Beginners often oversee the importance of a reliable web hosting service for their website. So, you must realize that a web host brings your site to the Internet, and therefore, it can directly impact your traffic, customer experience, and profits. Making a good decision is key. However, if you are creating your first site and getting in online, things might become tricky. You’ll face many confusing phrases, such as PHP versions and HTTP/2, making you feel overwhelmed in seconds.
Fortunately, our experts have chosen the best ways to host your website as a beginner, with one key point in mind: simplicity. We’ve conducted an independent study backed up by thousands of user reviews to discover the most important features beginners care about; excellent performance, straightforward navigation, and low prices with lots of free goods included!
In this article, you can learn more about beginner-friendly web hosting, find pointers on the key factors you should consider when choosing your service, and discover the top 9 providers currently available on the market. If you don’t have the time or patience for it, here’s our selection of the best web hosting companies, delivering a fuss-free experience for beginners.
Check Our Top Beginner-Friendly Hosting Providers
- Wix Website Builder – Best Overall Web Hosting for Beginners
- FastComet – Best Managed Cloud Hosting for Beginners
- Verpex – Best Cheap Beginner-Friendly Web Hosting
- Cloudways – Fastest Web Hosting for Beginners
- DreamHost – Best WordPress Hosting for Beginners
- HostArmada – Best cPanel and Website Builder for Beginners
- A2 Hosting – Best Beginner-Friendly Hosting for Small Businesses
- InterServer – Best for Customer Support
- Hostinger – Most Reliable Provider for Beginners
What Is Web Hosting for Beginners, and Who Is It For?
Nowadays, creating and launching a website isn’t limited to web developers and designers. You don’t have to be an expert; anyone can do it. Well, that’s until they have the right tools and technology on hand.
However, hosting services might vary considerably. Some offer extensive monthly bandwidth, better security, and faster servers, while others are more limited in resources. Similarly, some web hosts better address the needs of advanced users, while others cater to the needs of web hosting newbies.
Beginner-friendly web hosting services make it easy for you to go online. You’ll get a straightforward user dashboard to set up and navigate everything without any coding knowledge or experience. Furthermore, you can expect one-click website installers for the most popular apps and CMSs, such as WordPress. The best web hosting for beginners also includes valuable features, such as SSL or professional email, at an affordable price. Most importantly, these companies are fast and responsive, offering 24/7 support and extensive documentation to lead you every step of the way.
As the name implies, the best web hosting services for beginners are suitable for newbies on the web, ones without coding knowledge or web development experience. Also, it can work for those on tight schedules looking for a straightforward solution or businesses without in-house IT teams. Why? Because most of all, beginner-friendly web hosts focus on customer assistance, guiding each client with anything they might need help with!
The Best Web Hosting Services for Beginners Of 2023 (Bought and Tested)

Wix is an Israeli website builder that was founded in 2006. Since then, it has expanded its services and now offers top-quality web hosting as well. It is known in the industry for its ease of use, one-click installations, extensive integration library, and amazing features. Additionally, it is a great place for anyone who is just starting out in the website business, as it offers its basic web hosting service for free.
- Overall score: 3.1
- Features: 3.2
- Support: 2.9
- User Friendly: 3.3
- Pricing: 3.2
- Reliability: 2.9
Features: Wix offers a plethora of free and paid features, including over 1000 innovative features for its website builder platform, advanced security monitoring, automatic setup, CDN, data backup protection, DDoS protection, HTTPS and SSL protection, professional email address, and built-in SEO tools. However, we gave it a 3.2 score because most of the features it offers are not included in its free and cheaper web hosting plans; like a free domain, there are ads in the free and cheapest plans, and it offers more features for website building than for hosting.
Support: Wix provides two customer support options: priority customer care and 24/7 customer care. The more expensive plans are the only ones that offer the priority customer care program. Customer support for Wix is accessible by phone, email, and social media. Wix also offers a Wix Learn category with many courses and classes. Additionally, it offers a blog and a sizable Wix Help Center. However, it received a 2.9 score because users have reported issues with its refund policy and have complained that some agents have given them unhelpful solutions.
User Friendly: Customers regard Wix as the ideal platform for newbies. It offers a wide range of user-friendly features, a fantastic drag-and-drop builder, an intuitive and user-friendly interface, a flexible editor, and an all-around service that is simple to use without any prior knowledge or experience. It also offers a simple setup procedure and a substantial self-help library. However, we gave it a 3.3 score because it does not offer the cPanel, which is the favorite control panel among beginners.
