Started in 2003, Bluehost is without a doubt one of the oldest hosting companies on the web right now. It’s a home to over 2 million websites from around the world and one of the three platforms endorsed by WordPress organization.
Starting at just $2.75 per month, there can’t be a better hosting platform to get you started with building an online presence than Bluehost.
But,
Is Bluehost Legit?
Bluehost is a legit internet company that offer fast web hosting services to more than 2 million websites. Known to offer different hosting plans and premium packs, Bluehost is a suitable platform for beginners and advanced internet marketers alike.
With plans that suit all levels of marketers, from beginners on tight budgets to established businesses that want to build online presence, Bluehost is a company that caters to everyone.
At $2.75, which is the brand’s basic plan, you get a hosting bundle that includes a free SSL certificate, unmetered bandwidth, regular backups, a global CDN, an easy-to-use dashboard, and sufficient disk space to store your files.
What is Bluehost?
Before we get into the nitty-gritties about Bluehost, let’s make sure you understand what it is and why it’s important.
Bluehost is one of the web hosting companies on the web. Although it started in 2003, about 6 years after the establishment GoDaddy, Bluehost has grown to become a reliable and trusted company on the internet.
Its reliability, performance, and uptime guarantee explains why it’s the number one hosting service recommended for WordPress. Not to mention that it even has web engineers whose focus is purely on making the WordPress Content Management System solution better.
For well over a decade, Bluehost has worked hard to establish itself as a brand that stands out from the many competing companies in the industry. Today, they offer customers a variety of web hosting services, from managed WordPress hosting and VPS to cloud hosting and dedicated servers.
It doesn’t end there.
Bluehost even offers online services that many hosting services simply don’t, including Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, domain registration, online marketing consultation, and website content creation.
Of course, these are things you can do on your own. But if you don’t have the time to do the work yourself, this is something you might want to consider.
I haven’t tested Bluehost’s additional services myself. So I can’t speak about these nearly as much. I’ve only used their hosting plan, which, in my experience, has been the best so far – with a few quirks here and there of course.
Is Bluehost a Good Web Host?
After putting Bluehost to the test for the last 4 years, I can confidently say that it’s a good web hosting company. The people behind this brand don’t just make promises. They walk the talk and deliver on those promises every single day. And if I were to add another website to my portfolio, I’d choose to host it with Bluehost.
Here’s why:
1. Bluehost Focuses on Speed Optimization
When we talk about speed, we refer to how fast a web page loads before it can be accessible to a user.
Let me ask you something:
Would you keep your eyes glued on a website for more than 30 seconds hoping that it will load the content that you need?
Not exactly!
The human attention span has so far dropped from 12 to 8 seconds. It means that if your website doesn’t serve up content quickly, your potential visitors will click back to Google search results and look for an alternative page to serve their request.
If you’ve optimize your website for speed but nothing seems to improve, your hosting is bad.
One thing that has kept me with Bluehost all these years is their speed optimization. Even without using a caching plugin, their server response time is far much better than anything you’ll find from cheap hosting services.
2. Bluehost Perform Well, Even Under Traffic Spikes
Performance refers to the response of the Bluehost server, especially for websites that have a lot of traffic.
I have sites that get 100s of visitors every day, and I’m often amazed at how Bluehost’s server handles their request.
Given how stable the performance is even with hundreds of visitors actively live on the site, it’s clear that Bluehost makes a good hosting platform to consider.
3. Bluehost Uptime Guarantee is Promising
When we talk about uptime guarantee, we refer to the confidence that the website you host with Bluehost will always be online and accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year.
My websites are up 99% of the time, which means that the downtimes are a lot less if anything at all.
4. Bluehost Has an Outstanding Customer Support
I want to get technical support when I need it the most. If Bluehost didn’t offer this, it would be difficult to do business with them.
It’s not just the live support system that makes Bluehost a good hosting company as far as customer support is concerned.
The website has tons of articles, useful guides, and video tutorial that you can use to increase your knowledge.
So whether you’re a beginner or you feel like you’re missing something important as far as your hosting subscription is concerned, the company’s support center can be a useful source of information.
As far as customer support goes, Bluehost no longer gives its audience the option to submit support tickets. They’ve replaced this with their focus on personal approach through the live chat technology, which, in my opinion, is far more reliable and effective.
5. Bluehost Has the Best Hosting Plans
It doesn’t matter whether you’re on a budget or you’re getting started and you just want to test Bluehost to see if it’s a reliable hosting company. They have the most competitive pricing plans on the table.
Bluehost’s undivided and unwavering dedication to providing different hosting plans and doing so very well at different prices, is the one thing I’ve come to love about them.
Whether you need a dedicated server for special projects, a shared hosting plan for a niche website, managed WordPress hosting, or anything in between, Bluehost has something for you.
Their shared hosting is a particularly interesting one, mostly because it’s the starting point for people who’re just getting started in building an online business.
Below is a comparison table to help you understand these plans better:
BASIC | PLUS | CHOICE PLUS | PRO | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Website | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered |
Disc Space | 50GB | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Email Accounts | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
SSL Certificate | Free | Free | Free | Free |
Email Storage | 100MBS/Account | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Parked Domains | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Discounted Price | $2.75/MO | $4.95/MO | $5.45/MO | $13.95/MO |
Based on my four years of experience with the program, I can confidently say that Bluehost is not only reliable but also fast, affordable, and supportive. As such, I recommend that you use Bluehost if you’re looking for the most reliable website hosting service on the internet.
Is Bluehost Good for WordPress?
Bluehost is one of the hosting companies recommended for WordPress powered websites. In 2006, WordPress.org recommended it as one of the four hosting companies for the CMS, and it has been the most reliable platform to host a WordPress website ever since.
The one thing that makes it a reliable solution for WordPress sites is the dedicated team of engineers who work around the clock to make the WordPress software solution even better.
Is Bluehost Secure?
Bluehost is a secure web hosting service that you can trust. I haven’t had any external security threats since I started using them.
And I’d like to assume that as long as you do everything possible to secure your website, especially if it runs on WordPress, you wouldn’t have to worry about security threats.
Is Bluehost Good for Beginners?
Bluehost is good for beginners because it’s not only easy to setup but also easy to use. The customer support system can be quite handy if you feel stuck in the setup process. And if you need a live support guide, all you have to do is ask.
I started out with Bluehost as a complete beginner, and, at the time, I found their knowledge base quite helpful and extremely resourceful.
So if you want to start a blog and make money from it, Bluehost is legit enough to get you started.
Why Is Bluehost Bad?
While I strongly recommend that you get started with Bluehost, there are a few things that I don’t like about them.
- While you get a domain for free when you get started with their hosting plan, the cost of domain renewal can be significantly high.
- The company doesn’t offer guaranteed complementary backup, so you have to figure this out on your own. That means you have to do your own backup just in case something ever goes wrong with your hosting.
- The upselling process during sign up sucks. Honestly, you don’t need that, so it’s best to uncheck the options.
- There’s no monthly subscription for the shared hosting plan, so you have to pay annually even if you’re just testing them out.
Final Thoughts
Bluehost is not only legit. It’s also one of the most reliable website hosting companies on the internet right now. They host more than 2 million websites, from small blogs to big ecommerce websites, and that’s enough proof that they take their business seriously.
It is the largest hosting company for over millions of websites worldwide and one of the three platforms approved by the WordPress organization.
Bluehost guarantees an uptime of 99.9% for its web hosting services. This means that they ensure your website will be up and running at least 99.9% of the time, and if they fail to meet this guarantee, you may be eligible for a credit or refund as per their terms and conditions.