With SiteGround hosting you will find a variety of options, including WordPress hosting, cloud hosting and dedicated servers.
SiteGround is a well known hosting provider that offers excellent services filled with value at an economical price point.
My first experience with a hosting company was with HostGator, who I was with for three years.
While building websites and learning more about hosting I would often hear of SiteGround and the benefits they offer in comparison to other web hosting providers.
Many bloggers would rave about the increased website speed and performance they experienced after switching to SiteGround.
After reading many SiteGround reviews from bloggers that I followed and other professional opinions from industry types. I decided to give SiteGround a try and use them as my hosting provider.
Being with HostGator for over three years I was totally familiar with their website and cpanel.
To become familiar with SiteGround’s website and SiteGround cpanel I decided initially I would move one website at a time from HostGator to SiteGround.
This would give me a chance to learn the SiteGround UI and not have any major interruption to any of my other websites.
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Why Do I Choose SiteGround Hosting
I had never transferred a website from a hosting provider and was definitely concerned about the SiteGround migration process.
How safe is the SiteGround domain transfer service? Is SiteGround good?
Would my website be unavailable to my visitors? If so how long will my website be down? How does the transfer process actually work?
Do I have to save my blog posts and rewrite them after the transfer?
Being upfront here I had so many questions and what helped to make my decision to switch over to SiteGround was the customer support I was given (even though I wasn’t actually their customer).
Speaking to SiteGround customer service the different representatives assured me the process would be done with ease and no worries.
The SiteGround help center explained the process in detail offering me 2 options to choose from. The 1st option was to use their site migration plugin.
Essentially I would be able to install a plugin and let it migrate my site.
The 2nd option was to use their professional service and they would migrate the website for $30 USD.
Is SiteGround A Good Web Host
Lets discuss the pro’s and cons of moving your website to SiteGround.
While searching the web and reading different SiteGround reviews I was surprised to find a large number of positive responses for SiteGround.
There were some negative responses (which is to be expected) but they seemed to be pretty much the same across the board.
So keeping in tradition I will first share the Pro’s to switching a website to SiteGround.
SiteGround Hosting Pro’s and Con’s
Is SiteGround really worth all the fuss? To help you decide, checkout the pros and cons listed below.
Pro’s
- Good customer support, checkout the SiteGround live chat support
- SiteGround staging tool available.
- SiteGround free SSL
- For new accounts there is a 30-day money back guarantee
- Free SiteGround backup on all plans.
- Professional SiteGround migration service to transfer your site
- With Shared hosting you basically share resources with other users. SiteGround puts fewer accounts together which reduces the amount of resources being used
- Easy to navigate cpanel
- SiteGround CDN with Cloudflare.
Con’s
I am satisfied with my move to SiteGround, however there are a couple of issues I wanted to point out.
For me these were not make or break issues but, for some bloggers you may want to consider these before switching.
Renewal Rate Increase
Hosting companies lure clients in with attractive low introductory rates.
When it comes time to renew you will see a rate increase. The introductory rates can be paid on an annual basis which would allow you to lock that rate in for 1, 2, or even 3 years.
Keep in mind whatever your payment option you will be faced with an increased rate at renewal.
As an example the basic SiteGround plan is the “startup plan”. This plan is advertised with an intro price of $6.99 per month paid annually.
You can get that rate for 1, 2, or 3 years and after your term expires the rate will renew at $14.99.
No Free Domain Name
With HostGator and a few other web hosts they provide a 1 year free domain registration for new customers.
SiteGround does not offer a free domain option and will charge you $15.95 per year to register a domain.
Not a problem as I would suggest getting your domain name from a separate company anyways.
I recommend NameCheap with domains starting at $8.88 per year.
SiteGround Hosting Payment Options
For some this may not be a big deal, but SiteGround does not offer monthly plans.
You will be able to choose a payment option of quarterly or annually.
My Most Liked Features
If you are new to web hosting or even more experienced SiteGround web hosting has features that will serve all types of users.
Website Uptime
SiteGround uptime is at 99.99%. This is great because you have little worries when it comes to your website being available for visitors to land on your site and take advantage of your many offers.
