Best Web Hosting for Small Business in April 2024

Best web hosting for small business

Quick answer: The Best Web Hosting for Small Business in 2024 is Hostinger!

If you’re an owner of a small business, having a website will drastically improve your chances of success. However, choosing a good hosting for your website isn’t as easy as it sounds. There are at least 50 options on the market, and not all of them are suitable for small businesses.

Some of them are very expensive and you don’t want to overpay something you probably won’t need. On the flip side, you also don’t want a hosting that’s not going to meet your expectations. Choosing the best web hosting for small businesses comes down to a lot of factors.

These include pricing, type of hosting, scalability, and many more. Therefore, we will discuss all of them in the following analysis, as well as give you our list of the best web hosting services for small businesses.

I suggest sticking with me until the end – it’s going to be interesting and insightful!

1. Best Web Hosting for Small Business in April 2024

During my in-depth analysis and research, I’ve used dozens of hosting providers. While most of them were satisfactory, I concluded that these 10 are the absolute best for smaller businesses:

1.1 Hostinger

Hostinger Web Hosting for Small Business

Hostinger is widely recognized as a solid web hosting choice for small businesses, especially for those seeking an affordable yet feature-rich solution. Here’s why it stands out:

  1. Budget-Friendly Pricing: With plans starting at just $1.99 per month, Hostinger is one of the most affordable web hosting options available, making it ideal for small businesses or startups on a tight budget.

  2. Variety of Hosting Options: Hostinger offers a diverse range of hosting types, including shared, cloud, WordPress, VPS, and even specialized options like Minecraft server hosting. This variety allows businesses to choose the hosting service that best fits their specific needs.

  3. Scalability: The ability to scale from shared hosting to cloud or VPS hosting provides flexibility for businesses as they grow. This scalability ensures that Hostinger can continue to meet the hosting needs of a business over time.

  4. Decent Performance and Uptime: Hostinger promises an approximate uptime of 99.99%, ensuring reliable website availability. This level of performance is crucial for maintaining a professional online presence.

  5. SSD Storage and Bandwidth: Even the cheapest plan offers 30 GB of fast SSD storage and 100 GB bandwidth, which are sufficient for many small business websites.

  6. Free SSL Certificate: The inclusion of a free SSL certificate with hosting plans enhances website security and trustworthiness, which is essential for businesses handling sensitive customer information.

  7. More Comprehensive Premium Plan: The Premium plan, priced at $2.99 per month, offers more extensive features, including unlimited bandwidth, 100 GB of storage space, and 100 email accounts, making it a great value for small businesses.

  8. Customer Support: Hostinger provides 24/7 customer support through live chat and phone, ensuring that help is available whenever needed.

  9. Money-Back Guarantee: The 30-day money-back guarantee offers peace of mind and a risk-free way to evaluate their hosting services.

  10. Free CDN: The inclusion of a free CDN (Content Delivery Network) with hosting plans can improve website speed and performance, which is crucial for user experience and SEO.

In summary, Hostinger’s combination of affordable pricing, a variety of hosting options, reliable performance, and comprehensive support make it an attractive option for small businesses seeking a capable yet budget-friendly web hosting solution. Its scalability and additional features like free SSL certificates and CDN further enhance its value proposition.

Hostinger

1.2 BlueHost

Bluehost Web Hosting for Small Business

BlueHost is a highly regarded web hosting provider, particularly well-suited for small businesses due to its balance of affordability, functionality, and user-friendliness. Here’s why it’s a good choice:

  1. Variety of Hosting Options: BlueHost offers a range of hosting types, including shared, WordPress, dedicated, and VPS hosting. This variety allows small businesses to choose a hosting solution that best fits their specific needs and growth plans.

  2. WooCommerce Support: For businesses looking to set up an online store, BlueHost’s support for WooCommerce is a significant advantage. It simplifies the process of launching and managing an e-commerce platform.

  3. Free Domain and SSL Certificate: BlueHost provides a free domain for the first year and a free SSL certificate, enhancing the value of their hosting packages and ensuring essential website security.

