Article Updated Oct 10, 2011 – Being a web designer for 5+ years now, I’ve seen a wide spectrum of web hosting setups and I’ve done just about every task associated with a hosting account and website. Some hosts were a breeze to navigate and set things up and some were not.
The Best Web Hosting
HostMonster (or BlueHost, same company) Review
Update: I put a little more research in and found that even WordPress, which is respected by millions also recommends this hosting as the #1 very best web hosting solution available.
HostMonster is by far the best web hosting I have ever seen and it’s what I personally use and run about twenty websites on, including this one. The reason is simple, it has everything you could ask for. It’s easy, affordable, and there is quality and quantity. There is no compromise with this service.
Here is a breakdown of the service:
- Price: $5.95 – $7.95 a month
(months purchased in advance and special deals may differ price) - What you Get: Unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited domain add-ons and pretty much unlimited everything else you could ever need.
- Server: Linux. This is the standard for most websites and is the most reliable environment for WordPress and websites in general.
- Control Panel: cPanel. The easiest system I’ve ever used and I think most people who’ve used both cPanel and something else would agree. To do anything is a snap. Create a new email or FTP account, add-on a new domain etc.
- Customer Service: 24/7 phone and live chat (US-based). I’ve used it often and have always been satisfied and answered within minutes.
- Internet Censorship: Against it.
Signup Now (and if you prefer BlueHost signup here)
Have more questions about HostMonster? – Ask me Anything
With my over 5 years of experience with the service I’m sure I can answer all your questions.
The Worst Web Hosting
GoDaddy Review
Sorry GoDaddy, it’s nothing personal… but you have the worst, most convoluted system I have ever seen. I actually get a mild feeling of dread when working on a client’s project that is on a GoDaddy account, I dislike it that much. And there is almost always a hurdle, delay or disadvantage to a client’s project solely based on the fact that their site resides in the GoDaddy environment.
Here is a breakdown of the service:
- Price: $9.99 – $14.99 a month
(months purchased in advance and special deals may differ price)
You must purchase GoDaddy’s most expensive package (twice as much) to get anything that even closely resembles HostMonster’s default package. - What you Get: Unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited domain add-ons etc. (I believe it’s roughly the same as HostMonster, but again you must buy their most expensive package to get this).
- Server: Windows (you pay extra for Linux). This may not seem to be a concern to you if you’re not designing your own website. But if you pick(ed) Windows it will effect the quality of your site and the cost to hire web pros. I’ve worked with hundreds of clients and customers (professionally and moderating forums) and I’ve seen many issues arise because of someone’s website being hosted on a Windows server. The majority of them were using GoDaddy.
- Control Panel: Custom. They’ve created their own and this is where the trouble comes in. It’s difficult, slow and a mess to accomplish even the simplest of tasks. It’s pretty difficult to setup FTP with GoDaddy, so you often resolve this by just using their built-in Java FTP client which if you leave unattended for more than a minute times out or crashes. Also, if you try to upload too many files at once it crashes.
The navigation of the entire admin/control panel is a mess, so many different pages and sub-pages and almost everything opens in a new window causing a mess in your browser and a headache. You will time out of the admin if left unattended for just a short while. I could go on but I’m already creating my own convoluted mess in text.
- Customer Service: 24/7 phone, but no chat (India-based). And it was a horrible system and I was on hold forever.
- Internet Censorship: For it. They only redacted their stance once they realized how bad it was for business after a huge GoDaddy boycott took place.
Important Note:
Mentioning US-based Vs India-based was in no way a racial or cultural statement, merely a practical one. I work with clients and professionals all around the world and they’re all great people, because I choose to only surround myself with great people.
I’ve worked with quality professionals all over the US, Canada, Europe, India, China and probably more because I don’t always discuss location… it really isn’t important in my business anyways.
Pointing this out is simply for the fact that as many of you may know, it’s already difficult enough to explain a technical problem you’re having, let alone on top of that having difficulties understanding a customer service rep or vice versa because of a language (broken accent) barrier.
Again, this problem can arise in many different forms. I’ve worked with some Indians who spoke better English than I did. Some people frown upon outsourcing as well. I know this is more important in other industries, but as far as web-based freelancers we’re a global community and I have no serious problem with it.
However you feel about it, GoDaddy outsources to India and HostMonster handles customers in-house one on one in the US.
Update:
I was recently speaking to GoDaddy tech support about a client’s email address that still had not propagated or become usable in over 24 hours of initiating it’s setup. At the end of the conversation I thought I’d go ahead and ask:
“Why is it, that GoDaddy takes SO long to do anything when other hosts I’ve worked with handle everything almost instantaneously?”
his reply was something to the effect of:
“Well, it is true that certain things can take up to a day or so to update. On good days when it’s not so congested things can go more quickly. But, the fact of the matter is that GoDaddy is the most popular host, and it gets very busy.”
I definitely would not argue the point that it is the most popular and that has plenty to do with how slow it is, but it certainly is not the best. Truly, GoDaddy is an unstoppable beast that with their money and commercial advertising with Super Bowl spots has become the household name in hosting. With that being said they’ve done a better job with marketing than they have building a great system for customers.
Just discovered NoDaddy – very funny AND scary stuff. UPDATE: Looks like GoDaddy bought out NoDaddy (which publicized many horror stories from both previous and current customers and employees) and then shut it down for obvious damage control reasons. So, in short the site is dead.
The Challenge
Don’t just take my word for it, do your own research.
godaddy sucks AND hostmonster sucks are popular Google searches. Read up on it yourself, there are pros and cons to everything, no one and no one company or service are perfect in life. You just need to weigh the pros and the cons.
Politely, if you can make a good case for or against either GoDaddy or HostMonster I’d love to hear it in the comments below. I’ll do my best to rebuttal, but if you make valid points they will be recognized. You’ll never get fluff and salesmanship from me, but honesty and straight forwardness.
Finding a Domain
With HostMonster, signing up for your domain and hosting are one in the same. Of course you’ll want to make sure your desired domain is available first (not already registered). I recommend using DomainTools.
One final note. If you decide that HostMonster is not the right solution for you, I still very much hope you leave having learned at least enough to avoid GoDaddy at all costs.
Thanks for reading, Bryan
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