SiteGround review for eCommerce host 2020:- According to many opinions and personal experience, Siteground has proven to be an excellent website hosting, satisfying millions of users around the world who can no longer bear to pay for slow hosting.
Some love the company, others hate it as with any popular online company, SiteGround has its fair share of happy and unhappy customers. But most people would not argue that SiteGround has done an excellent job of growing their business over the past 5 years.
SiteGround is a website hosting company founded in 2004 by some university friends. It became very famous because of its super-fast servers and also because of its impeccable support.
For 16 years acting as shared hosting, the American company has grown a lot in recent years, quickly becoming one of the main options.
Combining the excellent cost-benefit and the offer of plans of different amplitudes to a cutting-edge service, with fully dedicated support, it is increasingly worth keeping an eye on SiteGround.
So what is SiteGround Hosting?
Since 2004, SiteGround has been a shared hosting company for websites of various types, including those using a CMS, such as WordPress. Since then, over these 16 years, a lot has changed and that is what motivated us to develop this content.
Today, SiteGround is one of the most renowned and sought after accommodations in its market. In its beginning, there was nothing very special – a story common to large companies, with a group of university students starting a project.
Years later, however, much more than just a hosting company, SiteGround has become a true suite of services for the web, offering packages with selected features for those who need a website.
Among these main points that attract the attention of users, perhaps the characteristics of the service are even more impactful than its functionalities. In this sense, it is worth highlighting the selection of plans, which are basically three, with different values and amplitudes.
In addition to the loading speed that the company offers to the websites, blogs, and e-commerce that it hosts.
The company has a total of 400 employees and it is growing rapidly to hire more talented people to serve the growing number of customers. It is famous for its fantastic customer service, available 24 hours a day and in several languages.
That is one of the reasons why the platform is popular not only in the US but worldwide. It is a hosting recommended by the WordPress company mainly due to its extremely incredible customer support.
The hosting provider is very popular with WordPress users and even offers special discounts for WP Beginners. The platform makes it easy to host WordPress sites.
You can install WP with a single click, enjoy managed updates, prepare WP, and integrate git and W-Cli. It also uses the latest technologies, such as HTTP / 2, PHP 7, SSD drives, and NGINX-based caching to keep the site protected and ensure good load times.
SiteGround’s hosting service is recognized for being fast, reliable, and supported by customer support. It also has competitive prices and first-rate customer service.
Read Also: Siteground Review For WordPress Hosting
Services offered by Siteground Hosting [Siteground Review 2020]
The main hosting companies know that they cannot offer only the main service of structuring a website. The main thing, which was the starting point of these companies, became just the basics, so SiteGround has been able to progress.
Support for creating websites and blogs, email accounts, security features, and many other features are part of basic offers linked to hosting services.
That way, SiteGround is no different.
Here are the services that are provided by this hosting company which makes it unique in its consumer’s choice.
Accomodation
The main functionality of the SiteGround Hosting is undoubtedly its highlight, based on two central characteristics.
The stability of the connection, that is, the guarantee that the website will always be online, in addition to the loading speed.
Regardless of the size of the project that the client has, these two characteristics are basic needs. SiteGround also offers different types of accommodation, such as shared, which is the main one, aimed at medium-sized sites, as well as the cloud and dedicated structure.
Large companies and e-commerces with a high volume of access need the latter option since a unique and fully dedicated infrastructure is fundamental for the stability of the site.
Several levels of accommodation have been provided by this SiteGround Hosting. Such as:
- Shared Hosting: It is the most popular and inexpensive offered by SiteGround. This hosting includes a practical and easy to use website builder, as well as a good migration service. It is ideal for those who are starting, creating their first site on the internet or for those who have blogs, websites, and small and medium-sized virtual stores, this service offers a more affordable price.
- Cloud hosting: SiteGround’s cloud hosting was created to serve sites with heavy traffic and that need a large amount of data. This option offers up to 8 processors, 10 GB of memory, and 5 TB of data transfer. The Cloud Hosting service also has the advantage of offering 24-hour support, daily backups, and free CDN.