  4. Ease of Use: The platform is known for its user-friendly interface, making it easy for beginners to set up and manage their websites, particularly those based on WordPress.

  5. Competitive Pricing: With plans starting at $2.95 per month, BlueHost offers competitive pricing, especially considering the included features like 50 GB of SSD storage, which is ample for many small businesses.

  6. Scalability: BlueHost’s hosting plans are scalable. For instance, the Plus plan offers unlimited websites and storage, catering to businesses looking to expand their online presence.

  7. 24/7 Customer Support: Round-the-clock live chat and phone support ensure that help is always available, which is crucial for businesses that rely heavily on their online presence.

  8. Free CDN Integration: The inclusion of a free CDN (Content Delivery Network) can improve website loading times and performance, crucial for user experience and SEO.

  9. Automated Backups in Higher Plans: The most expensive plan includes automated backups, providing added security and peace of mind by safeguarding website data.

  10. High Uptime of 99.98%: BlueHost’s uptime of 99.98% ensures that websites are reliably accessible to visitors, which is crucial for maintaining a professional online presence.

In summary, BlueHost’s combination of diverse hosting options, WooCommerce support, user-friendly setup, scalable plans, and reliable customer support make it an excellent web hosting choice for small businesses. Its competitive pricing and additional features like free domain, SSL certificate, and CDN further enhance its appeal as a comprehensive and affordable hosting solution.

Bluehost

1.3 HostGator

Hostgator Web Hosting for Small Business

HostGator is a well-regarded web hosting service, known for its versatility and user-friendly features, making it an excellent choice for small businesses. Here’s why HostGator stands out:

  1. Diverse Hosting Options: HostGator offers a wide range of hosting services, including cloud, WordPress, dedicated, VPS, and reseller hosting. This diversity allows businesses to choose a hosting solution that aligns perfectly with their specific requirements.

  2. Ease of Use with Website Builder: The inclusion of a website builder with intuitive drag-and-drop functionality makes it easy for users to design, customize, and publish their websites directly on HostGator. This feature is particularly useful for businesses without technical web development expertise.

  3. Robust Security and Unmetered Bandwidth: HostGator provides solid security measures along with unmetered bandwidth, ensuring that websites can handle substantial traffic without facing security or performance issues.

  4. Free Domain and SSL Certificate: Even with the most basic plan, HostGator offers a free domain and SSL certificate, enhancing the value proposition and ensuring essential security for websites.

  5. Unlimited Storage Space on Cheapest Plan: The cheapest plan offering unlimited storage space is a significant advantage, especially for businesses that require extensive data storage.

  6. One-Click WordPress Integrations: The ease of integrating with WordPress with a single click simplifies the process of setting up and managing a WordPress site.

  7. 24/7 Customer Support: Round-the-clock customer support via live chat and phone on all plans ensures that users can get help whenever needed.

  8. Scalable Solutions for Business Expansion: HostGator offers scalable solutions like dedicated and VPS hosting, which are ideal for businesses looking to expand. For instance, VPS hosting starts at $24 a month, offering excellent performance.

  9. Competitive Pricing: Starting at $2.75 per month, HostGator’s pricing is competitive, making it accessible to small businesses on a budget.

  10. 45-Day Money-Back Guarantee: The 45-day money-back guarantee offers peace of mind and a risk-free way to evaluate their hosting services.

  11. High Uptime of 99.9%: An uptime of 99.9% ensures that websites hosted on HostGator are reliably accessible to visitors.

In summary, HostGator’s combination of diverse hosting options, ease of use with a website builder, robust security features, scalable solutions, and reliable customer support make it a strong choice for small businesses. Its competitive pricing, unmetered bandwidth, and high uptime further enhance its appeal as a comprehensive and affordable hosting solution.