Pricing: Wix offers its basic web hosting service for free. When it comes to its paid plans, the cheapest web hosting plan is the Connect Domain plan, which costs $4.50 per month. This plan includes 1 GB bandwidth, 500 MB storage, 24/7 customer service, and a free SSL Certificate. However, we gave it a 3.2 score because Wix’s plans are overall more expensive than its competitors and because the cheapest plan displays ads and does not include a free domain.
Reliability: Wix offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee, meaning that it promises its customers virtually no downtime or latency issues. Customers can also check the network status of Wix’s servers with just one click on the Wix website. Additionally, it provides enterprise-level security with DDoS protection, free SSL, and advanced security monitoring. However, Wix’s page loading speed times are slow, and its overall performance is average, which is why we gave a 2.9 score in this category.
Additional parameter – Server location: 4.0: When it comes to Wix, there is no specific information available on where its servers are located. We do know that it operates a number of data centers across the globe, with the majority of them being in the US and Europe. So, Wix received a 4.0 rating in this category because, although it serves a large number of customers in the regions mentioned above, it is still absent from many others, meaning that consumers from those regions may encounter slower performance, downtime, and latency issues as a result of server distance.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- A 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Built-in SEO tools
- A user-friendly interface
- Extensive integration library
- 24/7 customer support and an extensive self-help library
- Many easy-to-use tools
- Enterprise-grade security
- Built-in accessibility tools
- Branding tools
- DDoS protection
- Professional email address
- Email campaigns
Cons
- The free web hosting plan offers limited features and functionalities
- Slow page loading speeds
- The mobile version of your site can sometimes be non-responsive






I highly recommend FastComet’s beginner-friendly web hosting to all newbies in this field. The company offers entry-level shared hosting and WordPress hosting plans. But as your demands increase, you can quickly scale to more powerful packages.
- Overall Score: 4.8
- Ease Of Use: 4.9
- Features: 4.9
- Performance: 4.8
- Support: 4.8
- Pricing: 4.8
With FastComet, you can choose from three shared hosting plans on the cloud. You’ll get all-in-one packages, valuable features, and performance that exceeds your expectations. The best part is that you’ll benefit from the cPanel for easy point-and-click management of your hosting account entirely free.
Research Findings
Ease Of Use: FastComet offers immediate activation or free express transfer service. You’ll get cPanel and Softaculous, a 1-click app marketplace for over 450 apps (including WordPress), over 20 frameworks and development tools, drag & drop SiteBuilder, free app install & upgrade, etc.
Features: You’ll immediately fall in love with FastComet’s features; daily backups, Let’s Encrypt SSL, BitNinja server security, free migration, free domain transfer, unlimited FTP accounts, databases, subdomains, multiple PHP versions, WAF, SpamExperts, and more on the cheapest web hosting plan.
Performance: As a FastComet customer, you can choose from 11 enterprise-class data centers and 200 Global CDN Anycast Network access points and enjoy a 99.9% uptime commitment.
Support: You’ll get access to 3,000 pages of tutorials available for self-help and unlimited 24/7 priority support via phone, live chat, or tickets. The best part is that you can expect instant chat responses!
Pricing: FastComet’s cPanel shared hosting plans start at $2.49 per month for a single site with a free transfer, 15GB SSD space, and a 45-day money-back guarantee.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Multiple server locations, CDN, and SSDs for faster loading time
- Incredible easy to get started and navigate your site (people-powered migrations, immediate account activation, cPanel, 1-click installs, and more)
- Relevant hosting extras included (malware scans, WAF, SSL, and free daily backups)
Cons:
- A ‘Fair Usage Traffic Quota’ set on the data transfer/bandwidth (they can put constraints on your account if you are using resources beyond what is expected in the regular operation of your type of website)
- Prices significantly increase on renewal (you can partially avoid this by signing up for a longer-term plan)
- No free domain name included (it will cost you an additional $9.95 in the first year)
The FastCloud is as easy as it can get. You can learn a lot with FastComet, and its professionals are available around the clock to assist you with anything and everything. Don’t miss out; test this top-notch service today!






If you are just starting, chances are – you are on a tight budget. But you’re not alone. We’ve all been there, done that. Remember that you don’t have to sacrifice performance for the money. Instead, you can go for Verpex, the cheapest web hosting for beginners, offering superior quality for its price!
- Overall Score: 4.8
- Ease Of Use: 4.9
- Features: 4.8
- Performance: 4.7
- Support: 4.8
- Pricing: 4.9
Verpex offers the cheapest cloud web hosting and WordPress hosting plans, starting at $0.50 for the first month. That’s less than paying for a water bottle but powerful enough to help you create your website and start making money.
Research Findings
Ease Of Use: Verpex offers an all-inclusive package regarding user-friendliness; cPanel control panel, Cloudlinux, Softaculous, Jetbackup, WP CLI, instant setup, Imunify360, and SitePad Sitebuilder are just a part of the offer.