- Dedicated Servers: SiteGround offers dedicated servers in three categories and it is possible to choose the location of the servers between the United States, Europe, and Asia. For customers of this product, SiteGround offers VIP support 24 hours a day via phone, chat, or ticket. The cost is a little higher, but it is ideal for larger companies and sites that need an exclusive service.
- Enterprise: The Enterprise service from SiteGround is the solution tailored for companies that need hosting. In this plan, the company offers a customized solution, with load balancing and resource separation, and includes large accounts, in addition to personalized service. If you have a website and want to leverage your business online, this is the ideal plan.
Email
Another fundamental need that comes with hosting is email accounts. The support that the company offers needs to include two aspects: unlimited free accounts and a domain extension that can be used on them.
The reason for this is that having the same website address in the email is fundamental to the company’s professionalism, something that can be seen as essential at any level.
One of the most interesting details is that this unlimited email offer happens in any of the plans, regardless of whether you are a beginner or a professional.
The boxes can be managed through the hosting configuration panel. The environment used is a cPanel, with simple and very intuitive operation.
Read Also: Read Also: Siteground Review For Joomla CMS Blogger
Domain
Domain support is also one of the basic features that SiteGround offers, including ease of management by the user. In this case, after contracting the service, the customer can consult, choose, and pay for the available domain.
If he already has one, the hosting transfer process already includes this selection. SiteGround’s services also include domain renewal, issuing alerts at the right time to ensure that the user maintains the name.
Free CDN
The CDN creates a server base elsewhere in the world, always far from the data center. This is important because such a service generates a connection point in a different location, that is, the chances of the quality of the connection falling in a given region decrease.
This is because the CDN replicates this idea of a data center. Having this service for free is a great advantage that SiteGround offers.
In this case, companies that have user access in different locations around the world, especially on sites with many components, guarantee that no one will experience slowness or stability problems.
After all, the CDN extends the reach areas of the site, encompassing more regions.
Free SSL
Security needs to be a priority for anyone looking for hosting services, and this includes not only the structure of the site but also those who access it.
Today, more than ever, there is a greater supply of information and, in the case of e-commerce, financial data is at stake. In this sense, a protected and secure environment depends on good parameters, such as the SSL certificate.
SiteGround offers this functionality free of charge to all sites that are hosted by its services. The positive impact of this offer is great since users know that sites that have the lock icon in the address bar are more secure.
Thus, having an SSL certificate is important for engagement and to respect laws, such as the LGPD.
Miscellaneous plans
Hosting services also need to be concerned with having offers that are accessible to different categories of public and, in this sense, SiteGround stands out.
There are basically three plans that the company offers: StartUp, GrowBig, and GoGeek. They are for beginners, medium-sized and completely complete, with different range of services.
- StartUp: It starts from US $ 3.95 / month and allows you to host 1 website. The package comes with 10 GB of web space and 10,000 monthly visits. You can also enjoy several essential features, including a website builder, 24/7 support, unlimited MySQL, free SSL and HTTPS, email accounts, and daily backups.
- GrowBig: Starts at $ 5.95 / month and allows you to host 1 website. The package comes with 20 GB of web space and 25,000 months of visits. You also enjoy all the essential features with several premium features, including priority technical support, free website transfers, free backup restores, and improved speed.
- GoGeek: Starts at $ 11.95 / month and allows you to host 1 website. The package comes with 30 GB of web space and visits for 100,000 months. You also enjoy all the essential and premium features, with a lot of nerdy features, including fewer accounts on the server, WordPress testing, Joomla testing, PCI-compliant servers, and one-click creation from Git Repo.
Benefits of SiteGround Hosting
If you are looking for a secure, fast WordPress hosting and also looking for impeccable support then SiteGround Hosting would be worth it. Here are some benefits of this hosting which are as follows:
Cutting-edge performance
One of the main aspects analyzed in accommodation is the quality of the service. In that sense, SiteGround does not disappoint, as it has a 99.99% uptime, which means that this is the percentage of service uptime. Therefore, it is very rare that a site hosted by SiteGround goes down!