HostGator

1.4 Cloudways

Cloudways Web Hosting for Small Business

Cloudways stands out as a robust web hosting solution for small businesses, especially those looking for managed cloud hosting. Its blend of ease of use, reliability, and performance makes it a strong contender in the market. Here’s why Cloudways is a good choice:

  1. Managed Cloud Hosting: Cloudways specializes in managed cloud hosting, which combines the flexibility and scalability of cloud computing with the convenience of managed services. This is particularly beneficial for small businesses that may not have the technical expertise to manage cloud infrastructure independently.

  2. High Uptime of 99.99%: Cloudways boasts a high uptime of 99.99%, ensuring that websites hosted on its platform are consistently available and reliable.

  3. Range of Cloud Hosting Providers: The platform offers a selection of cloud hosting providers, including options for various budget ranges. This variety allows businesses to choose a provider that best matches their performance needs and budget constraints.

  4. WordPress and eCommerce Hosting: Cloudways supports both WordPress and eCommerce website hosting, enhancing its versatility and making it suitable for a wide range of online business models.

  5. Scalable Storage and RAM Options: While storage isn’t unlimited, Cloudways offers a range of storage options from 25 GB to 256 GB, along with 1 GB to 2 GB of RAM, catering to varying needs of small businesses.

  6. Generous Bandwidth Allocation: Depending on the subscription plan, users can access bandwidth ranging from 2 GB to 5 TB, which is ample for most small to medium-sized business websites.

  7. Competitive Starting Price: With plans starting at around $12 per month, Cloudways offers an affordable entry point into managed cloud hosting.

  8. 24/7 Customer Support: The platform provides 24/7 live chat support for all users, with options for advanced and premium support add-ons, ensuring comprehensive assistance whenever needed.

  9. Free Migrations and CDN: Cloudways offers free migrations, making it easier for businesses to switch to their platform. The inclusion of a free CDN (Content Delivery Network) also enhances website performance and speed.

  10. Fast Performance: Cloudways is known for its fast performance, a critical factor for enhancing user experience and SEO.

  11. No Long-Term Contract: Cloudways operates on a pay-as-you-go model, which means there’s no long-term financial commitment, offering flexibility for small businesses.

In summary, Cloudways’ combination of managed cloud hosting, a variety of cloud providers, support for WordPress and eCommerce, scalable resources, and reliable customer support make it a strong web hosting option for small businesses. Its balance of affordability, performance, and ease of use further enhances its suitability for businesses looking to leverage cloud technology.

Cloudways

1.5 Dreamhost

Dreamhost Web Hosting for Small Business

DreamHost is a well-regarded web hosting provider, known for its affordability and a range of features that cater to the needs of small businesses. Here’s why DreamHost is a good choice:

  1. Affordable Pricing: With plans starting at about $1.99 per month, DreamHost is one of the most affordable web hosting options, making it a great choice for small businesses and startups on a tight budget.

  2. WordPress Hosting Capability: DreamHost excels at hosting WordPress websites, offering easy installation and free automated migrations. This makes it an ideal choice for businesses looking to use or switch to the WordPress platform.

  3. Variety of Hosting Options: DreamHost provides a range of hosting types, including shared, VPS, cloud, dedicated, and managed WordPress hosting. This variety ensures scalability and flexibility as your business grows.

  4. User-Friendly: The platform is user-friendly, with one-click WordPress installation and a straightforward control panel, making it accessible for users without technical expertise.

  5. Storage Space: Even the cheapest plan offers 50 GB of storage, which is sufficient for many small websites. More expensive plans offer unlimited storage, catering to businesses with larger data storage needs.

  6. Reliable Uptime: DreamHost has an uptime of 99.95%, ensuring that websites hosted on its platform are consistently available to visitors.

  7. Automated Daily Backups and Free SSL Certificate: The inclusion of automated daily backups and a free SSL certificate enhances website security and data protection, which are critical for business websites.

  8. Unmetered Bandwidth: DreamHost offers unmetered bandwidth, which means there are no restrictions on the amount of data transferred, allowing for better handling of website traffic.

  9. 24/7 Customer Support: DreamHost provides 24/7 live chat and email support, ensuring that assistance is available whenever needed.