Features: Purchase a Verpex plan and get a free domain, free SSL certificates, routine daily backups, free site migrations, email features, development tools, and more.
Performance: You’ll get worldwide reach with Verpex to deliver fast speeds to your customers, regardless of their location. You’ll benefit from LiteSpeed web servers, location choices, and an uptime guarantee from 99.5% to 99.99%, depending on your plan.
Support: Verpex professionals are available 24/7, day and night, to assist you with any questions you may have. Verpex also has a Knowledge base and a blog for further advantage.
Pricing: With Verpex, you can start at $0.50 for a single website, 1GB SSD disk space, 1GB memory, one vCPU, one mailbox, infinite databases, two daily backups, and unlimited domain aliases.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- You get 90% off on your first month to get you going
- Many freebies included (domain, SSL certificate, cPanel, and routine daily backups)
- Fantastic ease of use and reliable 24/7 support (99% support case resolution)
Cons:
- The cheapest plan features a 99.50% uptime which is a bit low (all remaining plans come with an incredible 99.99% guarantee)
- The free domain is not included in the monthly billing cycle
- Prices increase on renewal (but even after this, they remain one of the most affordable ones on the market)






A common misbelief is that you need to be a web hosting pro for your site to perform well. I’m here to confirm – that’s far from the truth. With Cloudways, you can get the best-in-class configuration by default, without tinkering.
- Overall Score: 4.7
- Ease Of Use: 4.8
- Features: 4.7
- Performance: 4.9
- Support: 4.7
- Pricing: 4.6
Cloudways offers simple, and easy-to-use managed cloud hosting created for exceptional experiences. You’ll benefit from superior speed and performance, 1-on-1 expert support, and comprehensive security, whichever plan you choose.
Research Findings
Ease Of Use: Cloudways is all about its unique approach. You’ll get a custom control panel with unlimited applications and support for all PHP applications.
Features: Cloudways’ worry-free experience comes with managed security, automated backups, 24/7 real-time monitoring; WordPress, Magento, Laravel, or custom PHP server deployments.
Performance: Cloudways delivers scalable performance with optimized stack, Cloudflare CDN, auto-healing, and PHP 7.3 ready servers. You can choose from five industry-leading cloud infrastructure providers (DigitalOcean, Amazon AWS, Google Compute Engine, Linode, and Vultr) to deliver fast performance and ironclad security for your site.
Support: With 24/7/365 problem-solving for everyone, Cloudways will take your worries away and put time back into your day. You can also upgrade to an Advanced or Premium support add-on.
Pricing: As a Cloudways customer, you’ll benefit from pay-as-you-go pricing, no contracts, and a 3-day free trial. You can start at $10 per month for 1GB RAM, 1 Core Processor, 25GB Storage, and 1TB Bandwidth, or choose to pay hourly instead.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- You can go live in minutes (the platform removes all complexities of setting up your website)
- Fast performance, ironclad security, and seamless scalability (advanced caches with Breeze, a simplified Cloudways cache, and Cloudflare Enterprise)
- Worry-free experience with 24/7/365 managed support
Cons:
- No cPanel implementations (Cloudways offers an innovative and beginner-friendly user interface instead)
- You depend on two providers at the same time (Cloudways + the IaaS)
The faster your site is, the better. With Cloudways, you’ll get one of the fastest page loads and over 10x the visits for half the cost – scale up/down according to your needs and optimize operational costs. It’s a one-of-a-kind offer, so make sure not to miss it!




If you are looking for the best WordPress hosting for beginners, I have the perfect solution for your site. DreamHost provides the most affordable way to get all the basics for your WordPress website. You can also upgrade to managed WordPress with caching or WooCommerce hosting for your WordPress-powered online store.
- Overall Score: 4.3
- Ease Of Use: 4.4
- Features: 4.3
- Performance: 4.5
- Support: 4.2
- Pricing: 4.3
DreamHost’s WordPress Basic plans come with the CMS pre-installed, a WordPress Site Builder, and transparent pricing backed by an unbeatable 97-day money-back guarantee. Whether you opt for an entry-level price for your new site or multiple WordPress sites with professional email hosting @ your domain – DreamHost can deliver!
Research Findings
Ease Of Use: DreamHost will install WordPress so that you don’t have to. You’ll also get free automated WordPress migrations, WP Website Builder, an advanced and easy-to-use panel, and a powerful 1-click installer for various pre-assembled apps.
Features: You’ll benefit from unlimited bandwidth and storage for your WordPress site, free domain, free email addresses, free privacy protection, SSL security, and automated backups. You can also take your site to the next level with its advanced features; SSD access, IPv6 support, Rails, Python, Perl, etc.
