Limited Time 50% Discount for You!

InMotion Hosting is giving my visitors a limited time 50% discount. This is really a HUGE discount! To avoid abuse and over usage, the discount page will only be loaded if you visit them from my website. Get it before it is gone.

• Click here to get your 50% off now!

How popular and successful is InMotion Hosting?

InMotion Hosting is actually in business longer than BlueHost and HostGator. They didn't grow as big but they are still doing very well. They are ranked #3,076 as the most visited website in the world according to Alexa and #1,843 within the US.

Have you heard of InMotion Hosting? A quick introduction.

I have heard of InMotion Hosting for a very long time and I have never considered using them until recent years. I am shocked to discover that they are really good and I hope I have tried them earlier. There are 2 reasons why I have skipped them earlier.

1. They have very complicated offering from dedicated servers to virtual private servers which I don't need. What I need (and what 99% of us need) is shared hosting but they don't call it that. They call it the "Business Class Hosting" instead. But how many of us really operates a business website? I think it is really a bad name.

The "Business Class" hosting is further separated into 3 different plans with lots of different limitations and you will need to spend a lot of time to choose a plan that is right for you. If you have learned about BlueHost, you know they are very straightforward, offering one and only one plan for everyone.

2. I simply don't like the way they design and present their website. There are too many elements and colors. Just too many things going on at the same time. My eyes don't know where to focus and what to read. So usually navigating their website for awhile, I will decided to quit.

But I later found out it is really not that complicated. As I have told you, all you need to do is look at their "Business Class Hosting" which is just a "high class" name for shared hosting. You can definitely host non business oriented sites with this plan. 

In this review I am going to help you to understand their "Business Class Hosting" and help you to choose the best plan. Just ignore dedicated servers and VPS hosting. Wordpress Hosting is EXACTLY the same thing as Business Class hosting. So you don't need to waste your time looking on it.

What's Business Class Hosting?

As mentioned earlier, it is just a "high class" name for shared hosting. It has nothing to do with whether your website is business or non business oriented. Any website is suitable for it. If you are still confused with shared hosting versus other types of hosting such as VPS and dedicated server, you can read my article on different types of web hosting services.

There are 3 different shared Business Class hosting plans - Launch, Power and Pro.

Launch vs Power vs Power - Which one should you choose?

We are not going to look at the Pro plan (the 3rd plan) because it is too expensive ($13.95/month). The 50% discount does not apply to it as well. So we are left with Launch (the 1st plan) and Power (the 2nd plan). The major differences between the 2 are as follow:-

While both of them offer unlimited disk space and data transfer, the number of websites you can host on each account is limited. You can only host 2 websites with the Launch plan and 6 websites with the Power plan.

Another major difference is the number of MySQL databases. With only 2 allowed with the cheaper Launch plan, it means you can only install 2 scripts using their scripts installer. If you are running 2 WordPress sites on your account, you would have used up the MySQL database allocation. You will have no room to install another script, say a picture gallery or a web analytic script.

Experienced webmaster can install many scripts into the same database but the question is whether you know how to do it yourself? The Power Plan comes with 50 MySQL databases which means you can install up to 8 scripts in each of your website, which is more than enough.

If you have multiple domains for your website (such as mysite.com, mysite.net, mysite.info...), you can point them to your main site by using the parked domain feature.

Subdomains are like dogs.animals.com, cats.animals.com. Maybe because domain names are very cheap nowadays, we rarely see website using subdomains anymore.

Most of us only need 1 FTP account so 1,000 is considered unlimited.

The Launch plan doesn't allow you to install any shopping cart scripts using their scripts installer. But you can still install them by yourself if you know how to do it because most scripts are actually free and can be easily downloaded online. If you prefer to "click and install", the Power plan allows you to do so with their script installer, which comes with more than 10 shopping carts scripts. Even if they allow you to use the scripts installer, remember that the Launch Plan allows 2 MySQL databases only.

I recommend you to choose the Power plan because I think the Launch plan is too limited, unless you are not planing to own more than 2 websites in the near future and you are very sure you don't need more than 2 MySQL databases.

Why doesn't InMotion Hosting offer unlimited websites hosting just like the competitors?

There is really no such thing as "unlimited" hosting. Each hosting server can only do that much and big websites such as Google and Facebook are powered with thousands of web hosting servers for just a single website. You don't expect them to pay $8.95/month for hosting.

That's why each web host will need to limit their customer in some way. For example, many web hosts that doesn't have a limit on the number of websites will have a limit on the number of files instead. For example, BlueHost has a file limit of 200,000 and HostGator has a file limit of 250,000. InMotion hosting doesn't have a file limit.

99% of us can be satisfied with a simple shared hosting. If you are able to build a website successfully, you can easily switch to InMotion higher offering, i.e. VPS and dedicated servers (or even the Pro plan). At that time, you should be very happy with the money you are making with your website.

How is their customer support?

This is the most important question you need to ask when you research about a web host. It is also one that is most difficult to know by just looking at their website. The biggest surprise I got from InMotion hosting is their customer support. Not only that you get your respond quick but you get it is a very personalized way that you never seen from other web host.

While web hosts such as BlueHost and HostGator deliver excellent support, usually you get very concise and robotic responds. Their staff are trained more to be efficient robots rather than human beings. With InMotion, you get the kind of personal touch and care that you can felt quickly. The reply is longer with more details and they don't look canned (copy and paste).

