2017 BlueHost (MySQL 5.6) Review: Expert Rating (4.3 Stars)
Utah-based web host, BlueHost, is no doubt a huge player in the web hosting space and deservedly so. Since 2003, its founding year, the company has never relented in churning out one innovative solution after another each geared towards making web hosting perfect and convenient for everyone. Novice or pro, BlueHost has you covered.
So far, BlueHost has a number achievements to their name. Since 2005, the company has remained one of the official WordPress hosting partners. And reaching such heights doesn’t come easy. You have to meet the minimum requirements of PHP version 7 or greater, MySQL version 5.6 or greater or MariaDB version 10 or greater and HTTPS support.
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But that aside, WordPress simply chose BlueHost as a partner because the company has a WordPress friendly dashboard, 1-click WordPress installation, and a 24/7 customer support by WordPress experts. BlueHost also powers over two million websites and remains a leader in the web hosting industry.
Take their shared hosting plan, for instance, BlueHost exceeds the standard expected features offered by most web hosting companies. You can expect unlimited bandwidth, storage, a free domain and a free name domain for a year. In addition, the company also offers MySQL and PHP database, secure IMAP email support, unlimited domain hosting, site backup and a 30-day money back guarantee.
This review uncovers a lot more about the company you will not want to miss.
Ratings
- Features 4.5/5.0
- Reliability 4.2/5.0
- Ease Of Use 4.5/5.0
- Pricing 4.0/5.0
- Customer Support 4.5/5.0
Overall Rating:
BlueHost Hosting Review
BlueHost is one of the best offerings from Endurance International Group. And it’s not hard to see why it is a popular web host, besides the many positive BlueHost reviews by users. You are guaranteed secure web hosting services with the option of further security in cloud hosting. And the automatic copies stored on 3 devices on cloud make it easier for website owners to continue with their online presence despite hardware handicaps.
Also, their custom built servers and open source technology allow the site to enjoy great performance and uptimes. Beyond that, they have invested heavily in customer support, both interactive and knowledge based. So clients can seek answers without having to talk to a rep. Their plans are easily scalable and the price is reasonably cheap for all that the site offers.
On their cloud platform, the web host offers amazing features. You can expect advanced features like secure POP3 and IMAP support, account filters, forwarding rules as well as third party compatibility. Security at BlueHost is taken very seriously. As such, they ensure you have spam protection.
For those who are interested in WordPress, BlueHost is the perfect web host. As a WordPress favorite, you can expect WordPress centric features that will help you manage your site. On the negative side, the fact that BlueHost charges quite a chunk of money for an otherwise free service counts as a drawback for users looking to migrate to their hosting services.
Pros
Excellent Customer Support
Apart from the traditional phone support and the expected live chat and web options, BlueHost has done very well for themselves with regard to the knowledge base. While they excel at live chat, the web and the phone, they have gone above and beyond in creating a solution backed list of problems frequently encountered by their clients. The staff is friendly and well versed in technical matters making it a pleasure to interact with them.
Great Performance
You can expect consistently reliable speeds from the site as they make use of open source technology (e.g. OpenStack) which allows them to be able to upgrade their performance from time to time. BlueHost also gives a 99.99% uptime guarantee that they uphold. They use in-house custom-built servers that are built using the latest technology.
Ease Of Use
BlueHost uses the latest version of the cPanel, the world most comprehensive control panel. With the cPanel, you have great features that are easy to use and manage your website. The site further added some more features like new apps to its panel for more control and ease of use. The BlueHost panel has more features than the original cPanel.
Scalability
BlueHost makes it easier for users to move from one plan to another. In most cases, the web host will just charge you the difference for moving up to another plan. But then they will allow you to move up at no extra cost, a feature that has received great nodes in many BlueHost.com reviews.
Cons
Migration
While migrating a website is an invaluable service, it comes at a hefty cost for anyone seeking to migrate to BlueHost. Considering the fact that other sites offer site transfers for free. it seems an unnecessary cost to incur for many users.