Performance: DreamHost utilizes fast SSD storage, optimized servers, and resource protection, delivering a one-of-a-kind 100% uptime guarantee.
Support: DreamHost’s support team demonstrates 24/7 availability. You’ll get 100% in-house assistance over email and live chat and a comprehensive Knowledge base for relevant answers. But unfortunately, its live chat service is limited to 3:00 AM-9:30 PM PT.
Pricing: You can choose from monthly, annual, or triennial WordPress hosting plans starting at $2.59 for a single website with free domain, unlimited storage, and bandwidth. WordPress unlimited costs $3.95 for unlimited sites, traffic, and email.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Unlimited traffic without pesky overage fees in all WordPress hosting plans
- Exceptional 100% uptime guarantee and fast performance
- A wide range of beginner-friendly and WordPress optimized features
Cons:
- Monthly shared plans don’t qualify for a free domain
- Free email hosting is not available for the Shared Starter plan (you can add it for $1.67 per mailbox on a yearly email plan)
- Promotional offers are limited to new accounts (prices increase when you renew)






Who said anything about beginners not being able to build the site of their dreams? With HostArmada’s user-friendly hosting, anyone can easily create and navigate a website, whether a first-time user or a small business owner.
- Overall Score: 5.0
- Ease Of Use: 5.0
- Features: 5.0
- Performance: 5.0
- Support: 5.0
- Pricing: 4.8
If you want to quickly build a website without getting involved with an open-source platform, HostArmada is the way to go. Its shared hosting packages are prebuilt with a free drag-and-drop Website Builder. And you’ll also get the cPanel control panel for free!
Research Findings
Ease Of Use: HostArmada provides an intuitive drag-and-drop website builder and shared web hosting optimized for the most used open-source scripts. You can also use its Client Dashboard to manage all the aspects of its services and benefit from the popular cPanel.
Features: Even the cheapest HostArmada web hosting plan comes with free domain, free SSL, seven daily backups, malware scan, removal, WAF & IP firewalls, free website transfer, unlimited email accounts, subdomains, databases, and more!
Performance: HostArmada limits the number of clients per server and utilizes a cloud SSD technology and loading speed optimization for low server load, optimal website performance, and 99.9% uptime.
Support: Customers get human-powered technical support service for fast and secure website transfer, template or module installations, and any site-related issues. You might be a beginner and don’t know how to handle a problem, but fortunately, HostArmada professionals have your back 24/7.
Pricing: You can pay for HostArmada’s services monthly, annually, biennially, or triennially, with better discounts on the latter. The best deal is $3.74/month for unlimited websites, 30GB SSD storage, 4 Cores CPU, and 4GB RAM on the three-year plan.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Opensource ready web hosting plans (OpenCart, PrestaShop, Drupal, WordPress, Magento, Joomla, WooCommerce)
- The most comprehensive feature set (cPanel, Drag & Drop SiteBuilder, 1-click WordPress install, backups, SSL, website migrations)
- 24/7 technical and super-friendly support
Cons:
- Pretty pricey standard rates (but indeed worth the features; you can also benefit from frequent promotions, especially on the longer-term plans)
- The 45-day money-back guarantee doesn’t apply to monthly billing cycles






If you have a business website, fast page loading speeds, high security, frequent backups, and enough storage available are a must. And what you demand, A2 Hosting can deliver. The company offers various hosting options to satisfy anyone’s business needs.
- Overall Score: 4.7
- Ease Of Use: 4.7
- Features: 4.8
- Performance: 4.9
- Support: 4.7
- Pricing: 4.5
With A2 Hosting, you’ll enjoy a 99.99% uptime guarantee, unlimited email accounts, and unlimited websites for experimentation and marketing programs. It can handle 9X more traffic to improve your SEO rankings and increase conversions, and if you don’t have an in-house IT team, you can leave the maintenance, upgrades, and security patches to its team of experts.
Research Findings
Ease Of Use: A2 Hosting demonstrates incredible ease of use, especially on its managed business hosting plans. Its team will handle the technical aspects on your behalf, while you can use the 1-click deployment of the most popular online software applications from the A2 Control Panel.
Features: Professional business hosting plans with free expert site migration, on-site and off-site premium backups, pre-installed Jetpack, easy staging/cloning, cPanel control panel, a variety of SSL certificate options, unlimited email accounts, unlimited websites for business experimentation and marketing programs, and more!
Performance: With A2 Hosting, you can expect 40% faster CPU performance, ultra-fast SSD storage with 3X faster NVMe storage, and LiteSpeed Server Caching on Turbo plans. You’ll also enjoy enhanced security with HostGuard, and a 99.99% uptime guarantee for your business website.
