In this Bluehost review I’m going to share my personal experience with Bluehost and discuss its features.
I’ve found Bluehost to be the best hosting out there for anyone starting a new blog/website.
The affordable price, decent uptime, and great support make it my go-to host whenever launching a new site.
Let’s dive right into this post and take a look at the details.
Bluehost Review
Here’s a breakdown of what I’ll be covering in this Bluehost review:
Before we look at the specifics of Bluehost, it’s important to understand what a website hosting service is.
Here’s how I like to define it:
A website hosting service is simply a content storage and delivery service required to have your website be seen by people all around the world.
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On the surface, it may not seem like there could be too many things to consider when trying to find a hosting service that can store and deliver your content files.
However, the hosting provider you go with affects critical things such as the security, performance (caching, page load speed, uptime, etc.), and site backups.
Let’s take a look now at who Bluehost might be for.
Who is Bluehost for?
If you’re just starting up a new site, whether it be your first or several down the line, then Bluehost is definitely a hosting company that works well.
If you’ve got an aged domain with a lot of posts, then you’re probably already getting lots of traffic to your site. In this case, I’d recommend you go with a different hosting service such as WPX Hosting.
The cutoff I like to give for switching hosting is when you’re seeing upwards of 15,000 pageviews per month. Now don’t get me wrong, Bluehost certainly will still work fine for a lot more traffic than this but by that time you should be getting more than enough sales to get a better hosting provider.
By getting a better hosting provider later on, you’ll improve the user experience on your site, faster page load speed, and consequently see a lower bounce rate.
Bluehost Review: Features Breakdown
Let’s take a look at the main features that Bluehost provides once you sign up.
FREE Domain Name For 1st Year
One of the reasons that Bluehost is such a great hosting provider for those starting their first site is that they provide a free domain name for the 1st year.
If you’re on a budget when starting out building a business like most people, then this is a great way to get some savings right off the bat.
However, I personally have my domain registered with a separate provider such as Namecheap. If you feel you may want to switch hosting
FREE SSL For Site
One of the nice things about Bluehost is that they give you free SSL for your site when you sign up. SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer and it’s what gives your site that lock icon in the search bar.
SSL is commonly stated as being a ranking factor for your site in Google. In reality, it doesn’t have a huge effect on your rankings but every little bit helps. 😊
Plus, you’re going to be saving at least $1 to $2 per month by getting SSL for free.
DNS Record Creation
Bluehost, like every other hosting service or domain registrar, allows for DNS record creation.
The main thing to note here is that the interface used to create DNS records is CPanel.
Here’s a snapshot of what that looks like.
I’ve found the interface itself to be easy to use.
Once you get a handle on what records you need to create for your site (e.g. subdomains, email, etc.), then CPanel makes it easy to get things setup quickly.
Easy WordPress Installation With 1 Click
If you’re planning on using WordPress as your CMS (Content Management System), then Bluehost is a great choice. (P.S. I recommend you use WordPress since nearly half the internet is powered by WordPress for a reason.😊)
WordPress actually recommends Bluehost as their top hosting provider.
Not only that, but you’ll also get 1-Click installation of WordPress for you site. This makes it super simple to get up and running even if you’re a complete newbie to website creation and it’s your first site.
This is exactly what I did for my own site. I got Bluehost and did the WordPress installation. Worked like a charm!
24/7 Support
I’ve actually used the support from Bluehost quite a bit. I’ve mostly used it to fix issues with my emails and record creation for G Suite.
Every single time I got someone who was very knowledgeable and able to address my issues within minutes of reaching out and starting the chat with support.
I’ve read a lot of reviews other places that didn’t have good things to say about support, but I’ve had nothing but great experiences with Bluehost. So, they definitely get my recommendation.
Bluehost Affiliate Program
The cool part about Bluehost is that they’ve got a pretty sweet affiliate program.
As of writing this review, they offer $65 per sign up when someone purchases hosting.
Consequently, that’s why you see a lot of reviews out there for Bluehost (like mine😁).
Seriously though, I personally use Bluehost on my own site and have had a great experience which is why I’m recommending it.
What are the best parts of Bluehost?
Now, here’s what I think are the best parts about Bluehost.
Best Part #1: Bluehost Support
I know what you’re thinking… who cares about support.
Well, there’s nothing more aggravating than when you’ve got a problem or issue that you don’t know how to solve. Especially when there’s no one to reach out to in order to get help on a topic you don’t fully understand.