Qualified support
It supports 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so you can just sit back and relax. It is from this base that SiteGround starts from, but extends to a qualified service that stands out from the users’ point of view. The service chat is simple and connects to an attendant quickly.
Cost-benefit
Many entrepreneurs and professionals are looking to balance the cost and service delivered. SiteGround delivers this to you. The price for small sites starts from 3 dollars for a very fast server.
SiteGround delivers much more than a simple WordPress hosting, it delivers a great experience, respect, attention to its customers, care, etc.
WordPress Performance
The entire SiteGround infrastructure was designed so that WordPress works in maximum Performance. They have their own cache system which is very good and that in itself already dispenses with the use of cache plugins.
To give you an idea, the SiteGround cache plugin has more than 500 thousand downloads, this is a scary number for a plugin that only works for a certain company.
Free migration to a website
SiteGround offers a WordPress plugin that takes care of all the migration of a website that the user has and that is controlled by the CMS. The resource is limited to one site only, but takes care of the whole process and makes the user’s life much easier.
Features for all levels
Another outstanding feature in hosting services is to include users of all levels, from beginners to established giants. The three main plans, as you have seen, extend your offer in a very competent way, meeting any reality.
Read Also: Siteground Review For Shared Hosting
Cpanel
SiteGround has Cpanel so for users who are already used to this type of control panel it makes everything easier. So you were convinced if SiteGround is worth hiring? Don’t worry we will continue to see more about it.
Extremely reliable and fast – 100% uptime of the host most of the time
It cannot be stressed enough the importance of a hosting provider being consistently reliable and fast, as any downtime or slowness on the site can have a serious impact on overall ROI.
That’s why the performance of SiteGround hosting is important as they can maintain 100% uptime year after year and load relatively fast.
Free site migration for GrowBig and GoGeek users
With each new GrowBig or GoGeek hosting account on SiteGround, you receive a free transfer from professional sites. The SiteGround support team will help transfer your site to your SiteGround server.
For StartUp plan users, the transfer service is charged (the US $ 30 for each website transfer).
Officially recommended by WordPress.org and Drupal.org
If your site is built on WordPress or Drupal, SiteGround will be a great option for you as it is recommended by both WordPress.org and Drupal.org.
Encrypt SSL support: easy installation and SSL updates
Security is essential for a website, as it not only protects you from hackers and malware but also informs users that their data is safe on your website.
SiteGround offers free Let’s Encrypt and Wild Card SSL when you sign up for web hosting plans, and it’s surprisingly easy to install on any of your domain names.
Provides Advanced server speed technologies (SSD, HTTP / 2, NGINX and more)
All SiteGround shared hosting comes with:
- Full SSD storage,
- HTTP / 2 enabled servers,
- Easy deployment of Cloudflare CDN and
- Different level of caching engine using SiteGround SuperCacher
These features help users to optimize the loading speed of the website with ease.
SiteGround New Users Promo: save 60% on your first account
When you sign up for SiteGround, you will receive a 60% discount on your first bill for any of the hosting plans.
Given that the standard SiteGround price is around $ 14.99 / mo for your StartUp plan and $ 24.99 / mo for your GrowBig plan, a 60% discount on any one of them is absolutely a great deal.
Very positive feedback from other SiteGround users
A web survey shows that many users have had positive experiences with using SiteGround as a host. With customer satisfaction improving annually, SiteGround has taken steps to ensure that its users are treated well.
Read Also: Siteground Review For Dedicated Hosting
Drawbacks of SiteGround Hosting
However, there are also some drawbacks of this hosting service which are:
High renewal rates
The initial prices of the plans are inviting, but this does not guarantee that they will remain in the second year of the contract. The renewal fees are high and make the amounts paid at the beginning go up considerably.
Paid domain
It is really very rare for a hosting service that does not offer a free domain in the first year, but SiteGround is one of them and leaves something to be desired about the market.
The uptime guarantee does not cover interruptions in the case of DDoS
One thing to note about SiteGround is that you must pay attention to the details in your Service Level Agreement (SLA) when it comes to guaranteeing uptime.