Support: A2 Hosting offers managed support on its business web hosting plans. You’ll enjoy 24/7 network monitoring and around-the-clock support. You can chat with agents, call them or submit a ticket from the customer portal.
Pricing: You can start with managed WordPress hosting at $11.99 per month for a single website and 50GB NVMe SSD storage. You can also upgrade your WordPress hosting package or switch to managed VPS to drive growth or a managed dedicated server for enterprise-grade hosting.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Turbo plans for 20X faster average load times
- Incredible availability with a 99.99% uptime guarantee
- Excellent for a growing business site, SEO, and increasing conversions
Cons:
- More expensive entry-level plans (its shared hosting plans are far cheaper, so you can start with those instead)
- Higher renewal prices






If you ask me, customer support can either make it or break it for your site. Even experienced web developers experience issues, not to mention web hosting newbies. If you are a beginner, you’ll like having technical assistance available on demand. The best provider in this regard is InterServer.
- Overall Score: 4.4
- Ease Of Use: 4.5
- Features: 4.4
- Performance: 4.3
- Support: 4.6
- Pricing: 4.4
InterServer is the best beginner-friendly web hosting solution for customer support. Its team has been helping individuals drive their businesses and reach their goals for 23 years. And they can do the same for you!
Research Findings
Ease Of Use: With InterServer, you can benefit from the easy-to-use DirectAdmin control panel or select cPanel hosting instead. The company also includes SitePad Website Builder and 461 scripts available for 1-click installs on its plans.
Features: Free SSL certificates, unlimited email accounts, free website migration, unlimited ULTRA SSD storage, global content caching, and more, even on the cheapest InterServer hosting plan.
Performance: InterServer utilizes only half of its available resources to be able to support your website growth without experiencing performance issues. You’ll also get a 99.9% network uptime guarantee.
Support: InterServer’s dedicated customer support team is available 24/7 to help you with any issue you might encounter. You can reach them via phone, live chat, or the ticket system. Amazingly enough, they are even available on Facebook chat.
Pricing: InterServer’s standard web hosting starts at $2.50 per month, and while its competitors might have high renewal rates, InterServer does not!
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Superior server performance with InterShield Security, Inter-Proxy Caching + Cloudflare, and Inter-Insurance
- Excellent support levels from experienced web technicians
- Transparent pricing (prices don’t increase on renewal)
Cons:
- A single shared hosting plan is available (if your needs increase, you’ll have to upgrade to VPS hosting)
- Outdated website design, which might be confusing for beginners






If I had to describe Hostinger in one word, it would be reliable. In my opinion, it’s one of the few providers on the market that you can trust with any aspect of your website.
- Overall Score: 4.6
- Ease Of Use: 4.7
- Features: 4.6
- Performance: 4.8
- Support: 4.5
- Pricing: 4.6
When your website is down, you potentially miss an opportunity to engage with a customer (or a potential one). Hostinger is the most reliable web hosting solution for beginners that guarantees to keep your site online with the best possible service uptime. You can also count on its security practices, speed optimization, and support!
Research Findings
Ease Of Use: Instead of the industry-standard cPanel, you can use Hostinger’s intuitive, fast and better hPanel. If you don’t find it to your liking, you can always switch back to what’s familiar, i.e., the cPanel control panel. You’ll also find a Website Builder included.
Features: Hostinger’s services include free SSL, free domain, free email, free weekly backups, free migration, PHP speed boost, access management, backups, auto script installer, eCommerce optimization, Cloudflare CDN, DDoS protection, 1-click WordPress installation, and more.
Performance: With Hostinger, you’ll enjoy a 99.9% uptime guarantee. The best part is that you’ll never have to worry about using all of your plan’s resources (which slows down performance). The company will provide you with scaling suggestions based on your actual plan usage for optimal speed.
Support: Hostinger’s customers enjoy a 24/7/365 chat and email service with 20 minutes average issue resolution time, Knowledge Base, Tutorials, Webinars, and FAQ Database.
Pricing: You can start at $2.99 per month for Hostinger’s all-in-one web hosting package with unmetered traffic, 100 websites, and 100GB SSD storage. If you don’t like what you get, the company will refund your purchase within 30 days.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Optimized for WordPress (custom-built WP optimization stack and LiteSpeed cache)
- Fast load times for visitors, excellent online security, and uptime
- Unlimited extras on a budget (domains, bandwidth, and unlimited emails)
Cons:
- Live chat is limited to existing clients, and there’s no phone support
- Free domain is excluded from the cheapest web hosting plan
Ranking comparison between the Top Providers
How Do We Rank and How You Should Choose Your Best Web Hosting for Beginners?