Most of the time I prefer to dig for answer myself instead of contacting support for everything. You can go to their support center and search their huge knowledgebase. Most of the frequently asked questions are already answered. For example, searching for "free domain" will quickly lead you to the information such as how many years it is free and whether you can get another one if you are transferring an existing name.

You can also submit questions to the community and expect a guarantee response within 60 minutes (8am-5pm EST Mon to Fri only). Please use this spatially because community questions are not private! All questions and answers will be made public. That's why the knowledgebase can be so huge. Click here to see some recently asked questions in the community.

If you have any sales related question, use the Live Chat for private session which is instant and doesn't require a wait of 60 minutes. Live Chat is also faster than sending them an email. 

How is their server reliability?

Most server reliability issues in shared hosting are due to other customers sharing the same server using up too many resources. These resources include CPU power, amount of memory and bandwidth. By limiting the number of websites and MySQL databases a customer can host in an account (which seems like a limitation at first) becomes an advantage when it comes to maintaining server reliability. In this case, InMotion hosting will be able to provide faster and better server performance than other "unlimited" web hosts.

What control panel is used by InMotion Hosting?

It is cPanel. It is the best web hosting control panel and also the same control panel used by BlueHost, HostGator and JustHost.

The only competitor that worth mentioning is vDeck which is used by web hosts such as iPage and FatCow.

You can try the demo here.

Can you tell me more about their scripts installer?

InMotion are using Softaculous which allows you to install 280 different scripts on my last count! For comparison, SimpleScripts offered by BlueHost and JustHost contains 80 scripts only while HostGator's QuickInstall offers 74 scripts only. Click here for the full list of scripts.

However, it is my duty to remind you that each script require a new MySQL database on its own. So if you are using the cheaper Launch plan, you can only install up to 2 scripts. If you are using Power plan, you can install up to 50 scripts.

Is InMotion Hosting good for WordPress?

Yes! They even go so far to rebrand the entire Business Class hosting as WordPress hosting, create a badge for it in the front page and a dedicated page for for "WordPress Hosting" (click to see). All the features found in the WordPress Hosting is the same as Business Class Hosting. You can install it easily in the control panel.

How fast can you install a new WordPress? Faster than you send an email!

If you have a wordpress website with WordPress.com or another web hosts, they will also be able to help you transfer it to your new account. Check with them if you plan to do so to see how much they are willing to do.

Will you get a free domain name?

You will get a free domain name for the first year only. You will have to renew it at $12.95 second year onwards.

Can you still get a free domain name if you are using an existing domain name?

Yes! If you are using an existing domain name, you can still register another domain name for free. You will be given a free domain credit and you can use it anytime you want.

Do they offer anytime money back guarantee?

Anytime money back guarantee is rare and is provided by some great web hosts such as BlueHost and HostGator. You can cancel your account anytime and get a pro-rated refund for your unused services.

InMotion Hosting does not offer anytime money back guarantee. However, they backed their service with 90-day money back guarantee. Within the first 90 days of your account activation, you can cancel your account for a full refund. While it is not as good as anytime money back guarantee, it is still significantly better than all other web hosts that offer the standard 30-day money back guarantee.

Your should read the complete refund policy here to understand all the small details and to avoid any surprises. When I read through it, I encounter a very interesting clause that state - Customers who exercise the money back guarantee and use more than 500mb of bandwidth will be charged for such usage. Please contact sales for details.

So I contact sales and ask for details. They told me that it is to protect them from "bandwidth abuser" but they also said there are only 3 instances where they really charge for the bandwidth usage out of 10 years in business.     

Are accounts activated instantly?

Accounts are not activated instantly. According to them, the fastest an account can be activated is 30 minutes because they need to run through a series of verification process. I do not know how those works but I have heard the same from other web hosts such as HostGator. The objective is to hunt for possible fraud. Make sure you have a reachable phone number because it is common for a web host to call in to verify the sale.

Once you account is activated, you will receive an email. This is the simplest "Welcome Email" that I have received after signing up with many different web hosts. I was surprise that there is nothing in it! No DNS settings, no username, no nothing... Actually what they want you to do is to click on a link in that email to setup your new password and login to your AMP (Account Management Panel). Here you can get information on how to setup your DNS settings or click a link to launch CPanel.

• Click here for 50% Discount on InMotion Hosting

You may have encountered many HostGator coupons being published online but actually they will only give you one of the 3 discounts:-

1. 25% Discount - Coupon Code: GetTwentyFive
2. 20% Discount
3. $0.01 for the first month - Coupon Code: GetOneMonth

No matter how many coupon codes you have seen, they will fall under one of the category above. The 20% discount coupon is the default coupon from HostGator. Anyone can get it because it is automatically embedded in the sign up form. If you want to get 25% discount, you have to type the coupon code manually (i.e. GetTwentyFive).

The $0.01 for the first month discount, although interesting, is pointless because you will end up paying full price after the first month and you will end up saving less than 10% in a year. Since you can always get a refund of your unused hosting anytime your want (more explanation later), you can go ahead and sign up for longer plan to enjoy more savings.

How much savings can I get from using the 25% Coupon Code?

Please remember that your discount is for the first payment term only and will be renewed at regular pricing after that. The longer you pay for the first term, the more you can save.

Should I try HostGator for $0.01 per month?