  10. 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee: The 30-day money-back guarantee offers peace of mind and a risk-free way to evaluate their hosting services.

  11. Free CDN Integration: The inclusion of a free CDN (Content Delivery Network) can improve website loading times and performance, which is crucial for user experience and SEO.

In summary, DreamHost’s combination of affordable pricing, WordPress hosting capability, variety of hosting options, user-friendliness, and reliable customer support make it a strong choice for small businesses. Its balance of storage options, uptime reliability, and additional features like daily backups and SSL certificates further enhance its appeal as a comprehensive web hosting solution.

Dreamhost

1.6 SiteGround

SiteGround Web Hosting for Small Business

SiteGround is recognized as a robust web hosting provider, particularly suitable for small businesses, including those focusing on eCommerce. Here’s why SiteGround is a compelling choice:

  1. High Reliability and Uptime: SiteGround boasts an impressive uptime of 99.98%, ensuring that websites hosted on its platform are consistently available and reliable, which is crucial for maintaining a professional online presence.

  2. Diverse Hosting Options: SiteGround offers a variety of hosting services, including shared, reseller, WordPress, WooCommerce, and cloud hosting. This range caters to different needs and allows businesses to choose the most suitable hosting type.

  3. eCommerce-Focused Features: For businesses planning to sell digital or physical goods, SiteGround’s focus on eCommerce hosting provides specialized features and optimizations for online stores.

  4. Competitive Pricing: Starting at $3.99 per month, SiteGround’s pricing is competitive, offering a good balance of features and affordability.

  5. Storage and Bandwidth: The entry-level plan offers 10 GB of storage and unmetered traffic, suitable for small websites. Higher-tier plans offer more storage and bandwidth, catering to growing businesses.

  6. Free SSL and CDN: The inclusion of free SSL certificates and CDN (Content Delivery Network) in all plans enhances website security and performance, crucial for user experience and SEO.

  7. Enhanced Features in Higher Plans: Upgrading to more expensive plans unlocks additional features like unlimited websites, more storage space, unlimited databases, and priority support.

  8. Cloud Hosting Options: SiteGround’s cloud hosting plans offer up to 160 GB of storage and 5TB data transfer, providing options for businesses needing high performance and scalability.

  9. 24/7 Customer Support: Round-the-clock live chat and phone support ensure that assistance is always available, which is particularly valuable for businesses relying heavily on their online presence.

  10. Money-Back Guarantee: SiteGround offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for standard hosting and a 14-day guarantee for cloud hosting, offering a risk-free way to evaluate their services.

  11. User-Friendly Interface: The platform is known for its user-friendly interface, making it accessible for users without technical expertise.

In summary, SiteGround’s combination of high reliability, diverse hosting options, eCommerce-focused features, and competitive pricing make it an excellent web hosting choice for small businesses. Its scalability, cloud hosting options, and reliable customer support further enhance its suitability for businesses looking for a robust and user-friendly hosting solution.

SiteGround

1.7 InMotion

InMotion Web Hosting for Small Business

InMotion Hosting stands out as a strong web hosting solution for small businesses, offering a mix of features, performance, and support that are particularly appealing for growing online ventures. Here’s why InMotion is a good choice:

  1. Variety of Hosting Options: InMotion provides a range of hosting types including shared, VPS, dedicated, and WordPress hosting, catering to a variety of business needs and growth stages.

  2. Competitive Pricing: With plans starting at $2.99 per month, InMotion offers competitive pricing that’s attractive for small businesses looking to maximize value.

  3. Free SSL Certificate: The inclusion of a free SSL certificate in hosting plans enhances website security, an essential aspect of maintaining customer trust and satisfaction.

  4. WooCommerce and Magento Support: For businesses focused on eCommerce, InMotion’s support for WooCommerce and Magento is a significant advantage, offering tailored solutions for online stores.

  5. Marketing Tools and Unlimited Bandwidth: The cheapest plan includes essential marketing tools and unlimited bandwidth, providing valuable resources for website promotion and handling heavy traffic.