- Simplicity and Ease Of Use20%
- Server Resources5%
- Valuable Hosting Features8%
- Server Performance8%
- Customer Support and Documentation12%
- Scalability Options5%
- Affordable Pricing12%
- User Reviews30%
We don’t develop our lists of recommendations overnight; it takes time, effort, lots of testing, and comparisons. Our professionals engage in category-specific and independent tests and ranking. We don’t depend on any third party, including the web hosting companies. Our only trusted source is user reviews from around the globe. Even in this regard, we pay special attention to separating the fake and paid recommendations from objective and unbiased views of one’s quality.
To decide who ranks accordingly within each category, we first develop criteria. Then, we test each web hosting solution against these factors to build a single, weighted score. You sure wonder, how do you combine this into a single number? It’s important to note that not all aspects are of equal importance. You’ll find an assigned percentage next to each criterion, representing its contribution to the best beginner-friendly web hosting service. While experienced web developers might need root access, that’s entirely irrelevant for you as a beginner.
Here are the most critical factors you need to pay attention to when choosing the best web hosting for beginners, more specifically, what our HostAdvice experts evaluated to develop the ‘top 9’ list:
- Simplicity and Ease Of Use (20%): First and foremost, you must be able to navigate your web hosting solution without any tech experience or skill. You are a newbie in this field, but that doesn’t mean you should be running to a professional each time you encounter an issue. It would be best to opt for a user dashboard with an intuitive and simple approach, such as the cPanel, and avoid poorly designed control panels. It will allow you to perform advanced tasks, such as installing an SSL or securing your site with only a few clicks. Here, it would be best if you also considered 1-click installs of the most popular apps and CMSs, such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, etc. You’ll enter the basic features, and the tool will take it over from then. Also, consider extra features, such as website builders to further facilitate your website creation process.
- Server Resources (5%): You can find lots of ‘unlimited’ offers, but beware, unlimited doesn’t indeed exist in web hosting (hint: read the fine print). How much storage and bandwidth will you get? Your webspace primarily depends on how many files you want to upload to your server. Usually, 500MB to 1GB is sufficient for a blog or a startup site. Your bandwidth, in turn, depends on how many visitors you expect each month. Evaluate your needs and choose accordingly.
- Valuable Hosting Features (8%): Just hosting your site won’t cut it; you’ll need more. You’ll probably want to consider email and domain management, backup policy, SSL certificate, WAF, and other security features. If you lack these essential freebies and choose to pay for them separately, you’ll empty your budget excessively. Also, check for OS compatibility. While most people prefer Linux-based servers, you’ll need to opt for Windows hosting if you have unique needs.
- Server Performance (8%): Your site needs to be able to handle whatever comes in its way, even if you are a beginner. At this point, you should consider uptime; the higher the result, the less downtime you’ll experience. It’s pretty easy to find an optime over 99.9%, but don’t accept anything less than 99.95%. Also, opt for a fast response time to improve your audience’s experience and excellent loading speeds. It would help to match your server location with the location of your target market to reduce latency. For instance, if your customers are in the US, opt for a US-based server. But what happens if you have a global audience? That’s when you need a CDN (Content Delivery Network).
- Customer Support and Documentation (12%): You’ll often run into situations when you need a helping hand, especially as a beginner. Ideally, the web host should have a rich Knowledge base or support documentation with how-to articles, step-by-step guides, and even video tutorials. A well-established community also comes in handy. This way, you’ll be able to learn the essentials along with the key features needed for operation. The best web hosting providers for beginners go a mile further, offering 24/7 assistance via several channels, including live chat, phone, and email support. With this option, you’ll always be able to contact an expert to solve your issue or at least guide you along the way.
- Scalability Options (5%): Sure, you’re just starting. Still, it would be best to think long-term. What happens when your hosting needs increase? What if you expand your market share and start getting significant traffic on your site? Your entry hosting plan will no longer cut it. That’s why you need to select a web hosting company with scalability options, including various plans, such as shared hosting, VPS, dedicated servers, WordPress, or cloud hosting. You can also opt for reseller hosting options if you want to turn your site into a money-making unit.
- Affordable Pricing (12%): Web hosting costs matter at all times, but especially when you are in the beginning and on a tight budget. Avoid starting with an expensive host. Instead, try to start small and upgrade as your needs increase. Cheap web hosting doesn’t mean low quality. Many quality hosts offer quality packages on a budget. Here, you can benefit from introductory prices and discounts on the longer-term plans. However, keep an eye on the renewal rates and ensure you get a money-back guarantee.
