dotTech

Owning and running a website has always been a dream of mine. As a little kid I would try to work my way into the good graces of webmasters to try to maybe edge a co-webmaster position even though I had no idea what the hell I was doing (good ole Dragon Ball Z days =)). However, with the creation of my two main websites, PoliticallyMotivated.net and RationalWorks.net, subhanAllah so far my dream has gone pretty nicely. I am sure there are many people out there who would also like their very own website and/or blog. However, with so many web hosts out there, it is very tricky to know which web host actually backs up its claims and which do not. It is very easy to fall into a trap and get ripped off. Thus I have created this list to help guide people get the best bang for their buck. I hope it helps.

However, before we get to the list, there are a few things I would like to discuss. Firstly, let me explain what different types of web hosting there are. There are many different types of web hosting, but generally speaking there are three popular types:

• Shared Hosting - this type of web hosting is the most popular web hosting. This is the web hosting that you get with all the cheap web hosting you can purchase on the internet ($10 a month, $5 a month, etc.). For personal use, and sometimes even business use this type of web hosting is perfect. What happens here is that X amount of websites (your web host determines the number) are all hosted on one server. All the websites share the server resources and therefore if one website hogs a lot of server resources, it can slow down the rest of the websites on the server. If this happens, usually, a responsible web host would notify the web site owner and ask them to move to a dedicated hosting plan. Keep in mind that every web host has different shared hosting resource usage limitations and some web hosts are more tolerant than others if a client goes over their fair share. Shared web hosting is best for businesses/websites that receive low-to-medium traffic.
• Virtual Private/Dedicated Hosting - this type of hosting is more expensive then shared hosting. However if you have a virtual private/decided hosting plan, that means that while you share a server with other websites, you have your own private dedicated 'virtual server'. Basically the web host splits up the server and dedicated portions to specific websites. This ensures that no matter how many resources one of the websites on the server uses, you will always have your own dedicated resources to use; therefore, in theory, no website can effect the performance of your website. Usually this type of hosting is better suited for mid-size businesses/medium-to-high traffic websites who need to be sure their websites will always be accessible at a quick speed and not be bogged down by other websites.
• Dedicated Hosting - this type of hosting is the most expensive. You literally get your own server to host your website on. You have full access to it and no other website beside yours can use the server resources. This type of hosting is usually best suited for businesses/websites that receive high traffic and need dedicated server resource usage.

All the web hosts mentioned in this list are in reference to the shared hosting they offer.

Secondly, for people new in the field of website creation, the difference between domains and web hosting is often misunderstood. A domain is your website name, like PoliticallyMotivated.net. A domain is not web hosting. If you purchase a domain, you still need a web host to host the domain. Companies like GoDaddy, Name.com and Register.com provide domain registering services. Web hosting is a service provided by a web host company that allows your website and its content to appear on the internet. They actually host your website and the content, meaning that they provide servers where you store your website content. Companies like the ones mentioned below provide web hosting services. You do not need a domain to host a website, but you need web hosting to use a domain. To put it in an analogy, a domain is like your house address, while your house is like web hosting. Often when you purchase web hosting, one domain comes with the web hosting plan for free, but not always, so be sure to ask before you purchase. Also, you can purchase a domain from one company and web hosting from another and use them both together to make one website - both do not have to be from the same company.

Now onto the actual web host list.

NOTE: All the reviews referenced in this list are based on personal experience and/or actual user reviews. Nothing in this list is based off websites like 'toptenwebhosts dot com' or other generic websites like that.

NOTE2: All the opinions below are in reference to the shared hosting provided by the companies; their VPS or private servers service may differ.

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***dotTech Recommended***
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InMotionHosting
What they offer

• Features will vary depending the hosting plan.

Lowest Priced Plan

• Value Starter - $3.00

Pros

• CNET certified.
• BBB member
• Ranked excellent host by many different user reviews.
• Free domain.
• 90 day money back no questions asked guarantee

Cons

• The lower priced plans can be lacking in features - you have to get the more expensive ones to get more desirable features.

Recommended Hosting Plan

• Business Power - $8.95 a month

Why We Recommend Them

• Is my website blazing fast? It is because of InMotionHosting. So far the experience with InMotinHosting has been splendid. Their tech support is a little slow but their hosting is blazing fast. And being CNET verified and part of the BBB, it is hard to go wrong.