  6. High Uptime Guarantee: InMotion’s commitment to a 99.99% uptime ensures that business websites are reliably accessible to visitors, which is crucial for maintaining a professional online presence.

  7. Fast SSD Storage: Offering 100 GB of SSD storage in the cheapest plan, with options for unlimited NVMe SSD storage in higher plans, InMotion ensures quick loading times and efficient data management.

  8. 24/7 Customer Support: Round-the-clock live chat and phone support mean businesses can get help whenever needed, which is particularly valuable for operations that rely heavily on their online presence.

  9. Free Domain Offering: The inclusion of a free domain with hosting plans adds value and convenience for businesses setting up new websites.

  10. Money-Back Guarantee: InMotion offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for most plans, and an extended 90-day guarantee for VPS and reseller hosting plans longer than six months, providing a risk-free way to evaluate their services.

  11. NVMe SSD Options for Enhanced Performance: For businesses requiring high-performance hosting, InMotion’s NVMe SSD options offer even faster data access speeds.

In summary, InMotion Hosting’s blend of versatile hosting options, competitive pricing, eCommerce support, robust performance, and reliable customer support make it an excellent web hosting choice for small businesses. While it may lack a free CDN, its overall offerings provide a comprehensive hosting solution well-suited to a variety of business needs.

InMotion

1.8 GreenGeeks

GreenGeeks Web Hosting for Small Business

GreenGeeks is a distinct and eco-friendly web hosting provider, making it an appealing choice for small businesses, especially those committed to environmental sustainability. Here’s why GreenGeeks is a good option:

  1. Eco-Friendly Hosting: GreenGeeks is unique in its commitment to being eco-friendly, using wind power to offset the energy used by its servers. This environmentally responsible approach is particularly attractive to businesses looking to reduce their carbon footprint.

  2. Reliable Performance and Uptime: Despite its eco-friendly approach, GreenGeeks maintains a high level of performance, with a consistent uptime of 99.9%, ensuring reliable website accessibility.

  3. Competitively Priced Plans: With plans starting at $2.95 per month, GreenGeeks offers affordable hosting options that include features like unmetered transfer, free CDN, and 50 GB of storage space.

  4. Diverse Hosting Types for Scalability: GreenGeeks provides various hosting types, including shared, WordPress, reseller, and VPS hosting, offering scalability and flexibility to accommodate different business needs and growth.

  5. Reasonable VPS Hosting Prices: The VPS hosting plans are reasonably priced, with the best deal around $60 a month, offering a balance of performance and cost for businesses needing more resources.

  6. Optimal Web Hosting Plans: The Pro plan at $5.95 a month offers great value with unlimited websites, space, databases, and transfer, along with multi-user access.

  7. Environmentally Positive Impact: With each subscription plan, GreenGeeks contributes to environmental sustainability by planting a tree, aligning with eco-conscious business values.

  8. Comprehensive Customer Support: Offering 24/7 live chat, email, and phone support, GreenGeeks ensures that assistance is readily available for its users.

  9. 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee: A 30-day money-back guarantee provides a risk-free opportunity for businesses to try their hosting services.

  10. Free CDN Integration: The inclusion of a free CDN (Content Delivery Network) in hosting plans helps improve website speed and performance, which is crucial for user experience and SEO.

  11. Linux-Based Hosting: GreenGeeks is particularly well-suited for businesses using Linux-based operating systems, offering optimized hosting solutions for this platform.

In summary, GreenGeeks’ unique eco-friendly approach, combined with reliable performance, diverse hosting options, competitive pricing, and strong customer support, make it an excellent choice for small businesses, especially those prioritizing environmental sustainability. Its commitment to planting trees with each subscription adds a unique value proposition for environmentally conscious businesses.

GreenGeeks

1.9 A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting Web Hosting for Small Business

A2 Hosting is widely recognized for its focus on small businesses, offering a range of hosting options and features tailored to their needs. Here’s why A2 Hosting is a solid choice for small business web hosting:

  1. Wide Range of Hosting Options: A2 Hosting provides various hosting services, including VPS, WordPress, dedicated, reseller, eCommerce, and blog hosting, catering to the diverse needs of small businesses.

