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SiteGround hosting is growing in popularity as a preferred hosting site for websites. Even though it has been around since 2004, it is still a popular option for start-ups and entrepreneurs who would prefer to manage their website, blog, domain, and email all in one place.
But is it any good? There are so many other similar web hosting sites out there that it can be hard to choose between them. Then there are free web hosting sites, but if you more than just a hobbyist and need a professional website that is going to offer you complete functionality and service support, then it is wise to invest some capital into a reliable hosting service that will offer support all year round.
Fear not! We have tried and tested the site ground service so you don't have to! Will give you an accurate and authentic review so we went the extra mile.
We opened a shared hosting account, set up a test site, ran it live, and paid close attention to Siteground's overall performance. Even contacted their customer services and tested them too! So here is our breakdown of the pros and cons of using Siteground.
SiteGround hosting Pros
WordPress – WordPress is the biggest player when it comes to blog or website design and construction. You don't have to understand code to use it, but most coders prefer WordPress. It's very simple and straightforward to use, and even better, Siteground fully supports websites and blogs built using WordPress, and the Siteground website even features tips and tutorials on how to use WordPress, from transferring your site to updating elements. You can manage your WordPress site effortlessly from the Siteground.com platform and by using our referral link you can even get great offers on WordPress features from Siteground!
Pros
Easy Migration of any website or blog – There are no dull walkthroughs or complicated steps to take if you want to migrate your site away from your current platform to Siteground. Siteground has an easy to download and install a plugin that allows you to easily transfer your site in a few clicks from any previous host – not just WordPress. If for any reason you do need extra help, Siteground will send in a professional to help you free of charge if you are on one of their higher-tiered plans (Grow Big Plan and Up)
Good Site Performance – We hosted a site on Siteground.com for 12 months and throughout that time the performance was close to perfect. So close it came in at around 99.99% reliability average. We did not experience any significant downtime and our visitor rates and average traffic was not at all affected. We found SiteGround to be noticeably faster and extremely reliable than many competitors.
Fast Server Response Time – Google recommends that the average server response time for a website should be around 200ms before the visitor begins to experience lag when they visit your site. Siteground comes in at an average of 129.8ms worldwide! The websites that are located closest to the servers are much faster, of course, the further you are from the server the more lag you will experience. However, with a worldwide average of 129.8ms Siteground comes in as one of the fastest web hosting sites out there. Just pick a server closest to your target audience and your good to go!
Response Times
Free Daily Back-up – If your site is hosted by Siteground, you can relax in the security of knowing that your website will be backed up automatically every day, for free! You can go about your day not having to worry about data loss or file corruption. If you are on a shared plan you can access your site data for up to 30 days, and revert back to previous versions of your site should the worst happen, or you want to go back to an older design or layout. Most other hosting sites forgo this function, and users usually have to back up from a cloud hosting account which is much more difficult.
Great Customer Service – We contacted their customer services with realistic problems to see how well they dealt with them.
They have a detailed and informative FAQ and Help center where you will get good guidance and step-by-step instructions on how t resolve simple problems. But if you need to speak to someone at customer support, they are available by telephone for the 24/7 Online Chat.
There was no delay in response, especially from the live chat function, we knew we were talking to a person and not a robot! Every problem we presented was resolved quickly, and the team seemed genuinely knowledgeable, not reading from a script.
SiteGround hosting Cons
No Free Domain – It may be a small issue especially if you are migrating a pre-existing website and already have a domain, but we were truly surprised to discover that a free domain wasn't included in any of the plans. Considering that most web hosting sites use free domains as a hook to catch new customers, Siteground charges a starting price of $15.95.
It may be worth considering registering your domain elsewhere, as prices on other sites can start from as little as $6 for the whole year.
$14.95 Setup Free on Monthly Accounts – Okay, we have to commend Siteground for offering a one-month trial option in the first place. Most other hosting sites make you sign up for at least 3 months or more, but with Siteground you can sign up for monthly billing and cancel after the first month. However, Siteground has made the offer much less attractive by introducing a set-up fee.
The benefits of signing up for a month is that you can try the site for the introductory price of $3.95, but this is significantly increased when you consider the setup fee and the fact that your bill will be renewed at the end of the month at the higher rate of $11.99. So, you're much better off going for one of the regular plans and taking advantage of the introductory offers for as long as possible.
Fast & Secure Web Hosting
Limited Start-Up Plan – If you're expecting large volumes of traffic to pass through your page then we would not recommend the cheapest option – The Start-Up Plan. The Start-Up plan is quite limited and you can only host one website on his plan. Your one website can have up to 10,000 monthly visits and only 10GB of disk space. Whilst this may be good for beginners, we would recommend the GrowBig and GoGeek plans for larger enterprises.
Renewal Prices – You'll have to set aside some extra cash when it comes to your renewal date as prices jump up by more than half, making them more expensive than other sites. However, Siteground does offer value for its money. So even though this is a negative that may cause shoppers to go elsewhere, it is important to remember that with Siteground you will get services you won't find anywhere else.
For example, the integration of WordPress and WordPress related troubleshooting straight from the Siteground website and support team.
SiteGround affiliate
SiteGround does have an affiliate program. It is quite popular and if you have a decent blog about the internet/technology you can be easily accepted.
Firstly open the main page and then navigate to the bottom, About us section. Click on “Affiliate Program”. After a short registration process you should see this:
In that affiliate panel, you will find needed resources such as links and visual assets. Commission for a beginner starts from $40/sale.
SiteGround customer service
They provide assistance 24/7 via chat, phone, and tickets. To get help from our team, first, log into your User Area → Support → scroll to the bottom of the page, and click Contact. Choose the topic closest to the question you have.
SiteGround Hosting Conclusion
Overall Siteground is one of the best web hosting platforms you can go for if you need a website that performs well at least 99.99% of the time. In fact, we are going to bump up the efficiency score to 100% when you consider the other additional benefits like their great customer support, easy plugin for transferring websites, the extremely detailed and helpful WordPress Centre, daily backups, and overall great site performance.
In regards to the cons, well, no hosting site is made perfect. Siteground may set you back a few more bucks per month than other hosting sites, but they more than makeup for it in features that you won't be able to find anywhere else.
And the monthly option is a bonus in so much that you can essentially ‘trial' the website if you cancel after the first month, but the set-up fees really don't make this a worthwhile option. Although this is negative, you do have to consider that it does put it on par with other web hosting sites that do not offer this option at all. Instead, the set-up fees are absorbed into the cost of the higher-priced plans.
Features
Also, even though the basic plans are quite limited, they are more than enough for start-ups and small businesses that want a basic site that is going to see less than 10,000 visitors a month. We would recommend this price plan at first, then as your business grows to use your extra capital to invest in the more expensive packages that offer more bang for your buck.
That way you will be more familiar with the site and all of its cool features so you'll feel more confident investing in the bigger service.
But don't just take our word for it! Follow this link to claim your LimitlessReferrals exclusive offer on Siteground web hosting and check out all the plans for yourself. You can also check out user reviews from other customers before making your choice. At the end of the day, no matter which web hosting site you choose, always check reviews and read the plans carefully before making your decision and finalizing your purchase.
Happy Hosting!
Thank you for reading!