- User Reviews (30%): Last but not least, check the web host’s reputation. We give significant weight to customer reviews as the best and most objective indicator of a company’s quality. Beware of fake or paid reviews and misleading promotions.
Tips To Choose The Best Beginner-Friendly Web Hosting For Your Needs
Choosing the best web hosting for beginners is vital for your business and personal success. As a result, any error in picking the best web hosting will harm your website.
Choosing a web hosting service is vital because if you select the wrong hosting provider, your website will most likely go down, preventing visitors from viewing your website’s content. If this happens, your site’s general quality will suffer, and you will lose most (if not all) of your clients.
Here are some tips to make the right decision!
Tip #1: Assess The Needs of Your Website
First, sit down and establish a summary of your requirements. After that, you’ll be able to prioritize them more readily when you match your criteria to what each possible host has to offer.
Take into account your website’s niche, for example. If you’re creating a photographic website, you may want to emphasize speed and storage. For content-heavy sites, several servers provide CDN alternatives. E-commerce sites, on the other side, should prioritize bandwidth and security. In reality, several hosts provide e-commerce-specific plans.
Don’t neglect what sort (and how much) assistance you might require.
Tip #2: Examine The Server Reliability and Uptime
The term “uptime” refers to the proportion of time your website is up and accessible to web users without any problems. Obviously, you want your website to be up and running as much of it as feasible, and your host must offer close to 100% uptime.
In fact, not all web hosting companies define uptime the same way. As a result, you’ll need to thoroughly examine your chosen hosting company’s policy to see what it genuinely guarantees.
You could also inquire about how the host manages downtime. When you’re attempting to establish an online following, having your site regularly inaccessible is certainly not ideal.
Tip #3: Understand the Host’s Features
You’ll be able to handle this phase more easily if you’ve already established what you require from your web host. Some hosts give relatively generic services, but others may include unique features that might greatly simplify your life.
You must be able to determine quite quickly if what you want is available on the hosting provider’s website. If you have to look for it, the host may not be entirely focused on the most important aspects to you.
Tip #4: Confirm The Refund Policy and Other Guarantees
You can not know what will happen once you begin working on your website. Having said that, it’s a good idea to properly check your preferred web host’s refund policy. If you are unhappy with the current host or change your attitude about the site entirely, you must have choices.
In addition to ensuring that you may terminate your plan and receive a refund, it’s good to know what the host offers or what it does not; this might entail reviewing its uptime promise (as previously stated) as well as its conditions of service documentation. Does the web host put money back into your pocket if you experience downtime? Fast forward, they should!
Tip #5: Discover What Your Upgrade Options Are
“Reading the fine print” is a wise step when signing a contract, which is especially true for Internet services. Before committing to a hosting plan, ensure you won’t be fined if you decide to upgrade later. After all, your new blog or webcast may become popular at some point, and you’ll need to scale up rapidly to give your site more resources and space.
Tip #6: Check To See If The Host Supports eCommerce
If you’re creating an eCommerce website, be sure your web host provides everything you will need to operate an online store. It might include pre-installed e-commerce tools and even additional security precautions for online transactions.
Tip #7: Make a Thorough Understanding of Any Account Restrictions
You may not know what degree of traffic you will face, especially if you are creating a brand-new website. As a result, we recommend extensively researching if your potential hosting service will impose any limitations on your account.
This implies that you must have a rudimentary grasp of bandwidth. This word refers to the volume of data and traffic passing through your server. If you have a bunch of films kept on the server, for instance, you can take a huge amount of bandwidth when several people watch them simultaneously.
Why Do You Need cPanel As A Beginner?
Simply defined, cPanel is a Linux-based control panel that gives customers a dashboard from which they can manage many aspects of their website. It is one of the most commonly used control panels for making websites function more effectively. You may utilize the cPanel in a variety of hosting environments, such as dedicated, shared, and managed WordPress hosting. It is simple to learn and use.
Among the many useful features provided by cPanel are:
- Email - Within cPanel, you may establish new emails, view/modify existing accounts, change email passwords, configure mailbox quotas, and much more.
- File Management - You may archive your cPanel account, log in to access files stored in your account, analyze your disk use, and create or manage FTP accounts via the files area of cPanel.
- Databases - From here, you may create new databases, configure remote MySQL access, use phpMyAdmin to view the databases, and much more.
- Domains - You may establish new domains for your account, establish parked domains, build subdomains, set up redirects, and so much more under the domains area of cPanel.
cPanel transforms time-consuming and complicated server duties into a user-friendly interface.
Creating several subdomains, for example, necessitates modifying your Apache setup. Without cPanel, you would have to manually log into your server and update configuration files. This panel allows you to complete the same operation in only a few clicks.