  2. One-Click WordPress Installation: The platform supports one-click WordPress installation, simplifying the process for businesses looking to use or migrate to the WordPress ecosystem.

  3. eCommerce Support: A2 Hosting offers third-party integrations with platforms like Magento and PrestaShop, making it a suitable choice for businesses operating or planning to start an eCommerce website.

  4. Affordable Starting Plans: With plans starting at $2.99, A2 Hosting offers an affordable entry point for small businesses, including 100 GB SSD storage for hosting a website.

  5. Free Website Migrations: The inclusion of free website migrations, even in the basic plan, is a significant advantage for businesses looking to switch hosting providers.

  6. User-Friendly cPanel: A2 Hosting features an easy-to-use cPanel, which enhances user experience and management of hosting services.

  7. Unlimited Data Transfer: Offering unlimited transfer in certain plans, A2 Hosting ensures that businesses can handle website traffic without bandwidth constraints.

  8. Free SSL Certificate: The provision of a free SSL certificate enhances website security, which is crucial for protecting customer data and building trust.

  9. Advanced Website Builder: A2 Hosting includes a website builder, which is beneficial for businesses looking to create or redesign their websites without needing extensive technical skills.

  10. Enhanced Features in Higher Plans: More expensive plans come with additional benefits like automatic backups, unlimited NVMe storage, and significantly faster speeds.

  11. Competitively Priced VPS Hosting: The VPS hosting options, starting at $39.99 with 150 GB of storage, offer a balanced combination of performance and cost for businesses needing more resources.

  12. 24/7 Customer Support: Round-the-clock live chat, support requests, and phone support ensure that assistance is always available.

  13. Extended Money-Back Guarantee: A2 Hosting offers a 31-90 day money-back guarantee, depending on the hosting solution, providing a risk-free way to evaluate their services.

  14. 99.9% Uptime Guarantee: The 99.9% uptime guarantee, while not the highest in the industry, is still a reliable standard for maintaining a professional online presence.

In summary, A2 Hosting’s broad range of hosting options, small business-focused features, affordable pricing, and strong customer support make it a worthwhile consideration for small businesses seeking a reliable and versatile web hosting solution. Its commitment to user-friendly experiences and eCommerce support further enhances its suitability for small business websites.

A2 Hosting

1.10 Kinsta

Kinsta Web Hosting for Small Business

Kinsta is a specialized web hosting provider focusing on managed WordPress hosting, and it’s particularly suited for small businesses with specific hosting requirements. Here’s why Kinsta is a good choice:

  1. Managed WordPress Hosting: Kinsta specializes in managed WordPress hosting, providing optimized performance, security, and support for WordPress websites. This focus makes it ideal for small businesses using or planning to migrate to WordPress.

  2. User-Friendly Interface: Kinsta offers an easy-to-use interface, making it accessible for users who may not have extensive technical expertise in web hosting or WordPress management.

  3. Competent Starting Plan: Although starting at $30 per month, Kinsta’s cheapest plan includes 10 GB of storage space, free CDN, and one free migration, offering a solid foundation for small WordPress websites.

  4. Reliable Performance: While not the highest in the industry, Kinsta’s uptime of around 99.91% is still quite reliable, ensuring that websites are generally available and accessible to visitors.

  5. 24/7 Customer Support: Kinsta provides 24/7 customer support through live chat and phone, ensuring that help is available at any time, which is crucial for businesses relying on their online presence.

  6. Simple WordPress Installation: The platform makes installing and managing WordPress straightforward, which is beneficial for businesses looking to streamline their website setup and maintenance.

  7. Free CDN Integration: The inclusion of a free CDN (Content Delivery Network) in all plans helps improve website loading times and performance, crucial for user experience and SEO.

  8. 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee: Kinsta offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, providing a risk-free period for businesses to evaluate the hosting service.