No, you should not because you will have to pay the regular renewal pricing from the second month onwards which is $6.95 for the one-domain Hatchling plan and $9.95 for the unlimited Baby plan. After a year of hosting, you will end up getting less than 10% discount overall (8.3% to be accurate). The 25% coupon code will give you a significant better deal. With HostGator anytime money back guarantee, you can always get your unused portion of hosting back so your future payment is protected.

HostGator Money Back Guarantee? 45-Day or Anytime?

While HostGator is advertising the 45-Day money back guarantee anywhere in their website, actually they are offering ANYTIME money back guarantee. This can be read in their terms and conditions and will be honored.

This is how it works. If you cancel your account within the first 45 days, you will get a full refund of your hosting fee. If you cancel after the period, you will still get a partial refund depending on how many months you have left unused. This is very straightforward. If you have paid 24 months up front and cancel 10 months later, you will get 14 months of hosting fee back. HostGator has promised to process all refund in only 1 working day with no question asked. All you need to do is fill up the cancelation form here.

You can read about their cancelation policy in the Terms of service Section 6 - Cancelation and Refunds.

What is HostGator verification about?

A lot of HostGator sign up will trigger the verification process. I have to go through it myself too. I am a bit furious at first but later I understand it is a good business practice to protect the internet from more credit card frauds. If you receive an email asking for verification, there are 3 ways to get yourself verified.

The easiest way is to call in to verify. You can have it done in 5 minutes. This is my preferred method and the recommended method to you too.

You can ask them to call you back too BUT I don't like this method because you don't know when they will be calling in. And they can only call using the phone number you have entered when signing up which means they will have problem reaching you if you miss out the area code or country code. You can also ask them to call you back directly while in the live chat so you don't need to wait.

The last method is to email or fax them a copy of your identity card or driving license and the also the credit card you use to make the payment. This is good for those phobias who don't want to speak on phone or those international customer who cannot speak English well or want to save on phone bills.

If you do not want to verify, your account will be automatically canceled in 3 days and a the early credit card transaction will be canceled with a full refund.

Does HostGator offer instant account activation?

Yes, you can login to your control panel instantly after the sign up. You can upload your files, create new email accounts or install a new WordPress blog. However, you account will be suspended an hour later if it trigger the verification requirement stated above. The reason why verification is not requested immediately is because not all customers have to go through it and the "check" that they need to perform will takes at least 30 minutes to run.

So what will trigger the verification request? For example where there is a IP number and country mismatch (signing up with a credit card issued in the US from India), a telephone number mismatch (entering a Los Angeles phone number while signing up from New York), etc. There are many "intelligent" criteria but the worst that can happen is just to make a phone call.

Account that is not verified will be canceled and full refund will be given.

HostGator Hatchling vs Baby, which one should I choose?

If you have not check out my mega comparison chart between the 2 plans, you can do so now. Hatchling allows you to host only 1 website while Baby allows you to host unlimited website. Of course Baby will be more expensive due to this reason.

If  you already owns multiple sites, you choice is easy and you will need the unlimited Baby plan. If you are just starting up and only have 1 website, do sign up with the Hatchling plan. At anytime if you need to host a second website, you can sign up for a new Baby account and cancel the old Hatchling account with partial refund.

Should I consider HostGator Business Plan?

By paying even more, you will get a toll-free number, dedicated IP address and private SSL certificate. You probably don't need to sign up with Business plan straight away unless you are 100% sure you need all of them. You can always top-up to get any of them even if you are using Baby plan. However, you are not allow to purchase any of them if you are using Hatchling plan.

How Unlimited is HostGator "Unlimited" Hosting?

HostGator plans are more expensive than the competitors. And because of this, we will expect better service and quality from them. This is correct that from my observation, they host significantly less accounts in 1 server compare to the competitors. Other web hosts might have host more than 2,000 websites in a server while I notice they will host less than 500 in 1 server. However, because we do not know the exact server specification, we cannot simply judge that 2,000 websites in 1 server is overloading and 500 is not because different server can afford different load. But still, there is least chance your server can be compromised by other customers sharing the same server if you are sharing it will less people.

HostGator has very clear limits to their "unlimited" hosting plan, stated in their terms of service Section 7 Resource Usage. For example, you cannot exceed 250,000 files in your account. If you exceed 100,000 files in your account, you will be removed from the backup system (However database will still be backup).  A standard WordPress installation with some plugins and themes take up less than 2,000 files which means you can be easily running 50 WordPress sites with backup still running.

Will I get a free domain name? Should I get my domain name from HostGator?

Unfortunately not. You will have to pay $15 for it if you need one. You will also need to renew it for $15/year after that. I suggest that you register your domain name elsewhere to save a few bucks. Read my article where to get cheap domain names.

If you are registering your domain name elsewhere, you can easily link your domain name to your HostGator account by just changing the DNS setting in your domain registrar control panel. You will only be receiving your correct DNS setting after your sign up with HostGator so you won't be able to set it when you are registering your domain name. Just leave it as default or empty.

How is HostGator customer support?

HostGator provides the best customer support for all the web hosts that I have ever used. Be it live chat or email or phone, all their staff are professional trained and waiting time is minimum. All my issues are resolved to 100% satisfaction. The reason I am willing to pay more for HostGator instead of the competitors is because of their exceptional customer support. If you insist on only the best customer support, HostGator is the choice.