In many cases, uptime guarantees for web hosts prevent coverage of some things, such as natural disasters and so on. On the other hand, SiteGround takes it a step further by not allowing downtime due to Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, hacker attacks, and other similar events.
DDoS attacks are indeed very difficult to deal with for many companies (especially smaller ones), but that is why they usually work with huge Content Delivery Networks, such as Cloudflare, to mitigate the problem.
In fact, SiteGround also does not cover emergency maintenance and hardware or software failures that are fixed in an hour.
Significant price increase for shared hosting
SiteGround recently raised the starting prices for its shared hosting plans by a significant amount. In fact, it has more than doubled in some cases. New prices start at $ 6.99 and range from $ 14.99 per month.
Given the quality of the service, the price increase is not entirely irrational. However, it puts them a little out of reach for the most basic website owners.
For example, low-traffic static commercial sites, personal blogs, or perhaps portfolio sites.
Limited Resources
Their shared hosting options are limited so you will only get a certain amount of space for the package you registered, such as:
- 10GB for the StartUp package
- 20GB for the GrowBig package
- 30GB for the GoGeek package
Reasons Why SiteGround Hosting Is Ranked Number 1 for eCommerce site
What makes you luckier as a business person is a fact that setting up an e-commerce site and taking advantage of this wave of e-commerce is much easier to do today than it was a decade ago.
As long as you have the company or the right hosting platform at your side. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have coding skills, as you can easily create your website in minutes or hours, at worst, with the help of website creators provided by the store’s host.
And if you don’t want to do that, for one reason or another, there are still a variety of options that will suit your needs. Whoever you choose as your e-commerce host will definitely determine whether your business translates into a fortune or bites the dust.
If you want your business to prosper, then it is better that you choose SiteGround Hosting for an eCommerce site. Here are some reasons which will tell you why exactly you should choose this hosting service:
Great e-commerce tools
In addition to working with several popular content management systems (CMSs), such as Magento, Joomla, and WordPress. SiteGround supports the use of various e-commerce applications, such as OpenCart and Prestashop. You can also access Softaculous, where you have the option to choose other e-commerce tools, such as ZenCart, open-cart, etc.
When setting up an online store, the features mentioned are among the most crucial for increasing the store’s functionality.
While all of these features are great, most customers find it difficult to work with them, except for a minority who have some level of skill in web development or some degree of coding ability.
Read Also: Siteground Review For Cloud Hosting
Website building
You don’t have to worry if you are not a professional. SiteGround incorporated the website builder Weebly into its platform.
Therefore, you can not only take advantage of hosting services, but you will also have a simple and effective website builder to work with. Weebly does not require coding knowledge to create a website.
You simply drag and drop the various elements you want to work with, such as photos, texts, maps, and videos.
Also, it comes with e-commerce options, such as multiple payment gateways, in addition to attractive store themes for better user experience. Also, Weebly website templates respond to computers and portable devices, such as cell phones and tablets.
So, in case you need to create an e-commerce site in a snap and with ease, SiteGround covers you with Weebly. If you already have an existing website and only need a host, you will be pleased to know that migration to SiteGround is free.
Prices
SiteGround hosting plans are flexible in price and range from the most basic shared hosting options, through dedicated hosting, to cloud hosting options.
The cheapest shared option is the Start-Up Plan, which costs just $ 3.95 a month (special introductory price, the regular renewal price is $ 11.95 a month).
And includes an email account, unlimited traffic, cPanel, CloudFare (CDN), free daily backups, and other attractive features. You can always upgrade to the Grow Big Plan or Go Geek Plan for shared hosting, which would provide additional storage ranging from 20 to 30 GB, in addition to the ability to handle 25,000 to 100,000 visitors per month.
If you expect a larger number or need a website with more power and stability, you can try the cloud hosting plans, dedicated, and business.
Technical support
The customer support service is one of SiteGround’s main differentials and they take this matter very seriously, working to offer a fast and efficient service. SiteGround offers a 24-hour customer support service, via live chat, telephone contact, or ticket opening on the website.