  9. Suitable for Specific Business Needs: While Kinsta may not offer the widest range of hosting types and its plans come with certain limits, it’s a strong option for small businesses with specific WordPress hosting needs.

  10. Not Ideal for Large Enterprise Needs: Given the pricing structure and plan limits, Kinsta’s hosting solutions might not be the best fit for large enterprises, especially those requiring unlimited resources.

  11. Eco-Friendly Approach: Kinsta’s commitment to sustainability, using Google Cloud Platform’s green energy hosting, aligns well with eco-conscious business values.

In summary, Kinsta’s managed WordPress hosting specialization, combined with its user-friendly interface, reliable performance, and strong customer support, makes it a good choice for small businesses focused on WordPress. Its straightforward approach to WordPress hosting, along with quality service provisions, suits businesses looking for a hassle-free managed WordPress solution, albeit at a higher price point compared to some competitors.

Kinsta

2. What to Look for in the Best Web Hosting for Small Business Websites?

While testing all of the services, I made sure to take into account some of the most important factors that you should look for. Therefore, let’s talk more about them, as they’ll surely help you pick the right one for your needs.

2.1 Hosting Solution

Obviously, before deciding to get a subscription, you must determine which type of hosting you want. Usually, we’re talking about shared or web hosting that yields the cheapest prices and is, in most cases, going to be your choice.

However, scalability is a big thing for some people. In that case, shared hosting might not cut it, so you’ll need to either go for dedicated or cloud hosting. While shared hosting is offered by pretty much any provider, quality cloud hosting isn’t as common.

So, for example, if cloud hosting is your thing, you can go for Cloudways, and if you want shared hosting, BlueHost is a great solution. Now, you might be a total newbie and you don’t know what these hosting solutions are.

Don’t worry – if you scroll down to the FAQ section, you’ll find explanations for all of them!

2.2 Uptime & Performance

Uptime is extremely important in the best hosting for small businesses. Let’s assume that this business is all you do for a living. Now, just imagine your website being down for 5, 10, or 20 minutes each day or a week.

If that happens way too often, you lose potential and existing customers, which reduces your total earnings. For that reason, it’s extremely important to have a reliable hosting solution with an uptime of more than 99.9%.

I found BlueHost to be extremely reliable, but HostGator does a great job as well. Choosing any of them will guarantee that your website will almost always be functional and usable, which improves your business’ image.

Not to mention performance that’s also vital. Loading times are very important and you want your website to perform smoothly for an enjoyable browsing experience. I made sure that none of the choices I gave you disappointed in this department.

While some are slower than others, I recommend going for subscription plans that offer better performance. In most cases, the best performance will be on the cloud and dedicated hosting subscription plans, but this is the best-case scenario and isn’t necessary for everyone.

2.3 Storage & Bandwidth

To be able to host a website, hosting providers need storage. Not every storage is fast and spacious – bear that in mind. Usually, we’re talking about storage space of 10-50 GB for the starter plans, which is small, albeit enough for some users.

More expensive plans will give you more storage space, even going up to unlimited, with NVMe SSD solutions that promise blazing-fast speeds. Now, think about this – are you going to upload a lot of images and storage-hungry files?

If you’re selling digital goods online, for example, that’s probably going to be the case. Or perhaps, if you have a blog and you don’t plan on occupying your storage that much, you probably won’t need to go for the most expensive solutions.

The same applies to bandwidth. If your pages aren’t too large and you don’t get many visitors simultaneously, you don’t need to always pay more for unlimited bandwidth.

2.4 Free Domain & SSL

Getting a free domain and SSL certificate is what I like to call ’mandatory bonuses’. Pretty much every pick on the list will give you a free domain of some sort, be it .com, .net, or any other. However, some providers won’t give you this commodity in their cheapest plans.

Let’s take Hostinger as an example. Its best deal will cost you $2.99 a month, but its starting price is $1.99 a month. In this plan, you need to pay an additional $11.95 for SSL and you don’t get a free domain.