Is HostGator using CPanel?

Yes. Just like BlueHost and other popular web hosts, HostGator is using CPanel control panel which is also my favorite. It is better than vDeck and Plesk. 

Does HostGator offer scripts installer?

HostGator is using QuickInstall which is developed by themselves. It is the fastest installer I have ever used because you don't even need to reload your page to install a script! Not only QuickInstall will install new scripts at ease, they can also be used to update your scripts to the newest version when available.

Currently 74 scripts are available.

Do you know they will help you to move your site for free?

HostGator is the only shared web host that is willing to help you to move your site for free. This is not a common industry practice because moving a hosting account is a tedious job. Most of our internet connection has very fast download speed but very slow upload speed so uploading a few GB of data to your new hosting account is not fun. This is where HostGator and step in and help you to move your contents from your old host to your new account. They will even help you to move your database and change the basic configuration so your website will be "mostly" working after the transfer.

For more information, you can read their detail description.

Do you know you can choose your own username with HostGator?

All shared hosts that I have ever used assign me a auto generated username. Some looks cool but some are just bullshit. Some usernames are derived from your domain name, some are totally random. For my domain name WebHostingJuice.net, imagine a username such as "webhice26" or "ckwebhos32". It will get worst when there is a hyphen in your domain name. Not only you need to login with your username, all your databases and database users will have the username appended to them becoming something like webhice26_mywordpressdatabase and webhice26_mydatabaseuser so that means you will need to type it a lot.

When you host with HostGator, take the opportunity to choose a username that is short and easy to type. It can be as short as only 2 characters! How cool it is to have a username such as "me" or "ice".

Why is HostGator rated as #3 and not #1 or #2?

It is about the wallet. While they are the best in everything, they are not in pricing. It doesn't even include a free domain name. And due to my job as a web developer, I am not operating 2 or 3 sites but a few dozens! So I need to consider pricing carefully. And since BlueHost is offering exceptional service quality too with far cheaper pricing, they deserve to be #1.  But I do have accounts with all the top web hosts I review here and I am very satisfied with all of them.

• Click here to visit HostGator

The biggest nightmare I ever have as a web developer is not that my web host suspended my account without a reason or that my website was down for 3 consecutive days! It is that my domain registrar went out of business and I were not able to renew my domain names that were expiring!

That happened a few years back and the name of the registrar is RegisterFly. I own over 30 domain names at that time. Shouldn't I know that flies just love shits?... Many customers lost their domain names because they simply cannot renew them or transfer it away.

Ever since that day I will only register my domain name at the most reputable domain registrars. At least if they really screw up, they will affect too many customers and become "too big to fail" forcing ICANN (the domain regulator) to step in and take control.

Where should you register your domain names?

You can reach GoDaddy at www.godaddy.com

GoDaddy has been the largest domain registrar for several years. They are currently the #88 most visited website in the world according to Alexa. Just recently, they are being sold to three private equity firms for $2.25 billion!

GoDaddy domain names are cheap but you have to very very careful with them for "stealing" more money from you.

1.  There are lots of upselling when you try to register a domain name and I really means A LOT! You don't need any of them except maybe private registration which I will explain later.

2. Domain name can be register for 1 year up to 10 years. Make sure you are paying for 1 year because GoDaddy may have quietly choosing longer terms for you!

3. ALWAYS check and confirm the final price before you make any payment to avoid any nasty surprises!!!

You can reach NameCheap at www.namecheap.com

NameCheap is gaining market share very fast in the last few years. They have now become the #699 most visited website according to Alexa. Due to the nasty GoDaddy upselling and complicated check out, NameCheap will offer you a better experience. Domain name pricing is also as cheap as GoDaddy, if not cheaper. It has been my primary choice now.

How much do GoDaddy and NameCheap cost?

They change their pricing by the cents all the time so I am not going to prepare a chart here. You can easily check at their website. Different domain extensions have different pricing. But they have the most competitive pricing in town and they will always beat the domain pricing of a web host.

However, here is a special discount link where you get a .com from GoDaddy for only $7.99 (+$0.18 ICANN fee) for the first year.

• GoDaddy $7.99 .com Promotion

You can also try the coupon code "CJCSAVE10" for 10% off all orders and "WEB40" for $10 off if you order amount is over $40. I don't think coupons are stackable and I also don't promise they will work all the time.

What is domain name privacy protection? Do you need it?

GoDaddy is calling it Private Protection while Namecheap is calling it WhoisGuard Protection (the logo looks like a bug to me but it is actually a mask and a shield!). They refer to the same thing. This may be the only add-on that you can consider and please stay far far away with other add-ons.

When you register a new domain name, ICANN requires you to make your personal information public so anyone who do a "whois search" on your domain will know a lot of information about you which includes, your name, your address, you telephone number and your email.

If it is registered under your business entity, then there is nothing to worry about when those information is being made public. However, you may not be very happy if your home address and home phone number are being published.

And the other problem is your email address. Spammers will harvest the email addresses from the "whois search" and start spamming your email account!

Although against the ICANN requirement, I used to put fake information on my domain whois to avoid the problems. Yes, I will put fake name, fake address, fake telephone number and even fake email... Well I didn't get into any trouble at all.

