Web hosting is an important part of your website or online store. If you intend to create a website, you’ll need to decide which is the best web hosting for small business.
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Contents
- What is web hosting?
- Types of web hosting explained
- Best overall hosting
- Best uptime hosting
- Best hosting for WordPress features
- Best hosting for multiple websites
- Cheapest web hosting
- How to choose the best web hosting for small business UK
What is web hosting?
Web hosting for small business involves a dedicated web server or cloud storage location on which you upload your website pages and files. When customers type in a web address like Digitalsupermarket.com – they are directed to that server location and can thus access the content!
Important aspects of a web hosting package are storage space, uptime, bandwidth, and security.
Storage is important as this dictates how many files, images, and media you can upload to the server. Uptime represents how often your website is accessible – ideally this should be 100%!
Bandwidth is important for connectivity, page loading times, and user experience.
Finally, security is vital to give customers a secure browsing experience on your site.
In this guide, we compare 5 of the best web hosting for small business so you can start an online business, create a new business website, or even start a blog.
The Different Types of Web Hosting Explained
First, let’s look at the types of web hosting. There are four main options – shared, cloud, VPS, and dedicated. Shared hosting is usually the cheapest but also offers the least in terms of features.
Shared hosting
You are essentially buying an allocated slot on a server and are sharing storage and resources with other websites.
VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting
Similar to shared hosting. You are still buying a slot on a server and sharing with others. However, you are buying a virtual server. This means you are allocated dedicated resources and are not competing against the other websites.
Cloud hosting
Uses distributed cloud servers to provide hosting.
This means that your files could be distributed over a network of servers that provide redundancy and can cope with traffic surges. You can also pay for private cloud hosting services, which is a bit more specialised.
Finally, dedicated hosting offers the most stability and best performance, however dedicated servers are also more expensive. Essentially you buy a complete web server – this means that you are not sharing any resources and you can configure the server as you wish.
1. Cloudways – Best overall
Pros
- Simple site migration process
- Has a free trial before making a purchase
- Great bandwidth speeds
Cons
- No telephone customer support option
View Cloudways Hosting Plans or Compare Web Hosting
Price: Cloud hosting from $10.00 per month
Features
- Dedicated firewall and two-factor authentication
- Auto-healing to resolve site issues
- Excellent WordPress support
- Automatic backups
Cloudways is a cloud hosting provider that works with a number of cloud services including VULTR, Google Cloud, and Amazon Web Services. Their prices are reasonable, and their services are excellent if you envision expanding your business over time.
The plans vary depending on which cloud provider you choose, however they all have 24/7 customer support, a free SSL, and free migration services for those who have an existing website.
We also like the auto-healing feature. This means that any website issues are automatically detected and resolved which improves usability and uptime. You can also set up your website on WordPress, or a range of other development platforms.
They also provide fantastic website security which includes a dedicated firewall, and advanced two-factor authentication for web hosting administrators.
In our opinion, the best web hosting for small business UK is Cloudways.
Visit Cloudways to see hosting pricing plans.
2. Liquid Web – Best Uptime
Pros
- Excellent array of different hosting solutions
- Fantastic uptime
- Automatic site backups
Cons
- More expensive than other options
Visit Liquid Web to see pricing plans.
Price: VPS hosting from $15 per month
Features
- Detailed security with VPN, firewall, and malware scanning
- 24/7 online support
- Small business email service
- 100GB daily backup quota
Liquid Web is one of the best web hosting for small business if you’re looking to grow your business on a budget. Their cheapest plan starts at $15 per month, however, you get an excellent array of features and some of the best customer support available.
Their services are also versatile as they have shared, dedicated, VPS, and cloud hosting packages. In terms of uptime, you are guaranteed 100%.
When paired with their fantastic site speeds and bandwidth, these hosting packages are ideal for those who want to build a thriving online storage with a large customer base.
Also, the security is top notch and you get a daily backup allowance of up to 100GB! This is paired with multi-level DDoS protection, and proactive security monitoring. If you are looking for a dedicated hosting plan so you can customize your web hosting, Liquid Web is one of the best choices.
They may be more expensive than others, but the quality and reliability is hard to beat.