Given that the domain will cost you $10 on average, you’re looking at a starting price of over $22, which is non-sensical. So, before you purchase a plan, make sure it provides you with both free SSL and domain.

In this case, you’ll not only save more money but you’ll also make the whole website-creation process a lot simpler and quicker.

2.5 Overall Price

This one’s pretty simple. If you don’t need an expensive solution, don’t buy it. I’m not a huge fan of overpaying stuff you don’t need and I use the same philosophy here. When looking for the best hosting for a small business, in reality, you don’t need to spend a fortune.

However, you also don’t want to aim for the cheapest solution at all costs. In fact, some providers (not those on the list) will not charge you that much, but they’ll give you unsatisfactory uptime and performance.

Luckily, pretty much all solutions from the list above are pretty affordable. For as low as $2.9 a month, you can get a decent hosting solution that will give you lots of storage, fast speeds, and in some cases, unlimited bandwidth.

2.6 Customer Support

Finally, let’s quickly talk about customer support. Should you decide on any of the hosting providers from the list, chances are that you won’t experience any issues. But, nothing is perfect and that can be said about BlueHost, SiteGround, or any other pick from the list.

Thus, I made sure that all of them offer at least decent customer support. You’ll get a 24/7 live chat feature on all of them, and with phone and email support, fixing potential issues will be a piece of cake.

3. Web Hosting for Small Business FAQ

3.1 What are the differences between shared, cloud, VPS, and dedicated hosting solutions?

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is when a couple of websites share the same server. As such, this is the cheapest solution for hosting the website, as the provider doesn’t have to provide separate servers for each website.

The result is a bit slower performance and longer loading times. However, you’ll have to pay way merely a few dollars a month and you don’t need any technical knowledge to maintain the server.

Instead, this is all done by your hosting provider, and maintenance costs are included in the subscription plan.

Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated hosting, on the other hand, is the opposite of shared hosting. Instead of sharing the server with other websites, you get your own server, with dedicated storage, RAM, and CPU that you can choose according to your needs.

Flexibility is much better here, as you can fully customize your operating system, which results in better performance and loading times. Needless to say, this solution is more expensive as well and you are the one who manages the server.

Unless you go for managed dedicated hosting, which is noticeably more expensive.

Cloud Hosting

What about cloud hosting? Well, it’s similar to dedicated hosting in a way that you get a dedicated server, but this time, it’s a virtual server. You also get to customize resources, which makes it great for websites that require plenty of processing power.

As a result, it’s also more expensive, but also easier to maintain, as the virtual server provider will do all the maintenance for you. Hence, the name managed cloud hosting is often used in this case.

VPS Hosting

VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. It’s great for websites with a medium traffic count and if you don’t want to pay for the full power of a dedicated server. Simply put, it’s a middle-ground between shared and dedicated hosting.

This virtual server has its own OS and resources that you can utilize when hosting your website. Even better, it’s cheaper than dedicated hosting, yet, offers better reliability and performance than a shared hosting solution.

VPS hosting definitely isn’t for large businesses and those who don’t have some technical knowledge. Luckily, you can get managed VPS hosting that will make maintenance much easier.

3.2 How much will the best small business web hosting cost me?

Not much if you go for shared hosting. Usually, we’re talking about starting prices of around $1.99 a month and they can go to $17 a month – sometimes less, sometimes more. For me, shared hosting is more than enough for small businesses.

However, if we’re talking about scaling your business, you might need to go for a cloud, VPS, or dedicated hosting solution. In that case, your monthly expenses will be anywhere from $20 to $400 per month.

3.3 What is an SSL certificate? Do I really need one?

Yeah, you indeed need one. SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer and it encrypts the connection between the web browser and your website. Simply put, having it means that people can visit your websites safely and securely, which is crucial in today’s day and age.

If you see a locked padlock next to the link of the website in your web browser, it means that the website has an SSL certificate. Therefore, if you take a closer look, you’ll see that 99.9% of websites online have it, and luckily, you can get it for free from any of the providers I presented.

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