Building a website is one of the best ways to begin an online business. It’s nearly free, with minimal start-up costs involved. With some time and effort, limits pass away like the days do. Without some involvement, the site may pass away as easily as the sands shift in the dune over time.
What is the best website builder for small business?
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Welcome to this SiteGround review and walkthrough. If I had to choose a strong affiliation with some web hosting company, SiteGround would be chosen. This is the place to be when it comes to hosting one’s domain. This is probably the best website builder for small business, if you’re looking to save money and have some reliable domain with web hosting.
This web host company was founded in 2004, and they’re based in Bulgaria. Offered is some basic Linux hosting, while for larger sites the options of Cloud and Dedicated solutions are available.
If you’re just beginning, an important question to ask is, “How much traffic does a website need to make money?”. Visitors are the mechanism that sustains business growth, whether in the online realm or the offline brick-and-mortar world.
SiteGround is an excellent place from which to position your site online. From the domain base, you can seek to bring visitors over and perhaps make some money. Even 10 visitors per day offers the hope of some self-sustaining model, with the potential for growth. And from there, with more fluency in writing and marketing, things can begin to grow more.
Now for the involved review concerning …
12 Benefits Of SiteGround Hosting
1. Support Team
This aspect is importantly mentioned first. When you have questions, they are ready to help. Welcome to the new way. It seems some companies delight in taking 2 to 3 days in responding to hosting inquiries. And that not once, but a few times. Um, this isn’t really applicable in SiteGround’s world. They seem to respond (at least in chat) within 2 to 3 minutes or even less! Frustration be gone.
So for response time and helpful chat with smart workers, what beats this best website builder for small business? Let’s suppose you’re a newbie with getting a website and hosting. Don’t you want pretty much immediate help should problems show up front? Absolutely, or one becomes lost.
Maybe some researching online or asking experts in some forum somewhere will solve things. Maybe not. Why spend much time looking elsewhere, when the provider should be the one to respond to hosting questions?
Unlike other web hosting services, the support help and response time has always been there. For example, SiteGround vs. Bluehost hosting support is a non-contest. Some individuals don’t mind waiting days on end for Bluehost to respond, and that’s fine. But the SiteGround response times are great, so consider this if you want to save time. Woila! SiteGround … the choice is made.
Outsourced service provided from individuals that have minimal stake in the hosting company is not optimal. Alternatively, this company has an in-house staff with various skills and experience levels. Being set up like this can mean a big difference. In-house communication is more prone to occur for example, rather than having individuals separated by countries or other boundaries through the method called outsourcing.
2. Domain Hosting
You can of course set up a new domain with SiteGround. Other options include transferring a domain to their care, or pointing a domain to their hosting server of choice.
When it comes to the website software choices, there are some great picks on hand.
3. Speed and Stability
There are actually three separate areas that help immensely with page load time.
Having solid-state drives for all hosting plans is tremendous. This is already more high-end service than some other hosting companies out there.
SiteGround has a handful of data centers for faster data travel to your end visitors. Pretty nice, since many hosting companies only grant access to one data center option for site visitors.
Even better, you could potentially choose the data server location for hosting. For example, perhaps you know what country most visits are going to come from. Therefore, page load speed can be optimized in this manner.
These centers come with the feature of redundant electrical systems. Multiple power feeds and power generators help prevent electricity outages.
Finally, they offer a “supercacher” tool that has different levels of control. This is having to do with the efficiency of site speed. As history has shown, visitors drop quickly from sites that tack on the seconds when it comes to page load time.
This nifty tool is fairly easy to get going with when ordering a hosting package.
When it comes to website stability, uptime frequency is important. You want others to be able to see the site and not miss out. They may give up altogether on returning. Being stable is very much a trait of this host. At 99.99%, it’s known to be one of the absolute best.
4. Website Security
Personally, this is one of the favorite reasons. It may not mean much to some people, but this comes with a very free HTTPS installation! Installation of the “Let’s Encrypt” SSL certificate occurs by way of the CPanel. This was a great plus in deciding to go with this company. No intermediary can read what is being seen on the website visited. Also the interception of webforms or payment details cannot occur with any ease, for example. This free security is great and should be easily set up when possible. These folks do this part nicely.
An option exists to get two other SSL kinds, if another alternative is needed for the situation. So, the Let’s Encrypt is the free option and the other two alternatives can be paid for if chosen.
It’s commonly understood that having one of these SSL options offers greater search rankings in recent times. So having one is great for both security and overall website ranking.
5. SG Site Scanner
This one costs a bit, but not much.
Reports are run and can be studied, or even emailed. This malware monitor and reporting tool is fairly nice if it can be afforded. When one is just beginning and is trying to be lean on costs however, it may not be an option initially.
They have stated, “Most web applications require constant attention and updates to remain safe from the latest security vulnerabilities.” Indeed, going with a “simple” WordPress install can be a task. Don’t underestimate this. Just one website is capable of taking up much of your time.
From my perspective, this is good validation that having an HTML hand-coded site is supreme. There are no themes or plugins to worry over, either with updating or plugin know-how. These matters take time, and I just don’t have a need for them.
Recommendation. If you can write your own site with HTML, you may want to have a go with this. Security issues become easier and manageable. There is just no comparison vs. the common CMS (content management system) like WP (WordPress) where theme updates are needed, recent plugin changes need attention, and even site breakage may occur after the theme maker tries out something under the hood.
