Hosting type
I recommend beginners start with one of three hosting types: shared hosting, WordPress hosting or website builder hosting.
Shared hosting involves splitting the resources of one web server (like storage and bandwidth) between many websites, so each website gets a limited amount of these resources. The cost of maintaining the server is also divided between sites, keeping shared hosting prices low. The host also performs all server maintenance so you don’t need to worry about complex server configuration or updates.
WordPress hosting is (typically shared) web hosting optimized for WordPress, a content management system or CMS used to create, organize and maintain content like web pages and blog posts. This hosting usually includes guided WordPress setup and automated WordPress updates. You may also get custom themes (site templates) and plugins (site extensions).
Website builder hosting is web hosting packaged with a proprietary website builder. These website builders are visual design tools that simplify website creation. The software is maintained, secured and updated by the host so you don’t need to worry about it. Traditional hosting companies like Hostinger use shared hosting for these plans, while companies like Wix use cloud hosting. These plans are great for beginners, but it’ll be difficult to switch web hosts later on, so it’s important to choose the right company.
All three of these hosting types are aimed at small-to-medium websites. They usually offer enough storage for 100 to 10,000 pages and bandwidth for 10,000 to 400,000 users. You may want to consider managed VPS hosting or cloud hosting if you’re building a big website or expecting rapid audience growth. These hosting types are more complex, but choosing a managed plan from a good company will ensure that you have the support you need to build your site. Many companies also make it easy to switch hosting types as your needs change.
Ease of use
Your web host should make it easy to buy a plan and offer tools to help you build your first website. Specifically, all of the hosts on this list offer one of two tools for first-time website creators:
- Guided WordPress setup: A site assistant or other guided process with a checklist, links and tutorials for setting up WordPress. Some hosts, like A2 Hosting and SiteGround, take this a step further by helping you choose plugins to pre-install for things like search engine optimization and e-commerce functionality.
- Website builders: Visual design tools that let you build a website in minutes and use front-end editing so you can see exactly what your changes will look like to visitors as you make them.
Storage
Storage determines the number of web pages you can build and how many files — like images and videos — you can host on your site. You can generally expect to host 10 large pages (like product pages with several high-resolution images) or 100 small pages (like blog posts with one or two images) per 1GB of storage. I’ve seen estimates claiming that you can host up to 1,000 pages per 1GB, but I recommend using the smaller estimates because it’s better to have more storage than you need than to run out before your contract ends.
You can use these estimates to buy a hosting plan with the specific amount of storage you expect to use or buy a plan with lots of storage — 100GB or more — so you won’t have to worry about running out for a long time.
Bandwidth/data transfer
Bandwidth is a measurement of how much data a web server (the computer your site is hosted on) can send to users per second. However, most web hosts use the term bandwidth to represent data transfer, the total amount of data a web server can send to users in a month.
The best web hosts for beginners typically express data transfer limits in specific numbers, like 10,000 visitors per month. Some use the term unmetered bandwidth, which means data transfer isn’t measured against your plan. This allows your site to handle major traffic spikes without shutting down. Unlimited bandwidth is also offered by some companies, but it’s worth noting that these plans often have technical limits — they’re just so high that the hosts don’t expect most sites to surpass them.
If you’re looking at a plan with unmetered or unlimited bandwidth and you’re worried about surprise limits, contact customer service or read the terms of service to ask about “fair use” clauses and hidden limitations on bandwidth and data transfer.
Uptime
Uptime is the percentage of time your site spends online. Uptime matters because if a user can’t access your site, there’s a good chance they’ll go elsewhere. This can lead to lost traffic, audience trust and, if you’re running a business site, revenue.
Most web hosting companies offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee, promising your site won’t go down for more than 10 minutes per week. All of the companies on this list lived up to — or exceeded — this 99.9% uptime during my week of testing.
Site speed
Site speed is the number of seconds your site takes to load. Your site design has a major impact on site speed, but there are tools your hosting company can offer to help improve loading times:
- Caching: A system that stores data in a fast-access layer to load web pages quickly. This data layer connects to the server’s central processing unit or CPU, which is faster than the random access memory — RAM — used for traditional data storage. Some caching systems also store data in your visitors’ browsers so your site loads faster on repeat visits.
- Content delivery network or CDN: A network of interconnected servers in multiple geographical locations. Your site’s data gets stored on all of these servers, making it possible for users’ devices to pull data from the server closest to their location. This can be faster than retrieving data from a server on the other side of the world.
Hosting companies can also improve server and site speed by using top-of-the-line hardware like nonvolatile memory express or NVMe storage.
Security
Your web host should offer at least two tools to secure your site:
- SSL — secure socket layer — certification: An encryption protocol that translates data sent to and from your site into a language only computers can understand to protect it from malicious users. Some web browsers and VPNs consider sites without SSL unsafe; some won’t even open a site without it. Google also considers sites without SSL unsafe, and these sites may receive lower Google rankings as a result.
- Firewall protection: Like wearing a mask during COVID or flu season, installing a firewall on your web server protects your website from viruses and other threats. The firewall scans traffic to your site and tries to filter out malicious traffic. This technology isn’t perfect — some threats may still get through — but a good firewall will protect your site from most malware.
Many of the best web hosts for beginners also use additional security protocols, like distributed denial of service — DDoS — protection to prevent your site from being shut down by a flood of malicious traffic. Some even offer 24/7 security monitoring to find and eliminate server vulnerabilities and malware.
Customer service
Customer service should be available 24/7 via your preferred support channel: live chat, email or phone. Many of the best web hosts offer support through two or more of these channels.
You also need to consider the quality of the service available. 24/7 service isn’t much help if it takes an hour or more to reach a representative. We’ve tested the customer service of every host on this list and included notes about our experiences. You can also look at reviews on sites like Trustpilot to get a more general idea of users’ experience with the customer support of the web hosting company you’re considering.
Price
Web hosting prices can be complicated. You’ll need to understand a few things to accurately estimate how much your hosting plan will cost:
- Contract term: The length of time your web hosting contract covers. You’ll have to pay for the entire contract term up front, so you’ll have to multiply the monthly cost listed on the site by the number of months your contract will be valid to estimate your true cost.
- Introductory discount: Many web hosting companies offer a significant discount — often 50% or more — for the length of your first contract. You’ll need to sign up for at least one year to receive this discount. Some hosting companies require you to buy a three- or even four-year contract to access the largest introductory discount.
- Regular rate: The amount you’ll pay for hosting when your contract renews. Calculate this cost, making sure to multiply the monthly cost by the number of months you’ll renew for, to understand your long-term hosting costs.
- Add-ons: You may need to pay additional fees for things like domains and email hosting. Your domain specifically may be covered for the first year, but after that, you’ll have to pay an annual fee of $20 to $30 to keep your domain.