3. eUKHost – Best for WordPress
Pros
- Optimized hosting for WordPress websites
- Unmetered data transfer
- Includes a free domain and 25 mailboxes
- 24/7 phone & live customer support
Cons
- Basic packages may lack storage capacity at 5GB
Visit eUKHost to see web hosting plans.
Price: WordPress hosting from $3.33 per month
Features
- Host up to 5 WordPress websites
- Free domain name included for 1 year
- Free WordPress migration for existing sites
- Daily backups
eUKHost is an excellent option for those who intend to create or migrate a WordPress website. It actually has hosting options for WordPress, Windows, and cPanel. Also, it has dedicated business hosting for those who intend to grow their platform.
The basic WordPress package starts at just $3.33 per month and has a great set off features. However, you must bear in mind that this starter pack only provides 5GB of storage – this may not be enough for extensive websites or eCommerce websites.
Therefore, the standard package at $8.33 per month may be a better option with 20GB of storage. In their WordPress shared hosting, you get unmetered data transfer, a free domain name, and 25 mailboxes.
Also, the hosting server and environment themselves are optimized for WordPress websites which results in faster performance and uptime. There is also a handy WordPress toolkit that allows you to easily manage the platform, and install updates.
4. Namecheap – Best for multiple websites
Pros
- Decent migration services
- Includes access to a free website builder
- Also includes a domain name
- Great security and SSL installation
Cons
- Not as many features as some other services
Visit Namecheap to see web hosting plans
Price: Shared hosting from $3.48 per month
Features
- Automatic site backup and storage
- 24/7 live customer support
- WordPress and cPanel integration
- Personalized email service
Namecheap offers many services including security, email, domain names, and web hosting. They have a range of hosting options included shared, VPS, and dedicated – all are reasonably priced.
The shared hosting offers the cheapest prices starting from $3.48 per month – there is a stellar package at $0.84 per month, however we do not feel this is suitable for small businesses – just personal use.
For that price, you get 50GB of SSD storage, and an unlimited number of websites. This is ideal if you have a range of ventures in mind and envision creating a selection of sites.
Also, we love the automatic backups – this means you don’t have to worry about setting a weekly backup and can ensure your files are safe. The bandwidth is unmetered which means these hosting packages are also suitable for growing businesses that will have more traffic.
You also get an SSL certificate installed as standard, and access to the Namecheap website builder.
5. Bluehost – Cheapest packages
Pros
- Incredibly cheap prices
- A good variety of shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting packages
- Most packages include free domain name
Cons
- Lacking in site migration tools
Visit Bluehost to see all hosting plans.
Price: Shared hosting from $2.11 per month
Features
- Reliable uptime of 99.99%
- Basic packages start with 50GB of storage
- WordPress setup
- SEO tools for analytics
Bluehost is often regarded as one of the best web hosting for small business UK. It has an excellent range of packages and the prices are some of the cheapest available.
Despite the inexpensive prices, you get an impressive uptime of 99.99% and fantastic bandwidth speeds. If you are building a WordPress website, Bluehost has an automated WordPress setup.
Also, once you have your website built and traffic starts flowing, you can utilize their tools for SEO to see where you can improve your SEO. For small businesses, the basic plan at $2.11 per month is a solid choice. For this, you get 50GB of storage which should be enough for most online stores.
Also, you get a free domain for 1 year, an SSL certificate, and fantastic customer support available 24/7. If you want to pay a little more, for $3.90 the PLUS plan offers unlimited storage, unlimited websites, and access to Microsoft Office 365 for 30 days!
How to choose the best web hosting for small business UK
Think carefully about your requirements – how much storage do you envision needing?
Do you need a higher bandwidth allocation to cope with a busy online store?
How much control and customization do you require?
By thinking about these factors, you should be able to decide which is the best web hosting for small business UK.
Check out this review for the top 10 web hosts of all time.
What is the best web hosting for small business uk?
Here’s a summary of the best web hosting for small business UK
- Best web hosting overall is Cloudways
- Best web hosting for uptime is Liquid Web
- Best for WordPress websites is eUKHost
- Best hosting for multiple websites is Namecheap
- Cheapest web hosting UK is Bluehost
The options we have listed above all make excellent choices, but which you pick depends on your circumstance and what you intend for your new business.
Did this review of the best web hosting for small business UK help you? If so please recommend DigitalSupermarket.