Now domain registrar found a solution for us (actually a new way to make more money from us). Instead of entering fake information our self, they will enter it for us. It's not fake. It is just their own office address and telephone number. And to rent you their address, they will charge you a fee for it! Ahem...

So now instead of your personal information, GoDaddy will show this instead if you are paying for their private registration:-

Private, Registration your-domain-name@domainsbyproxy.com
Domains By Proxy, LLC
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States
(480) 624-2599 Fax -- (480) 624-2598

The only difference now with me entering fake information is that now it complies with ICANN requirements because now the information is "real", just not yours.

And not all domain extension support domain privacy. For example, you cannot use it on the .us domain extension.

The biggest concern on Private Domain Registration is the Price!

 Here is the pricing for private whois and I have included some web hosts for comparison as well.

You see, it is not something cheap. It can cost more than your domain name! And now you know why I prefer NameCheap after you look at the price.

Should you use their web hosting services?

No. I have never seen a domain registrar that can provide good web hosting service. It is just not their core business and they are only doing it to complement their domain business. I would stay far far away from them. Please use one of the best web hosts I am recommending instead.

• Visit GoDaddy
• Visit NameCheap
• Recommended Best Web Hosting Services

  can be reached at

What is so special about JustHost?

JustHost has been acquired by BlueHost in November 2011. JustHost has been integrated into BlueHost and now they share the same management, datacenter, servers and customer support team. They even share the same address, support ticket system and knowledgebase. (Click on image to confirm address yourself)

Because of this "loophole", you can now signup with "JustBlueHost" for $4.95 for their 12-month plan (instead of $5.95 with BlueHost)!

Click here to visit JustHost

Are you sure JustHost has been acquired by BlueHost?

Due to marketing strategy, BlueHost does not announce the acquisition publicly and will be marketed as its own brand as usual. However, if you look at their mailing address and compare the system (from signing up, to helpdesk to tutorials, etc.), you will be confident that they are the same.

What is JustHost Discount Pricing?

It is $4.95/month for 12-month, $3.95/month for 24-month and $3.25/month for 36-month. Discount price can be activated using this link. No coupon code is required.

JustHost vs BlueHost - Is JustHost as good as BlueHost?

It is still less than a year since the acquisition. If you are not comfortable with the integration, do stick with BlueHost. Please read my long BlueHost review to learn more about them. They are currently rated as the #1 web hosting by me.

What are the strengths of JustHost?

• Backed by trusted management of BlueHost (acquired in Nov 2011).
• Anytime money back guarantee - 30 day full refund and partial refund after that.
• Using the #1 control panel - CPanel.
• Powered by SimpleScripts Installer with 80 scripts available including WordPress.
• Host multiple websites in 1 account.
• Toll free, live chat and email/ticket support available.
• Free domain name for the first year (and $13.99 after that).
• SSH access and cron jobs supported free of charge.
• Instant account activation - start building your website immediately after you pay.

• Click here to visit JustHost
• Read my BlueHost Review

What is a web hosting Server?

Web hosting server is nothing but a computer. Just like the one you are using at home, it needs a processor (CPU), memory and hard disk drive. We usually have 1 or 2 computers at home but for a web hosting company, they will have hundreds if not thousands of servers. To save space, servers are designed to be flat and stackable so a small room can contain a lot of servers. Since they are all networked together, you don't need an individual monitor and keyboard for each of them. Administrator will can easily control them through any computer connected to the network.

See how servers are stacked together in a rack.

The other reason why servers are stacked as closely as possible is because you can save a lot of cables and make the wiring easier.

What is a Datacenter?

The room/hall where we put all the servers and racks is called the datacenter. Operating a datacenter is very expensive and so most web hosts will just rent the space from a datacenter operator. BlueHost is so large that they actually own and operate their own datacenter. A datacenter provides 3 important needs to a web host, i.e. super high speed internet connection to the whole world, super cooling system to control the temperature and mega power supply to power the servers.

What is Dedicated Server Hosting?

When you rent an entire server for your hosting, you are using dedicated server hosting. Not all web hosts provides dedicated server hosting. HostGator Basic Dedicated Server with Quad Core Intel Xeon 3360, 2GB of DDR3 RAM and 2 x 150GB hard drive will cost you $174/month. Their Pro Dedicated Server cost up to $374/month!

What is Shared Hosting?

99% of us don't need a dedicated server to power our websites. Web hosts allow us to share the server with other customers. Depending to the specs of a server, it can easily power 300 to 2,000 normal websites! Due to the huge market and demand for shared hosting, most web hosts such as BlueHost and iPage decide to offer just shared hosting.

What is Semi Dedicated Hosting?

It is the same as shared hosting. The only difference is they are shared with less customers. Say instead of sharing with 2,000 customers, the same server is now shared with only 5 customers. Of course, you are expected to pay more for it.

What is Colocation Web Hosting?

For all the web hosting we have discussed so far, the server is still owned by the web host and the customers are merely renting it. Some businesses will actually buy their own server and ship it over to the datacenter to host it. That will be refer to as co-location hosting. The reason why they need to place their server at the datacenter instead of their own office is for the high speed internet connection that most office space is lacking.

What is VPS (Virtual Private Servers) Hosting?

When you are on a dedicated server hosting, you are given the "root access" which means "God mode". You have full control with your server and you can do anything to it such as rebooting it, installing new software, etc. However, when you are using shared hosting, the root access remained in the hand of the web host. They will perform the maintenance on behalf of all the clients.

