If you are following our steps to "Starting Your Site" this is step 2 on the list.

Web Hosting is what you need to have a web-site available to the public. There are thousands of different plans and hosting companies available to host a web-site, you could spend a month researching just to figure out which service and plan to use.

We have tried to find middle of the road plans that will give you all of the features and capabilities that you will need to start and get you to the point where your web-site offers you and your customers a robust and full-featured website. Of coarse if your website becomes one of the web giants you will have to move to bigger and costlier hosting platforms.

We have narrowed our recommendations down to two companies:

I have personally utilized these companies for years and can recommend each without reserve.

Comparison HostGator HostGator HostGator HostMonster
Plan Name Hatchling Baby Business Professional
Disk Space UNLIMITED UNLIMITED UNLIMITED UNLIMITED
Bandwidth UNLIMITED UNLIMITED UNLIMITED UNLIMITED
Domains Allowed 1 UNLIMITED UNLIMITED UNLIMITED
99.9% Uptime Guarantee
24x7 Support
Email Addresses UNLIMITED UNLIMITED UNLIMITED UNLIMITED
MySQL Databases
cPanel
Free Domain Name
Free Dedicated IP
Free Private SSL
WordPress Support
Price $8.95/month Signup Now $9.95/month Signup Now $14.95/month Signup Now $6.95/month Signup Now

Just a quick note about the pricing listed above.

Host Gator offers substantial discounts for paying for longer terms in advance, we suggest that you visit the Host Gator site for pricing details, just go to the "Web Hosting" tab once on their site.

The pricing for Host Monster reflects what the monthly cost would be but you are required to pay one year's hosting at a time to receive that price. There are many times that Host Monster offers a discount that would equal out to $5.95 a month we recommend the you check the Host Monster site for details.

Which Hosting Plan Do We Recommend Most?

The plans are all very close as far as offering what you will need for your web-site with each plan as you go to the right on the chart above offering a little bit more. It has been our experience that Host Monster offers a slight advantage over the other plans listed from Host Gator. We are currently using both companies but there have been several instances where Host Monster offered help in the behind the scenes programing that Host Gator could not at the time.

We feel that with all things considered Host Monster would be our top pick for the following reasons:

  • Lower cost
  • More flexibility on allowed programs
  • First year domain registration is free*

* I know that in the first step of "Starting Your Site" I recommend keeping your domain registration separate from your hosting account for ease of moving your web-site in-case of a problem with your web host. That is still a concern but at the same time it is an approx. $10.00 savings. I have made the exception to my rule and used the free domain name offered by Host Monster with no problems, but I have not had problems with their hosting and had to move a domain from their service either.

Quite honestly the only negative that I have heard from any of our customers is that Host Monster wants you to pay for a whole year up-front. But after considering that that only comes to $83.40 for the year or $71.40 if you get lucky and Host Monster is offering the $5.95 special, most of our customers realize the savings out-weighs the convenience of the month by month payment.

Click on the picture below to play a video that walks you through the Host Monster website.