6. Account Security
As the third security option mentioned in order, you could choose the two-factor login option for the SiteGround admin area. It’s truly nice to have this option. They have really been paying attention to good customer service with this choice. Many website hosting providers don’t offer near as much service, quality and security altogether.
Nowadays, this kind of thing is almost necessary. In the very least, be sure to have a distinct and long password for the SiteGround account. Be a great stumbling block for any would-be hack attack. Take security at least somewhat important.
7. Free Email Accounts
There are unlimited email accounts offered for the domain hosting. The reason for wanting more than one email account for the domain is up to you. People have different reasons.
- Having different business departments.
- Somehow assigning these to different subscribers.
- For different programs your site is associated with.
- Leaving email contacts for various locations.
8. Library of Assistance
For the initiated who already know much about how to set things up, the small library of tutorials can still be great. Let’s say you forgot something from long ago, about some specific CPanel task or configuration. These folks are awesome with the on-site tutorials and self-help files. And that goes a long way with the ease of use when it comes to this provider.
Tutorials include basic WordPress, Joomla, SSH and FTP access, “Let’s Encrypt” SSL installation, domain forwarding, email forwarding, WHOIS registration help, and plenty more. For anything not found or other problems, contact SiteGround after placing your order. I needed to ask a question once or twice after joining, and the chat was a terrific option, and one communication method that is highly recommended here.
Even by working one’s way through the knowledge base they provide, the new initiate in the world of website hosting would learn quite a few things. Albeit, this would take some time, but could help with gaining a knowledge base for one’s self.
9. eCommerce Features
Do you feel like having a shop? Do you require one? How about a shopping cart to go with that store? All major carts are supported. SiteGround is an excellent hosting choice when wanting an online storefront.
Free online store options include OpenCart, Magento, PrestaShop or others. Having these available on standby can be invaluable. If you would rather not pay for an online store, one of these can be installed.
You can learn the program at your own pace. Though free, coding skill may be needed for style or configuration. This can be much cheaper than a monthly store subscription. The trade-off here is the time investment of learning.
Paid store options to choose from may be better suited for most people. Life can be quite busy. Setting up a store, coding things, changing style and figuring out problems takes time. Maybe more time than the regular person is able to invest.
Some cohesive features. Having things go together right makes the process easier. Alongside store options, the free SSL certificate is one thing already in place you don’t need to worry about for store security. There is also free PCI Compliance offered with the GoGeek advanced hosting plan. This is the Payment Card Industry Security Standard.
One could bypass the WordPress installation and go for an online store instead, or even have both together on one single domain! Having these different options truly is magnificent.
Have some passion for your subject. Or else it’s probably not worth the time to begin. These various ways to fashion a site are just some of the considerations one should give toward having an online presence. Take your time before deciding what may work best or what enthralls you enough to continue working on it over time.
10. Daily Backups
Finally, we’ve come to the daily backups feature. Superb! This helps if your own backup sources fail at some time. This is a very handy (if needed) source of site safety.
So then, with little money you could begin a website that costs maybe $50-$100 to operate for one full year. This web hosting provider could work out just great for your website needs! This is the first recommendation when it comes to domain hosting, and is what this site is built upon. They are currently my #1 choice for web hosting. Without a doubt, a valuable platform on which to build.
11. SiteGround Refund Policy
The SiteGround refund policy of a 30 day money back guarantee is great! You’ll likely not want to accept this refund though. If you are serious (even somewhat serious) about getting a web presence, having both a domain and hosting service is needed. And this hosting is so reliable, so stable, you’ll probably be happy enough with them as a provider.
The regular shared hosting plans are covered for the 30 day guarantee. Now, the expensive cloud or dedicated hosting is not exactly covered under this policy. Do some research before paying $100 monthly or more, if either of these advanced plans are applicable. Some hosting plans are quite expensive.
And if you decide to cancel for something that SiteGround could actually assist you with, maybe contact their support. They are known to usually be very quick to respond to inquiries. You may end up being pleasantly surprised and decide to stay on, if they can assist you with the need or problem you have.
12. SiteGround Renewal Price
The rate may increase after the initial period, as they bill yearly. For a budding business, you could just begin with one or two domains and hosting.
Here is a signup tip. Go for an initial extended period with SiteGround. Whether one, two or more years, lock in that low initial price. The SiteGround renewal price may be higher after that initial period. If you know you’ll be around with the domain for many years, take advantage of the lower signup pricing. However, don’t buy too much service you don’t need.
Again, the SiteGround renewal price can be higher than that of other providers. Often in life though, we get what we pay for. And likely, a portion of the higher cost goes toward the support team and the wonderful technology in place. So in some sense one is paying for these kind of “upper tier” services that are not easily found elsewhere. Having things run smoothly is valuable though. SiteGround can also save time, rather than deciding to pay for some cheaper service that drains your time away.
The support service alone is worth the cost, in my opinion. Likely, some problem will occur sooner or later with any domain and hosting provider. One could spend hours trying to handle some CPanel problem, or even days on hold waiting for some other provider to perform simple tasks. Quite frankly, these problems and others like them are not worth the monetary savings, period. You can let the support team help with any big questions, and rather efficiently.
Final advice. Forget all the back and forth emails over days. Forget an unhelpful support team. Forget just trying to do everything yourself in CPanel or within the UI (user interface) settings. Just go with SiteGround and free up your time. For your situation, time may be worth more than a few dollars saved with another provider.
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