For a lot of us, we probably aren’t experts with DNS records, IP addresses, custom domain emails, and hosting.
These are all tricky things that can get complicated pretty quick. With Bluehost, you’ll have 24/7 support that can answer any issues you might have with your site.
Their support has always been able to answer my questions and solve the problems that I’ve had to get my site back up and running.
Best Part #2: Complimentary Site Backups
One of the things that comes in handy as your site grows is site backups.
Bluehost actually provides complimentary backups of your site for free.
However, once your site starts to make some money I’d recommend investing in daily backups for your site. I personally use ManageWP for daily backups of my site.
Best Part #3: Free SSL For Site
I personally take advantage of the free SSL offered by Bluehost because… why not!
If you’re planning on simply creating a blog and don’t care to rank in Google as high as possible for some reason, then this part may not be of any real interest.
But most people do want to rank as high as possible in the search rankings, so the free SSL for your site is a great plus when you use Bluehost for your hosting.
If you ever plan on having someone purchase a product directly on your site, then it’s basically mandatory that you get SSL. I personally don’t want to be purchasing something on an insecure site, so do yourself a favor and get SSL if you do plan on selling a product on your site.
Best Part #4: Easy WordPress Installation
Probably my favorite part about Bluehost would have to be how easy it is to get WordPress installed for your site.
WordPress is trusted by nearly half the internet and for good reason.
They’re an open source CMS with thousands of plugins to choose from to enhance and improve the user experience on your site.
I use WordPress and was able to get it installed literally within seconds after signing up for Bluehost, since it’s just a 1-click installation.🙂
What’s Not So Great About Bluehost
Bad Part #1: Uptime May Suffer
For the most part, the uptime of your site when using Bluehost shared hosting will be great.
I did have one instance though where my site was suddenly down and couldn’t be used for a half hour or so. Even still, this didn’t have a huge impact overall and is to be expected with a shared hosting plan.
No matter what hosting you get there’s always going to be a time when your site goes offline.
Bad Part #2: UI Can Be Tricky To Learn
If you’re creating your first site, then the user interface for Bluehost can be a little to tricky to learn right away.
Over time, I’m confident you’ll get a handle on how to use everything.
Plus, if you’re stuck then Bluehost has a great support to help solve any issues you might have anytime of the day.
Bluehost Pricing: Choosing A Plan
Here’s a quick breakdown of of the Bluehost pricing.
You can choose between the following three plans with Bluehost:
- Shared Hosting ($2.95 per month)
- VPS Hosting ($18.99 per month)
- Dedicated Hosting ($79.99 per month)
Once you reach around 15,000 per month, I’d recommend switching over to a better hosting provider.
My #1 recommended hosting for sites getting this type of traffic is WPX Hosting. Their servers are built specifically for WordPress websites and are blazing fast!
Bluehost Review Pros & Cons
- 24/7 Support
- 1-Click WordPress Installation
- FREE SSL For Your Website or Blog
- Complimentary Site Backups
- Great Affiliate Program
- FREE Domain Name For 1st Year
- UI Can Be Tricky To Learn
- Uptime May Suffer Compared To Other Hosting Providers
Every website needs hosting to be shown on the internet. It’s how you’re able to store the content of your site on servers and then display that content to viewers all around the world.
Bluehost can definitely handle high traffic. The higher up the plan you go in terms of price the more traffic your site will inevitably be able to handle. I’d definitely recommend getting the shared hosting plan though if you’re getting started with your site.
I always recommend the Shared Hosting Plan for $2.95 per month. This is the best plan for new sites or for sites that get less than 15,000 pageviews per month.
Bluehost Review Final Thoughts
Bluehost is a great hosting provider for any new site.
I recommend Bluehost due to it being very affordable hosting at $2.95 per month for the Shared Hosting Plan.
They’ve got great 24/7 support, super easy WordPress installation, and free SSL for your site which you’ll definitely want to take advantage.
Head below to get started with Bluehost.
Affiliate Disclaimer
I hope you enjoyed this post and got some value from this Bluehost Review. I’m an independent Bluehost Affiliate, not an employee. I receive referral payments from Bluehost. The opinions expressed here are my own and are not official statements of Bluehost.
David Sandy
Tools I Use: Elementor Pro, Thrive Comments, & Thrive Leads for blog design, ActiveCampaign for email marketing, DropFunnels for sales funnels, & ClickMagick for link tracking.
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"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
"because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." Romans 10:9-10