And the company always places more staff than necessary in all shifts, promising instant contact via chat and phone call, and response in just 10 minutes after opening a ticket.
Also, there are several conveniences for those just starting out or who already have an online presence and want to move to the company.
Whoever wants to host a website using the services of SiteGround has a free migration service, the company itself moves its website of the current hosting for SiteGround, without any additional cost for the client.
And those who are new to it still have a virtual assistant, which can be found on the hosting panel. Despite being available only in English, this seems to be one of the most important points for the company.
They are always willing to help in any matter, not only related to hosting, but also to WordPress, Woocommerce, and much more. Customer service is one of SiteGround’s points of pride, and, despite language limitations, the quality of service is the first-rate and leaves nothing to be desired.
Read Also: Siteground Review For Android Apps Hosting
Server Performance and Stability
Siteground is concerned with always offering the best possible performance to its customers, and, for this, the company makes use of the latest technologies available on the market.
One of the highlights is that the company created its own cache system, called SuperCacher. This system works together with NGINX, a system that manages requests and accesses to websites more quickly than other web servers.
Such as Apache, achieving the best possible results in terms of response time and server performance. Another point worth mentioning is storage, which is made entirely in SSD.
This format is much faster than traditional hard drives (HD), as it has no moving parts, and SiteGround also offers free integration with CDN Cloudflare, which reduces site response time.
The stability of the servers is also, without a doubt, one of the greatest qualities of the SiteGround hosting service. The company promises 99.99% availability (Uptime), that is, the sites should only be unavailable for about 4 minutes a month.
This is a differentiator of this hosting service compared to many other companies, which guarantee only 99.9% availability. This difference may seem small, but an uptime of 99.90%. would leave your site down for 44 minutes a month, 11 times more than the maximum limit set by the company.
Free Automatic Backups
With a large number of attacks and data theft that has occurred in recent times, SSL certificates have become a mandatory item for all sites on the Internet, regardless of function or size.
And to encourage their use by customers, SiteGround offers for them a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate in all their plans. The installation and renewal of the certificate can be done automatically by the customer himself in the control panel of the hosting service.
The only requirement for installing SSL is a valid hosting domain configured on the SiteGround service.
Let’s Encrypt is a certification authority (CA) created by major technology companies, such as Mozilla, Google, and Facebook, to make the internet a safer place for everyone.
Security and Data Protection
As careful as we are, problems can always happen, which is why a backup system is essential to ensure that you do not lose any important data on your website.
The backup service offered by SiteGround is noteworthy, the company makes daily backups automatically, and maintains backups of the last 30 days in the system, at no cost to the customer.
If necessary, the backups can be restored by the customer in the control panel, where he can still choose whether the restoration will be for the entire account or just for some specific files.
The restoration is charged only in the initial plan and completely free in the others. Other features offered by the company include an attack prevention system, in addition to isolating resources by customers.
Read Also: Siteground Review For Small Bloggers Hosting
Email and Webmail
The e-mail hosting service is already included free of charge in all SiteGround hosting plans. However, if you prefer to use a professional email service, the company also offers that service.
The storage space varies from 10 GB to 30 GB, depending on the contracted plan. And can be accessed directly in the browser (webmail) or through any email program, such as Gmail or Outlook, using the appropriate protocol.
Payment methods
SiteGround accepts two forms of payment: VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover credit cards. And Payments via PayPal, however, this option is not available in the shopping cart.
To make a payment using your PayPal balance, you need to contact the support service and request this option. If you are not yet a customer of the company, the request can be made through the chat available on the website.
If you are already a customer of SiteGround, the order can be made through the support area that you find within the customer’s control panel.
Shared Hosting
This is the most popular and cheapest type of hosting offered by the company, and it is, for many people, the gateway for anyone who wants to have a website.
It includes a practical and easy-to-use website builder, an excellent migration service, and the more expensive plans have several additional benefits.
The ease of use and the more than affordable price make this option an ideal choice especially for beginners, who are creating their first website. But due to the ease of migration, it is also a good choice for blogs, websites, and stores small and medium-sized virtual machines.