Click here to get hosting from InMotionHosting.
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Other Hosts
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EZPZ Hosting (click here) ***United Kingdom host + Excellent reviews
HostGator (click here) ***Has excellent reviews (Use coupon code HEART to get 20% off!)
LiquidWeb (click here)***Has excellent reviews
SiteGround (click here)***Has excellent reviews + Specialized hosting
HostICan (click here)***Mixed reviews
WebHostingPad (click here)***Mixed reviews
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Think Twice Before Signing up With These Hosts
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HostMonster and Bluehost
Why you should think twice

• HostMonster and Bluehost are owned by the same company. Around the web hosting community, these guys are popularly known as "oversellers", more or less meaning that they sell more webhosting then their servers can properly support. Although on paper their feature list is excellent for the price you pay, they have this thing called "CPU Quotas" which severely restricts what your website can and cannot do (i.e. run PHP scripts). If you want to run anything besides simple HTML webpages, avoid these two hosts. Chances are, anything more then just simple HTML will cause you to hit their "Exceeded CPU Quota" error. I am talking from personal experience. I had recommended HostMonster to a friend once because of the decent reviews HostMonster has gotten + because of the really good features they offer (on paper) for the price you pay. It turned out to be a bad recommendation - my friend was hit by the "CPU Quota" limit three times within one week of sign up.

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Godaddy
Why you should think twice

• Godaddy is known for their domain registering service - NOT their hosting service. If you would like to register a domain, Godaddy is the way to go. But DO NOT let them talk you into getting their hosting. Granted, Godaddy hosting is bound to come with the same excellent support that comes with Godaddy domain registering service, but a quick Google search reveals that their hosting service has sub-par reviews, and they do not have very great features for the price you pay when compared to other hosting options.

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EboundHost
Why you should think twice

• I was with Eboundhost for ~4-5 months. For the first half of their hosting, they were the best host I have ever had. Great features for the price, fast website, and great tech support. However in the past 1-2 months it seem s they have got a influx of clients; the only problem is they have no seemed to upgrade their hardward to support all those clients. That being said I left Eboundhost because their hosting became very very slow (it still has great tech support though).

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1&1
Why you should think twice

• Another host that is popularly regarded as an "overseller", reviews suggest that while they have low prices, their service is not very good.

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iPowerWeb
Why you should think twice

• Although the features that come with their cheapest hosting plan are decent when compared to the price you pay, the reviews say that you should think twice before getting iPowerWeb (reviews say horrible support + horrible service + lots of downtime; in other words all the characteristics of an "overseller").

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StartLogic
Why you should think twice

• The reviews suggest this host is not worth signing up for. It seems it is so bad, there is a hate site for it where actual users leave posts about their experience with StartLogic (google it).

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LunarPages
Why you should think twice

• While the reviews for LunarPages seem to be, generally, decent, there is a dedicated hate website that literally preaches against LunarPages (google it).

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Tip1:

As a rule of thumb, you can generally spot an "overseller" by their web hosting plans and the amount of websites they host. If their prices seem very low (usually $5 or less) for the features they claim to offer you (unlimited everything), and If they claim they host hundreds of thousands of websites, they most likely are an overseller. Of course these two criteria are not totally inclusive because there are web hosts out there that meet the above two criteria but still provide excellent web hosting. But the above two criteria is a good starting point.

Tip2:

In the shared web hosting environment, many web hosts offer 'unlimited/unmetered bandwidth', 'unlimited/umetered web space', etc. On paper this looks good. But in reality it is really a marketing gimmick.; in reality you will never have 'unlimited' anything. If your website is using up a lot of server resources your web host will ask you to either stop using as much resources, ask you to upgrade to a virtual or dedicated server plan or shut you down all together. Never let an 'unlimited' offer be a selling point. It is good to have, but there is always a practical limit. Let the reputation of the web host be your selling point.

Lastly, as always, please be a vigilant consumer. Verify ten times before giving out any financial information, such as credit card number, to any company online. I only give my opinions/suggestions on this page which are based on experience and information freely available on the internet. The final decision is always yours and I am not responsible for any financial gain or loss.