In addition, they will only migrate up to 5 websites and 20 emails at a cost of $149.99. It’s important to note that BlueHost clearly stipulates that some of your email accounts password may be updated according to their security passwords. Also, the service isn’t inclusive of transferring your domain name registrations. In many reviews of BlueHost, this is something not many users are happy with.
No Month To Month Options
BlueHost doesn‘t offer the popular month to month plan. In fact, in order to enjoy the lowest rates you have to lock down 3 years. While corporations and business may not mind this terms, it is a huge inconvenience for beginners who are still trying to establish a web presence. It also doesn’t help when sister companies like HostGator offer the month to month plans. If you look at the many reviews on BlueHost by potential users, this is one of the reasons they kept away from it.
Limits To Unlimited
While it appears to be an industry standard to claim unlimited when there is actually a limit, BlueHost does not escape the user's wrath at not coming clean about this. This means that users have to constantly keep an eye on their disk space and storage levels. Hopefully, they will act since there’s mounting criticism against this in many BlueHost web hosting reviews.
Top Features Of BlueHost Hosting
Performance
BlueHost understands the fundamental reason behind a web hosting service: to provide the user with a reliable, fast and secure hosting service. This translates to smooth running websites and online presence even when your site is experiencing high traffic. For this reason, BlueHost servers are custom built by in-house engineers with the latest technology. The site also uses open source technology such as OpenStack which allows them to be able to upgrade their performance regularly.
To further advance their performance, the site allows you to increase your storage space in real time using the enhanced cPanel. Dedicated servers are provisioned in advance so they are always on standby when you need them. Advanced users have access to CentOS through the improved control panel. This allows them to control their servers fully on their own.
Data Security
This is one of web hosting’s highest casualties. Many people do not look into the web host security background before setting shop there. Fortunately, BlueHost users are in very good hands. The web host daily scans your website for malware and viruses using site lock.
To add on to that, they offer 24/7 network monitoring of their servers. Furthermore, the company offers the option of building your site in cloud where you have three devices where it will be automatically copied to.
In case of a problem with one device, the site’s failover technology rapidly shifts your website to the best device as the system rebuilds the first one. This is a failsafe way to ensure you website keeps running despite hardware issues on the site.
Customer Support
No matter what plan you are on, BlueHost customer support offers great response times and are knowledgeable. The company understands that it is the backbone of web hosting without which the site can’t run. Since most website owners are not technically savvy with regard to web hosting, there is an over-reliance on the customer support.
BlueHost staff are trained to handle both the basic and the technical aspects of the business. Regardless of the time (peak or nonpeak hours) you can expect a fast response to your question. In the case of more advanced issues, you can get expedited assistance from dedicated agents who work closely with the engineers in charge of maintaining servers. They are able to quickly discern the problem by virtue of being around as the engineers work.
In addition, the company’s knowledge base is well equipped with support resources that range from guides to how-tos, to articles and listed topics of commonly faced problems accompanied by their solutions. Chances are you may find the answers to your questions here without needing to speak to an agent.
cPanel
Using the cPanel, BlueHost endeavors to bring ease of use to their non-technical clients by allowing them to maintain and manage their site easily. As the worldwide standard control panel, the cPanel features an easy to use interface and BlueHost has further enhanced it by adding on other features to increase ease of use. If you wish to know how you are going to use this cPanel, the video below will be of great help to you:
Conclusion
So is BlueHost good for you? Definitely yes. With BlueHost hosting, you can be at whatever level of life and they will have a package for you. For students, BlueHost has the student plan that allows students to establish themselves online through a variety of platforms. Besides, they are also committed to open source development and implementation and so the fact that they don’t focus on business alone has helped in growing them to greater heights.
Overall, for their excellent customer support, great performance, and security, BlueHost definitely makes a great choice for a reliable web host. However, for those on a budget and looking for convenient payment plans such as month to month options, as we saw earlier in this review, their hosting services may not be a suitable option.
If that’s you, you will want to try out HostGator, which is a great alternative in this case because they just don’t offer convenient payment options but also high-performance hosting to suit your hosting needs. BlueHost is among the few web hosts running the web hosting space and it’s for good reasons. So read on to discover the reasons in this expert BlueHost review.
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