VPS is a technology where even when you are sharing the server with other customers, you still have the ability to be God. The server is now divided into a few "virtual" servers using software. You now have the same root access just like you are using a dedicated server. The advantage over a real dedicated server is that you can now pay less because you can share the cost with other customers.

VPS is sometimes refer to Virtual Dedicated Server which I think is a better term than "Private Server". Sometimes they are also being referred as Virtual Machines (VM).

What is Cloud Hosting?

Cloud hosting is the most advanced a complicated type of hosting. They say it is the "future" of web hosting. But I am hearing that since many years ago and I still can't see how it can compete with the popularity of shared hosting.

I try to explain it as simple as I can. Cloud hosting means lots of servers are connected together so everything become like just one computer, i.e. the cloud. Your website is not really on one specific server like the case of traditional dedicated hosting and shared hosting but will be in multiple servers. You won't know which one and don't need to know which one. The software will do the "magic". The advantage is that now you can share the computing power of the massive cloud instead of relying on just a single server. And even if half of the servers are down, your website can still be power up by the remaining servers. Google.com is powered by the largest cloud hosting in the world.

I think it will still be a long long time before cloud hosting can be common enough. It is still very expensive when compared to shared hosting.

What is Reseller Hosting?

Anyone could start a web hosting business in 5 minutes by purchasing a reseller hosting account. This is the reason why the internet is flooded with so many mum and pop web hosts. For example, BlueHost Reseller Hosting account is only $19.95/month. By paying this small amount of money, you can start selling web hosting to anyone. Although everything is hosted by BlueHost, you can still have your own website and own brand everywhere so your customers won't have a clue that you are actually using BlueHost.

A reseller hosting account is useful to web designers and web developers who are building websites for several clients. They can bill their client a higher price and make a profit out of it. For normal users like us, we don't need a reseller hosting account. We can easily host all our websites with the cheaper unlimited hosting plan.

What is Unix Hosting? What is Windows Hosting?

This refers to the operating system of the server. It is either Unix or Windows. However, Windows command only a very small percentage of the market, probably less than 5% and it keeps losing market share to Unix every day. The biggest reason is that Unix is free and yet more powerful than Windows. Your choice is simply to stick with Unix hosting.

There are many variation of Unix such as Linux, FreeBSD, Ubuntu, CentOS, etc. but it doesn't matter to us because we will be controlling everything though the web-based control panel.

What is Managed Hosting? Unmanaged Hosting?

Managed hosting means your web host will be in charged of managing and upgrading the operating system and other software. Since shared hosting are share with many customers, the web host will have no choice but to manage it and make sure the operating system and other software are up to date. However, for dedicated server, you have the choice to manage it yourself or allow your web host to manage it for you. Businesses that have their own IT technician won't need the managing service from their web host while those who don't have any will need it. Managed service is already included with shared hosting. You will have to pay for it if you are using dedicated hosting. 

Conclusion

If you doesn't know what you need, 99% of the time you will just need a shared hosting plan. They are cheap and easy to setup. Check out my homepage to compare the best web hosting with up to 50% discount.

For this simple reason, I kindly recommend you to look at iPage only and ignore FatCow no mater how crazily cheap they are. 

• Click here to read my iPage review
• Click here to visit FatCow (you still want to visit them?)

What is the cheapest iPage discount?

iPage is significantly cheaper than BlueHost and HostGator. The cheapest price is $3.50/month but sometimes they will go lower to $2.95 (usually in the weekends and public holidays.).

 Click Here Now to activate the lowest pricing!

can be reached at www.ipage.com

Is iPage the Best Web Hosting?

I believe iPage is not in the same class of BlueHost and HostGator. It is not the best but base on the price you are paying, it is actually a good deal!

Is iPage a successful company?

One of the reason why iPage must be listed here is because it is a big company. It has a large customer base and is currently ranking  at #1,957 based on Alexa. Most web hosts couldn't even reach the 4 digit mark. For example, while growing fast and strong, GreenGeeks is only ranking at #17,499. LunarPages, a web host in business for more than 10 years is still ranking behind at #7,074. iPage must be doing something right to grow that big so it cannot be neglected.

Does iPage offer anytime money back guarantee?

Yes! This is the biggest reason why even if they are not as good as BlueHost and HostGator, I am still willing to give them my money. They will give you a full refund if you cancel you account for the first 30 days. If you cancel after that, you can still get a partial refund of your unused tenure! That means if iPage is really getting worse, I can flee and get my money back. I was greedy last time and had signup for an extra cheap $2.95 account but never got the chance to really use it. So I cancel it more than a year later and ask for a money back. The process took less than 3 days and I really got my partial refund back! They don't even ask me why I want to cancel the account.  

Why you should subscribe at least 24 months?

Like all other web hosts, you get the discount price for the first payment term only. You will need to renew at the regular price after that. This is how the whole industry is working right now, they try to lure new customer in by huge discount and make money from them with the regular renewal price later.

The regular pricing for iPage is $8.95 for 12-month, $7.95 for 24-month and $6.95 for 36-month. Since you are protected by anytime money back guarantee, you should lock in the low price now. Even 36 months at $2.95 cost only $106.20! I won't hesitate to take up 36 months.

How do they make money charging so little?

