Siteground Review - Read this BEFORE You Signup
In this post, I’m going to provide a detailed SiteGround Review.
Over the last 10 plus years, SiteGround has risen to the top of the Webhosting Providers list. They currently are hosting over 2,00,000 domains to its name.
Having a domain these days seems to be the norm. And for this reason, web hosting services are in high demand in this digital age. (Web Hosting Services Market, n.d.)
People are starting blogs and sites at an unprecedented rate, and not everyone knows how to set up their blog or site.
Web hosting services, like SiteGround, aim to ease this process, and of course, make some money for their service.
About SiteGround
As expected, SiteGround dabbles in all the usual suspects Web Hosting, WordPress Hosting, WooCommerce Hosting (selling products online), and Cloud Hosting.
SiteGround was founded in 2004.
With chapters in the USA, UK, Bulgaria, and Spain, SiteGround is a global company. Employing 500 employees, they’re a sizeable company for a web hosting service.
A nice indication of the care they report to offer their customers is that they encourage users to contact them 24/7 and do not list any hours when they are not in operation.
The ‘About Us’ page for SiteGround hits hard on their dedication to their team and their customers. They specifically mention that they put the happiness of their employees at a high level. To me, it says something good about a company when they want to use the precious space they have to represent themselves as a way to endorse their employees.
SiteGround Review - Hosting Plans and Features
First, let me mention before we go any further in this SiteGround review, SiteGround lives for WordPress. SiteGround offers WordPress as a site builder, which is great because WordPress is one of the most populated and known platforms.
All three of their plans are listed as being on a special discount at the time of my writing this article, so those prices could go up.
However, most sites list their prices as special discounts and those discounts never seem to expire.
Managed WordPress Hosting
The details of each Web Hosting Plan are mostly standard and what we expect to see here. The basic Start Up plan offers 1 site, free SSL, free CDN, Unlimited Databases, Managed WordPress, Unmeted Traffic, and Daily Backup. The biggest plus is a free email for your domain. That will help if you decide you want a mailing list or newsletter. Most services that offer to organize and store your mailing list or newsletter require an official domain email address.
On the downside, the Start Up plan only offers 10GB of web space and only 10,000 monthly visits. When first starting, these should be more than enough, but if you commit to SiteGround and like it so much that you don’t want to change to another hosting service later then you’ll have to upgrade your plan.
The GrowBig and GoGeek plans increase the numbers that are limited on the Start Up plan and offer unlimited web sites. The higher-tier plans also feature extra add-ons like Backup copies, speed-boosting caching, and faster PHP and priority support for GoGeek.
The basic Cloud Hosting plan, labeled as Entry, features 4 CUP cores, 8GB memory, 40GB SSD space, and 5TB data transfer. These numbers increase as the plans go up, except for the 5TB data transfer – which remains the same across all four plans. The CPU and memory increase in increments of 4, and the SSD space in increments of 40.
Ease of Use
SiteGround has a simple and sleek layout. The design of the site is pleasing and easy to navigate. Those are big positives.
The amount of service sites from any industry that aren’t easy to navigate is more than it should be. The objective is to attract customers. Your site should be as easy to browse as possible. SiteGround understands this.
The top bar clearly lists the major sections of the website. Hosting, Technology, About Us, Affiliates, Sales Chat, and Login are all displayed and labeled in a simple and easy to understand way.
Pricing and Payment Methods
The Web Hosting plans come in three packages:
- Start Up at $6.99 a month.
- GrowBig at $9.99 a month.
- GoGeek at $14.99 a month.
The Cloud Hosting plans come in four packages:
- Entry at $110 a month.
- Business at $210 a month.
- Business Plus at $310 a month.
- Super Power at $410 a month.
One note that is important to mention is that the web hosting plan prices are only for the 12-month agreement.
The month-month plans are significantly more expensive. Start Up is reported as $6.99 a month, but if you just want the month-to-month plan it goes up to $19.99 a month. A three times increase. There is also a $15.99 fee to register your domain name. If you already have a domain name, you can skip this fee. Those are par for the course for hosting services, unfortunately.
The Cloud Hosting plans remain the same price as listed for month-to-month payment, but they do decrease in cost if you choose the 3, 6, or 12-month payment options.
SiteGround accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover card as payment options. They do not appear to accept PayPal as a form of payment.
Customer Support
The month-month plans are significantly more expensive. Start Up is reported as $6.99 a month, but if you just want the month-to-month plan it goes up to $19.99 a month. A three times increase. There is also a $15.99 fee to register your domain name. If you already have a domain name, you can skip this fee. Those are par for the course for hosting services, unfortunately.
The Cloud Hosting plans remain the same price as listed for month-to-month payment, but they do decrease in cost if you choose the 3, 6, or 12-month payment options.
SiteGround accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover card as payment options. They do not appear to accept PayPal as a form of payment.
Is SiteGround the Right Choice for You?
SiteGround offers the standard range of options that most hosting services have. One big point for SiteGround is the free email address they offer for your website. That’s a huge advantage and saves you roughly $6 a month that you would normally have to spend to get a G-Suite email. They’ve been operating for close to 20 years and have certainly nailed down how to present their site. If you’re in the market for a hosting service, SiteGround looks to offer the essential tools that you will need, and the WordPress site builder is a major positive.