The Best Website Hosting Services and Website Builders for Small Business Owners

This article is about web hosting providers and site builders that are popular amoung small business owners who want to build a thriving online business. As a business owner, you may choose to hire someone to build your site, but in my opinion, it's best to learn how to build a blog, website or shop that you own and control. 

The option to have a self hosted WordPress site, (one you own and control) you will need a place for your site files to reside. And that's where web hosting comes in. 

And while WordPress is free, your hosting company will rent you space on their servers for your website files. And contrary to popular belief, having a web presence doesn't have to break the bank. Many of these hosting services are available for less than $3.00 per month. 

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You'll need a place for your articles, images, documents, videos, audio files and more. Many hosting companies will rent space for blogs, websites and eCommerce shops.

Additionally, many of these companies will provide you with a free security certificate and domain for the first year. 

Information You'll Need When Choosing

Here are some of the most highly rated web hosting companies. Keep in mind that most of them offer shared, managed and dedicated server options.

And many of the prices listed below only capture one pricing tier (shared, managed or dedicated) and they are for services that are billed ahead. That means that to get the best pricing you will have to pay for a 12, 24 or 36 month plan. Be sure to use the links to visit the companies you're interested in to get the full details on their plans and what they include.  

The goal here is to show that contrary to popular belief, having a web presence doesn't have to break the bank. Many of these hosting services are available for less than $3.00 per month. 

And if you used WordPress, it's free. 

Managed versus Shared versus Dedicated Hosting Plans

To boil it down, managed WordPress plans offer services and performance tweaks specific to WordPress whereas Shared Web Hosting plans are generalist plans that host anything from WordPress to Drupal.

But Shared Web Hosting and Managed WordPress hosting are more similar than they are different. 

You see, both plans are managed and come with 24/7/365 support on phones, tickets, and LiveChats and both plans are on shared servers. 

To summarize, 

• Shared Web Hosting plans share resources with other sites on the same server.
• Managed WordPress plans offer additional WordPress-specific services and tweaks to performance in a shared environment.
• In contrast to shared hosting, dedicated hosting is a service where your website has a physical server and its resources all to itself.
  
  In other words, a dedicated hosting plan offers you complete control over the server’s performance, security and resources.
  
  While you’re still renting the server from a hosting company, what you do with it and how you maintain it is almost entirely up to you. Below are the advantages and disadvantages of dedicated hosting.
  

Web Hosting Services for Small Businesses

1. Bluehost

Bluehost is a popular web hosting provider that's known for reliable hosting services. Fast, reliable and packed with features, our WordPress hosting options are designed to fit your needs.

Bluehost has been recommended by WordPress since 2005 for a very good reason – there simply isn’t a hosting option out there that knows how to optimize WordPress websites better.

2. SiteGround

SiteGround is well-regarded for its excellent customer support and performance. All advertised prices above apply to prepaid purchases оf a 12-month hosting plan. Special prices are applicable for the first invoice. For all subsequent renewals regular prices apply.

All hosting plans include Let’s Encrypt Standard and Wildcard SSL certificates at no extra cost. For your convenience, the Standard SSL comes preinstalled on your site. Create unlimited email accounts with the webmail interface included. Stop spam with the free SpamExperts service.

3. HostGator

HostGator is a widely used hosting service with a user-friendly interface. Their affiliate program provides tiered commissions and performance-based incentives.

Got WordPress on your mind? Grab the solution that's fast, more secure, & awesomely easy.

Oh, take a free domain for a year too (you're welcome).

Our ready-to-go solution makes setting up WordPress quicker and easier than doing it all on your own. Plus, our simplified control panel is hassle-free — so you can set up auto-backups, access 1-click restores, and do loads of other account management-y things without missing a beat.

4. WP Engine

WP Engine is a managed WordPress hosting provider known for its speed and security. World-class infrastructure finely tuned for WordPress empowers your site with the (TTFB) in the industry.

EverCache®, our proprietary WordPress caching, sustains lightning-fast speeds as you scale beyond thousands of hits per minute.

Global CDN with over 200 data centers allows for peak performance regardless of where your traffic lives.

5. A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting is known for its high-speed hosting solutions. A2 also offers Managed WordPress Hosting which gives you the power of a Turbo Shared Web Hosting plan with additional tools & support to keep your server and WordPress website up-to-date and secure. The pricing below is for managed WordPress hosting. 

In addition to advanced security features like KernelCare, HackScan Protection and Reinforced DDoS Protection our new Managed WordPress plans come with a variety of enhanced security features to keep your WordPress website secure. 

6. DreamHost

DreamHost offers reliable hosting services with a focus on sustainability. All of DreamHost's WordPress hosting plans include robust features and add-ons designed to make sure it's easy for you to find success at each step of your online journey. Not only that, we work closely with WordPress.org so you'll always have the newest version of WordPress available in your DreamHost control panel.

We provide a free 'Let's Encrypt' SSL certificate, a domain name from DreamHost with a custom, personalized email address for your domain.

Drag and Drop Website Builders

7. Wix

Wix is a popular website builder with a user-friendly platform. Creating your website is free. Wix is not part of the WordPress platform. 

With a Premium plan you can connect your own domain, remove Wix branding from your site. Most Premium plans include a 1 year free domain voucher, which is only valid with a purchase of a new domain from Wix and cannot be used to renew or extend a domain you already own.

For best value, we recommend our yearly or multi-year plans. Try Wix for 14 days and if you're not 100% satisfied, get your money back.

8. Weebly

Weebly is a website builder known for its simplicity. Get access to customizable webpage designs and useful tools to build your website and grow your ideal business. Easily build a free website to help you get discovered and grow your customer base in style. Start today with our powerful free website builder.

9. Shopify

Shopify is a leading e-commerce platform. It's a complete commerce platform that lets anyone start, grow, manage, and scale a business. It enables businesses to build an online store, market to customers, and accept payments across multiple sales channels and locations—all in one place.

Try Shopify free for 3 days, no credit card required. then enjoy $1/month for 3 months.

10. Elementor

Elementor is a popular WordPress page builder. Integrating the benefits of hundreds of plugins in one place. Elementor is the only platform you’ll need to build professional WordPress websites.

Experience managed WordPress hosting that is hassle-free. We cover all your website needs, hosting, builder and themes so you can focus on building and growing your business.

11. Thrive Suite

Thrive Suite is the all in one WordPress website builder that we used to build this site, including our courses, landing and sales pages, quizzes and testimonials. 

It enables small business owners to build a blog or website with landing pages, lead generation forms, quizzes, online courses and more. Get more conversion focused functions cheaper and build faster than you can ever imagine.

The Thrive Suite membership is billed annually and quarterly. The e plugins listed below are also billed annually. 

Be sure to consider the reputation and reliability of the hosting or website builder service you decide on, as this can impact your audience's trust and satisfaction.