Above Average Load Times
When it comes to your website performance the host you choose can make a difference.
SiteGround ranks at the top of the list when it comes to economical pricing and speed. Because I was switching my hosting company to SiteGround the number one factor was speed and performance.
I was with a host and needed to make improvements to my sites overall user experience.
I optimized images, used caching plugins, but unfortunately the host I used was just not up to par. SiteGround has been clocked with an above average load time of 673ms.
This for me was an improvement from my previous host.
SiteGround Hosting Customer Support
How a company services it’s product is really big with me. If your customer service sucks then the possibility of a sucky product exists.
SiteGround over performs in the area of support. I mentioned earlier in this article, but to reiterate SiteGround support is in my opinion top notch.
You can find answers on their website on frequently asked topics. They offer a support through a chat option.
You can also phone in and speak with someone live and they are more than happy to assist you with whatever issues you may have.
Beginner-Friendly Easy Interface
Ease of use is important and SiteGround places high in that area. If you are just getting started and learning how to build websites.
You will find the SiteGround UI pretty easy to navigate. Building your first website with SiteGround will take a bit of learning, but there are enough tutorials and video’s out there to help you.
If you are an experienced web designer SiteGround offers more robust features that you will be able to take advantage of.
How Much Does SiteGround Hosting Cost
SiteGround plans come in three options:
- The StartUp plan: Starting out at $6.99/mo This option is great for anyone looking to get started with creating a website. This plan option will allow for up to one website and many of the other great SiteGround features.
- SiteGround GrowBig plan: At $9.99/mo The Grow Big Plan will give you all the features of the Start up Plan with the ability to create up to three websites. Moving to this option you unlock the full power of the SiteGround Super Cache (which is a SiteGround proprietary speed tool)
- SiteGround GoGeek plan: The GoGeek plan is $14.99/mo and would have all the benefits of the previous two plans adding the ability to host an unlimited number of websites. This plan would be good for developers or people in the business of creating multiple websites.
How Do I Build A Website on SiteGround 4 simple steps
- Step 1. Sign up for an account with SiteGround
- Step 2. Choose your hosting plan
- Step 3. Register A domain name
- Step 4. Install WordPress
Related Post: How To Start A WordPress Website
Who Owns SiteGround Hosting
According to wikipedia, SiteGround was founded in 2004 in Sofia by a few university friends.
In most recent data, it reports servicing more than 2,000,000 domains worldwide.
It provides shared hosting, cloud hosting and enterprise solutions as well as email hosting and domain registration. In 2019, the company employed over 500 people.
Main founder Tenko Nikolov, started working as technical support at SiteGround back in 2004 when he was a law student. He’s now the CEO.
Where Are SiteGround Servers Located
SiteGround has servers located in Amsterdam, Chicago, London, and Singapore.
They use a CDN (content delivery network) to keep updated copies of your website in cities around the world.
This use of technology is important because it allows your website visitors the ability to access your website from a nearby data center, and adds better performance and speed.
Conclusion
Is SiteGround The Best Host For Your Website
So far my SiteGround experience has been great. I have seen a definite increase in my website speed.
With the free Cloudflare CDN account this has helped with performance.
All things considered switching to SiteGround has been a good move for my business.
If you are looking to improve your website speed your choice in hosting companies will make a difference.
Moving your existing website to SiteGround will be a simple and quick process.
If you do not yet have a website and need to buy your domain I would suggest NameCheap as they have more economical price points for domains.
I had my own domain to transfer so that was free. SiteGround domain prices are at $15.95 and a .com extension from NameCheap domains starts at $8.88 per year.
My personal choice is to buy my domains separate from my hosting company. Just an added layer of security!
Now over to you
I’m curious? If you are using SiteGround leave a comment below. Your insights and experiences would be great to learn from.
If you do not have a WordPress website yet and would like to learn how to get started with SiteGround for WordPress.
You can checkout our FREE go at your own pace course, that will walk you step by step from getting started to creating your very own stunning website!