Cloud hosting
SiteGround’s Cloud Hosting service was created with a focus on speed to serve sites with heavy traffic.
And applications that need a large number of resources, offering up to 8 processors, 10 GB of memory, and 5 TB of data transfer. This service also includes several advantages, such as 24-hour support, daily backups, free CDN, among others.
The customer who opts for this service can choose one of the pre-configured plans or create a customized plan.
What makes this option an ideal choice for those who have a website that sees heavy traffic, needs a large amount of data or needs a service with customized options to specifically meet the needs of their website.
Reseller Hosting
SiteGround also offers reseller hosting services for web designers and developers who want to resell the service to their customers.
The service is not offered in pre-defined plans and there is no monthly payment commitment, the system works with the purchase of credits that are transformed into accommodation.
Accounts activated by reseller hosting will have features similar to the initial hosting service, and the reseller will have access to a Whitelabel(a non-branded site) so that he can if he wants, resell the service without his client knowing the structure supplier.
Enterprise Hosting
SiteGround’s Enterprise Hosting service is a hosting solution tailored to companies. Instead of offering closed plans, with pre-decided parameters, the client informs the needs of your company and SiteGround offers a customized solution.
This service is based on Linux virtualized environments (LXC containers) and can be scaled dynamically to support high demand traffic spikes.
The company also offers load balancing and resource separation, and includes an account manager, offering personalized service. If you have a company and want to leverage your online business, this is the best hosting option for you.
Domain Registration
Having a domain registered on the web is essential for anyone who really wants to be the owner of their own website.
And like any good hosting service, SiteGround performs domain registration in the most diverse terminations, from the most popular. Such as .net, even special endings, like .guru, .link, etc.
SiteGround also offers a domain privacy service, used to hide the identity of the owner from the Whois-based query record. This service costs the US $ 1 (one dollar) per month.
Domains with country-based endings, such as .us, .jp, and .uk are also available.
Dedicated servers
SiteGround offers dedicated servers in three different categories, and you can choose the location of these servers between the United States, Europe, and Asia.
After the setup and delivery of the servers, the company monitors the machine, keeping the software updated, and acting proactively in case of any sign of problems.
SiteGround also offers several advantages to customers of this product, including VIP support 24 hours a day, via phone, chat, or ticket. The customer can request a restart of the machines at any time, or a diagnosis in the case of performance problems.
Despite the higher cost, this is an ideal option for larger companies and sites that need a more exclusive service.
Read Also: Siteground Review For Asian Countries Blogger.
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
If even with all these advantages you decide that SiteGround is not the ideal service for you, don’t worry, the company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. Sometimes money back guarantee days down from 30 to 14 days.
As long as you cancel the service within 30 days from the date of subscription, you can receive a refund of 100% of your money. Costs related to domain registration, administrative fees, and additional services will not be reimbursed.
Recommended by WordPress
SiteGround is one of the most recommended hosting services by WordPress.com and offers special advantages. And features for the platform, which results in a much better performance when compared to the results found in traditional hosting services.
The WordPress hosting service offered by the company includes an automatic installer that allows you to easily install the program and customize your website.
If you already have a functional website, it offers a free migration plug-in, or, if you prefer this, a professional migration service, making this a good one for you already have a page on the WordPress platform and are looking for a new hosting service.
Some Resutls in Facebook, Twitter and other social platform
Promising initial results after moving to @SiteGround and going full SSL. This graph shows a HUGE reduction in page load times. pic.twitter.com/uE3apxXoNc
— FeedTheHabit (@feedthehabit) February 18, 2017
Conclusion
SiteGround already has a great cost-benefit for a high-quality service, with a first-rate consumer support service, an uptime guarantee of more than 99%, and a focus on safety and speed.
They have fast speeds, reliable service, and great customer service. Also, they are great with WordPress. You can transfer easily. Even the support team is trained to help you with specific WordPress issues.
Storage is not optimal and prices are in the medium to high range. But you get a lot for your money and customer service if you are among the best in the industry.
If you are a small to medium-sized business, especially one that uses WordPress, SiteGround hosting plans offer a lot to you