Similarly, manually configuring and administering several email accounts on your server is complex and time-consuming. cPanel makes it simple to establish new accounts or move accounts from another server.
The Benefits of Using a Website Builder As A Beginner
It may be a lifesaver if you pick the correct website builder for your business. You may wonder whether a fully-featured website builder is a good decision for your needs, so I’ve listed some main advantages of utilizing website builders underneath to help you decide.
Benefit #1: Intelligent Website Design
There is no need for programming or technical knowledge. Website builders are intended for users that have little to no tech expertise. They use drag-and-drop technology and a user-friendly UI, enabling the ordinary person to write in text, share photos, or modify and relocate any component with a simple click and drag of the cursor – but without needing to type or edit a line of code, and without having to deal with FTP or other technical issues.
Benefit #2: It’s A Time-Saver
You’re already pushed for time as a small company owner. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you add constructing and administering a comprehensive website to your never-ending to-do checklist. It’s no surprise that over 50% of businesses in the US do not have a website.
Website builders allow you to construct professional-looking websites quickly and modify them to meet your needs afterward. The top builders feature tools that will enable you to generate top-notch content swiftly.
Benefit #3: Pretty Easy to Make Changes
Your website may be modified from any computer at any time. Since website builders are hosted online, your web files are stored on the service provider’s server rather than your own. You may sign in to your account, edit, and then save or publish your changes, and your changes will be live — all you want is a browser and Internet access, anywhere and from any gadget.
Benefit #4: A Cost-Effective Solution
You don’t need to employ a web designer on every occasion you would like to upgrade your site or add new information or graphics when you utilize a website builder. A DIY website builder would more than do for small enterprises short on time or money.
A website builder doesn’t really require significant expenditure to create a website. There are several free and premium options available. And even with expensive paid plans, website builders are relatively cost-effective compared to hiring expert assistance.
Benefit #5: Zero Maintenance Hassle
As your company expands, so should your website, whether adding more goods to your stock or changing content and adding additional pages.
A site builder tool offers all of the tasks necessary to maintain your site running and safe from technical and virus concerns. While some people like the challenges in maintaining their own websites, the majority outsource this responsibility to a professional or firm, and the cost can differ greatly based on how much work is required, as well as the size and structure of your company’s website.
The Key To Success For Beginners Is Excellent Customer Support
Many web hosting firms now offer their services to consumers worldwide. Consequently, deciding on the ideal one for your Internet business might be difficult. Even better, most of these web hosting businesses include limitless storage capacity, unlimited bandwidth, and support for many sites.
Assume your website has a server fault and is unavailable for extended periods. So, when you call the web host’s customer service, you discover that no one is responding to your inquiry. This might cause your online company to fail since many potential customers will try to visit a site that is not available. Furthermore, many people might migrate to your rivals’ websites.
Although no website hosting company can guarantee error-free customer care, the customer service team should be ready to resolve your difficulties promptly at any time. As a result, you won’t miss out on opportunities to communicate with your consumers.
You may select a web hosting package that offers particular web hosting features. For example, free over a year, unlimited bandwidth, and many other benefits. As a result, the customer support team must guarantee that the package specifics are sent to the relevant web hosting team and that the results are provided within the specified time frame.
Once the customer care crew is dependable and devoted, your company may experience hassle-free website hosting services. You may have picked the best web hosting company, but if the support team fails to give critical information or even provides false information on the services, it can put undue strain on your company.
Before registering for web hosting services, be sure to research the web hosting plans, how they manage online security concerns, and how frequently your site will be backed up.
Although these are technical concerns, the customer service personnel should be able to handle them. That’s also the greatest approach to determine whether the hosting company and customer care staff are technically competent. If they can, you can be certain that your website hosting is in skilled hands.
Best Web Hosting For Beginners: Final Recommendations
A website is a must in today’s globalized market environment, accounting for deliverability and enhanced financial performance. And the first step towards building a strong online presence is selecting a suitable web host. This company will store your files and deliver data to your site visitors, thus linking you and your target audience. Needless to say, choosing the best web hosting for your business is a decision worthy of your time and attention.
As explained, web hosts might vary dramatically. So, it would be best to match the offer with your needs; consider resources such as storage or data transfer, as well as features, including professional email, automated backups, SSL certificates, cPanel, 1-click installs with Softaculous, CMS integration, and more. Also, pay attention to month-to-month and annual prices, introductory discounts, and renewal rates, as they can be radically different.
Making a mistake when choosing the best beginner-friendly web hosting solution for your personal or business website can cost you a lot. If you have gone through my list of necessary criteria, you will most likely discover that several various hosting plans will suffice for your new site. So, either follow our recommendation or check your decision against a reliable source, whether user reviews or expert opinion!