They make money when you renew, but it will be a long time from now. But if you are an iPage customer, you will see lots of add-ons and partnership programs being offered to you. For example, when they say they are giving your $100 Google Adwords credits, they don't really give up $100. It was Google who is giving you and on top of that, they will get paid some money from Google for referring new client to them! There are many similar partnership, some require you to pay a fee and some works just like Google Adwords. By leveraging their huge customer base, they can really negotiate good deals with their partners.

They are also selling many extra services such as private domain registrations, premium backup and restore, sitelock, etc. All these will add to their profits. However, I didn't use any of them.

Is iPage the right host for you?

I have setup accounts with iPage because I cannot resist the price. When it is only $2.95/month, it cost me only $70.80 for 24 month of hosting! HostGator would have cost me more than twice at $161.10 even after 25% discount. So money does rule sometimes. I am sure HostGator is better but is it twice better? Is what iPage lacking really a no-go for me. Are those what I can cope with?

How is iPage customer support?

While it offer the same channels to contact support, i.e. live chat, email/ticket and phone, the quality is different when you compare to the top hosts such as BlueHost. It is obvious that email are responded slower. But nevertheless they are still able to handle the issue well.  I did call in to speak to them and they do pick up quickly and they spoke very good English.

But the live chat is really not that interesting. You can try it. It seems to me that the staff handling the live chat are different than the one handling email and phone. They sometimes have problem answering simple questions, or need some time to dig for the answer while you are waiting online. And they also have lower English level because sometimes they seems to confuse or misunderstand what I was asking. So I believe they might have outsource their live chat support.

Knowing this, I expect myself to use phone or email instead of live chat. I also expect myself to wait a little longer for them to reply to my email. I don't contact support on a daily basis, not even monthly or an entire year if my site is running well. I am 100% sure I can accept that.

Another thing that need improvement in their help center. I like to call it the knowledgebase instead. There is too little self service information published. For example, if you need a dedicated IP for your account and you want to know the price, the information is not there. You can't even search for domain renewal price and more information on private domain registration. Where else if you are using BlueHost or HostGator, these information can be easily obtained from their knowledgebase. There are also far less tutorials compare to BlueHost and HostGator. With a weak knowledgebase, that means you need to contact support more often, which means more time wasted.

What control panel is iPage using?

First you must know that iPage is not using cPanel, the #1 web hosting control panel. They are using vDeck. They are many web hosts that are using vDeck too. And due to lack of competition in the control panel and the demise of many smaller players, vDeck actually arise to become the #2 used control panel after all these years!

To be fair to vDeck, in most control functions such as email and database management, they perform flawlessly just like cPanel. Everything that I used to be doing at cPanel, I have no problem doing it with vDeck. The only one feature that I miss is the powerful file manager of cPanel. vDeck does have a file manager but it is just a basic one.

How is the server reliability?

So far so good. I have not encounter any downtime or slowness.

Does iPage offer a script installer? Can I install WordPress?

Yes! They have purchased the license to use SimpleScripts from BlueHost! So now you will have the same script installer as BlueHost. As of today, SimpleScripts allows you install 80 scripts including WordPress. Click here for the complete list.

Does iPage offer cron jobs?

vDeck is also missing the feature of cron jobs management. Cron is required by some scripts to do routine function such as checking for upgrades, purge comment spams, perform backups, etc. But many scripts have now created a solution (usually called poor man's cron)  to solve the issue. What it does is that instead of waiting for the cron timer to trigger the jobs, it will check to see if it is time to perform the jobs when someone load your website. This will work as long as there are visitors to your website. Say if you set the cron to perform at 1pm, if a visitor hit your site at 1:30pm, your jobs will be performed. The next visitor will not trigger the jobs until it is after 1pm again. It will be late but most jobs do not need critical timing.

Does iPage offer SSH?

iPage does not offers SSH. But this is not a problem for me also because I found this little script known as PHP Shell that can mimic a web-based SSH for me!

Someone says iPage owns FatCow! Is FatCow recommended?

   Yes, both iPage and FatCow are sister companies. So we can assume that you will be getting the same service because they have the same management, servers and support staff. Other than the slight difference in pricing, the biggest difference between iPage and FatCow is that iPage offers anytime money back guarantee but FatCow does not. What this means is that if you cancel your FatCow account after 30 days, you cannot get a single cent back if you cancel your account. Where else with iPage you can get your unused portion back. Do not sign up with FatCow blindly even it can be cheaper sometime. The anytime money back guarantee is a great insurance if iPage goes downhill one day.

• Click here to visit iPage

What is the BEST BlueHost discount price?

BlueHost offers several different discount pricing for the same plan. Each of them can be different by $1 to $3 depending on your source. They are activated by just clicking on a link and that's why you may have accidentally trigger a less attractive pricing from other websites.  Click Here Now or on the picture below to activate the best discount pricing!

• Click here to get the BEST BlueHost Discount Price!

How popular and successful is BlueHost?

BlueHost is one of the most successful web hosting company today. According to Alexa, they are the #255 most visted website in the US and #406 in the whole world. Google is ranking as #1, Facebook as #2 and Amazon at #11. The largest online camera shop B&H Photo Video is ranking at #970. iPage is ranking at #1,957. The ranking shows that they are extremely successful and popular.

What are the pricing and features of BlueHost?

I've created a mega comparison chart of BlueHost vs InMotion Hosting vs HostGator vs JustHost in my homepage. Please refer to it for better understanding.

