hosting company that offers plans for small businesses, agencies, web developers, and everything in between. Most of these plans are reasonably-priced, and they’re designed to help you launch your first e-commerce website.
As a small business owner, you may want to start with the company’s Personal Plan. This includes a variety of benefits, including:
- Up to one WordPress installation
- Support for up to 30,000 visitors per month
- 20GB of storage
- Performance monitoring and optimization services
- Daily backups
- Automatic WordPress updates
- Free Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) setup
Pressable offers Content Delivery Network (CDN) integration for all of its clients. The company also has a selection of hosting plans designed specifically for WooCommerce stores.
If you sign up for Pressable, you also get free access to the WP101 academy, which includes hundreds of hours of WordPress tutorials. Traditionally, WP101 plans start at $19 per month, which makes this a great deal if you’re interested in learning more about WordPress.
Although Pressable offers a lot of handy features for WordPress newbies, it’s also very developer-friendly. If you’re working with a WordPress developer, they’ll appreciate that Pressable gives them access to staging functionality, a custom hosting dashboard, and more powerful tools.
Price: Pressable plans start at $17.50 per month. You get a 30 percent discount if you pay for at least a full year upfront.
2. SiteGround
SiteGround offers one of the best balances between cost, features, and performance that you’ll find in a hosting provider. This particular web host provides multiple types of hosting plans, including several WordPress-specific options.
With SiteGround, you get managed WordPress hosting at some of the cheapest prices on the web. The company offers a starter plan at just $3.99 per month. Using that plan, you get all of the following features:
- Support for one website
- 10GB of storage
- Unlimited traffic
- Automatic WordPress updates
- Daily backups
- Free SSL certificate
SiteGround also offers free integration with a CDN with all of its plans. If you’re working with a WordPress developer, this web host enables you to use WP-CLI to update and manage your website.
As you start moving up SiteGround’s range of WordPress plans, you’ll run into more advanced features including staging functionality, Git support, and on-demand backups. However, if you’re launching a starter website for your business, there’s no beating SiteGround’s StartUp plan.
Price: SiteGround plans start at $3.99 per month and go up to $10.69. To get the best possible price, you need to pay for at least 12 months in advance.
3. Bluehost
Bluehost is one of the most popular web hosting services, offering both regular and managed WordPress plans. The company’s starter plans are very budget-friendly, with its BASIC option starting at just $2.95 per month.
However, you’ll need to opt for Bluehost’s managed WordPress hosting plans if you want to get the best possible experience. These plans are a bit more expensive, but you get access to better performance across the board and a lot of features to make your work easier.
Bluehost’s cheapest managed WordPress hosting plan, called BUILD, offers the following features:
- Support for one website
- 20GB of storage
- Support for up to 50,000 visitors per month
- Free SSL setup
- Free Jetpack Personal license
- Daily scheduled backups
The BUILD plan costs $9.95 per month. With this plan, you also get access to an integrated CDN and staging functionality, which is a fantastic way to update your website safely.
More expensive managed plans include built-in Search Engine Optimization and access to premium support. However, there are plenty of plugins that you can use for SEO. Moreover, if you run into a severe issue with your site, it may be better to hire a developer than to reach out to support. Unless you need more storage or bandwidth, we recommend sticking with the BUILD plan.
Price: Bluehost’s managed WordPress plans start at $9.95 per month. However, that rate is only available if you sign up for at least 36 months.
4. DreamHost
A lot of web hosts come at you with a massive range of plans. If you’re working on your first website, it can be hard to figure out what the best option is. DreamHost uses a different approach. The company offers multiple types of WordPress hosting, but each one comes with just a small selection of plans.
With DreamHost, you get basic WordPress hosting, managed plans, high-performance options, and even WooCommerce hosting. For this particular web host, we recommend its suite of managed WordPress hosting plans, called DreamPress.
DreamPress plans start at $16.95 per month, making DreamHost the most expensive option we’ve seen so far. However, the basic DreamPress plan also gives you a lot of bang for your buck, including the following features:
- Support for one website
- 30GB of storage
- Up to 100,000 visitors per month
- Custom WordPress page builder
- Pre-installed SSL certificate
- Automated daily backups
One of the advantages of using DreamPress is that its plans are designed to help you get your business website up and running without needing to hire outside help. The web host offers a quick start wizard that will walk you through choosing a theme (from over 200 options) and customizing your website.
The biggest downside to DreamPress is that all of its plans only support one website. That means if you ever need to set up an additional website, you’ll have to pay extra.
Price: DreamHost’s DreamPress plans start at $16.95 per month and you can choose to pay monthly. Moreover, DreamHost supports both credit cards and PayPal.
5. Kinsta
Let’s start by saying that Kinsta is not a budget-friendly WordPress host. The company offers a broad range of managed WordPress hosting plans, with ten different tier options depending on your business’ needs. The Starter Kinsta plan costs $30, which is far more expensive than our other picks.
Having said that, Kinsta offers one of the most hands-on WordPress hosting services that you can find. The entire point of using a hosting provider such as Kinsta is that you seldom have to worry about maintenance tasks. By and large, the company takes care of all the inner workings of your site so you can focus on running it.
If you sign up for the Kinsta Starter plan, here’s what you get:
- Support for one website
- 10GB of storage
- Up to 25,000 visitors per month
- Free CDN integration
- Automatic daily backups
- Free SSL certificates
As far as advanced features go, few hosting providers offer as many options as Kinsta. You get staging functionality and performance monitoring tools with every plan. You also get access to one of the most comprehensive and user-friendly hosting control panels in the market, which makes it a breeze to manage multiple sites.
It’s important to understand that once you outgrow Kinsta’s Starter plan, you can end up spending hundreds a month on hosting. For a small business, it can be hard to justify that expense. However, if you use your website to collect leads or sell services, hosting should more than pay for itself.
Overall, if you’re comfortable stretching your budget a bit, Kinsta is one of the best WordPress hosting providers that you can choose. However, you can more than match its performance with a cheaper option if you’re willing to put some time into optimizing your website’s performance.
Price: Kinsta’s plans start at $30 per month. If you pay for two years in advance, you get two months off, but you can simply pay on a monthly basis if you prefer. Kinsta accepts credit cards for month-to-month payments and wire transfers and ACH if you pay yearly.
Conclusion
Choosing a hosting provider is always a challenge. If you’re launching a new business, you probably don’t want to spend too much on web hosting. The great news is there’s a broad range of WordPress hosting options that come at affordable prices and offer amazing features.
Here are our top five picks for the best hosting for small businesses:
- Pressable: With this web host you get reasonable prices, fantastic performance, and access to a massive library of WordPress tutorials.
- SiteGround: This managed WordPress web host offers a fantastic value between performance, features, and price.
- Bluehost: With this company, you get affordable managed WordPress hosting and a decent set of features.
- DreamHost: The company’s DreamPress plans offer fantastic performance and functionality, and they’re easy to get started with even if you have no development experience.
- Kinsta: This WordPress web host is a bit expensive, but it offers unmatched performance and functionality.
Do you need help choosing a web host and setting up a WordPress website for your business? Get in touch so we can chat about your project and share samples of some of the websites we’ve worked on. We can also offer you hosting directly through FreshySites if you want a solution that takes care of all your WordPress needs.
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