How Unlimited is BlueHost?

Unlimited web hosting does not exist. If it does, why does Facebook need to speed millions on web hosting to host just 1 website? Why don't they just sign up with BlueHost for $3.95/month and save millions? Unlimited hosting is just for marketing and since everyone in the industry is doing it, you have to follow if you want to survive in the business.

You have a limit of 200,000 files and 1,000 MySQL tables per account. You cannot exceed 2GB in any single MySQL database and 3GB in all your MySQL database. For complete explanation, please read their terms and conditions - Section 8: Unlimited Usage Policies and Definitions.

These are very huge limit for 98% of the website users. If you are really breaching them, you should be doing very good in your business and you can sign up for a second account or upgrade your account.

How does their anytime money back guarantee work?

If you cancel your account within the first 30 days, you can ask for a full refund. If you cancel after the 30 day period, you can get a pro-rated refund. For example, if you have sign up for 24 months and cancel 4 months later, you can get 20 months of hosting fee back.

Domain name can only be unregistered within the first 3 days. So if you have cancel after 3 days, you will need to pay for the domain name even if you cancel your hosting acccount. You will still own your domain name for the rest of the year.

How do you get a free domain name?

You only get a free domain name for the first year only. You will have to renew it at $13.99 second year onwards. The domain pricing is reasonable compare to the market price.

Can you still get a free domain name if you are using an existing domain name?

Yes! If you are using an existing domain name, you are still given a domain coupon to be used to register a new domain name. You can then host this domain in the same account as your second website. You can even use the domain coupon to renew your existing domain name for a year. Of course that will require you to transfer your domain name to BlueHost.

How good is BlueHost customer support?

This is the most important question a customer should ask before signing up. With multiple accounts and 7 years experience hosting with BlueHost, I can say that they provide exceptional customer support. You can reach them by live chat, email/ticket or phone. All their staff are not outsourced and are based in US so they can speak English well. They are also very well trained and knowledgeable.

While a lot of issues can be solved directly via live chat, critical issues will need to be escalated to a senior technicianand they will request you to submit a ticket (email) instead. For protection and security reason, they will also ask for verification (usually the last 4 digit of your credit card you used to sign up or your account password).

In all these years, all my requests are handled in a professional and timely manner. That's why I am so proud to recommend BlueHost to everyone.

If they are not treating their customers well, they won't be able to grow so fast and so big today. With anytime money back guarantee, they will better make sure their customers are happy all the time.

They also have a huge knowledgebase and tutorials available so you can get quick answer and help easily without the need to reach for support all the time.

What control panel is BlueHost using and does it matter?

You will be using cPanel for your account management. Most smartphones today are powered by iOS or Android. They are the control panel of your phone. The control panel will decides your experience and the features you will be getting from your hosting account. You reach for the control panel everytime you need to create a new email account, add a new domain name or simply as changing your password. cPanel are used by almost all top web hosts today including HostGator. It is the best control panel option available today.

Some BlueHost cPanel Tutorials:-

• cPanel Live Demo
• How to create a new email account with cPanel
• How to protect a folder with password using cPanel

Do they offer a file manager?

The file manager is part of cPanel and cPanel has the most powereful web-based file manager ever created. It is so powerful that you can even use it to ZIP and UNZIP files! You can also easily move file around using the build in drag and drop features. Part of the reason why cPanel is so popular is because of the file manager.

What script installer are they using? How many scripts will you be getting?

Just like your phone, you can enhance it by install more apps to it. With BlueHost, you can install 80 free scripts instantly with a few clicks. Before the invention of script installer, a user must install it manually which means downloading the script from the source, upload it to the website, create a new database and later run the install script. It is tedious and time consuming. A script installer allows to easily install multiple scripts on your website or test drive it easily. Of course, it can also perform upgrades and also uninstallation .

What is WordPress and is BlueHost WordPress friendly?

WordPress is the most downloaded and used free script today. It is a very powerful and yet simple Content Management System (CMS). CMS simply means website builder, i.e. scripts intended to create a website for you. There are more than 60 million downloads of WordPress to date.

It begins as a simple blogging platform but has since evolved tremendously though out the years. It's no longer just a blogging tool but the ability to create and power mega websites. Due to the wide adoption, a lot of plugins and themes are available to enhance and customize your website.

WordPress can be easily install in BlueHost using SimpleScripts. You can even import an existing blog to your new installation. You can also perform upgrades and uninstallation when necessary.

Some BlueHost WordPress tutorials:-

• How to installing WordPress with Simple Scripts
• How to migrate an existing WordPress site to BlueHost
• How to install a new theme to your WordPress site

Do they offer site builders?

Due to old way of thinking, people refer to "site builder" as traditional HTML drag and drop site builder. These site builders are only good at creating static brochure sites. They cannot handle dynamic content such as commenting and contact form. Site builder has evolved and today the best one is actually WordPress. It is 1,000 times better and more flexible than any traditional web builder. 

Interestinly, you will still get 5 traditional site builders from BlueHost. You are required to install them from Simple Scripts before you can use any of them. They are liveSite, Soholauch, BasicPages, concrete5 and Zazavi. There is also a premium web builder known as

What is instant account activation?

After you made the payment online, your account is created instantly and you can start to upload your files or install new scripts. Based on my experience signing up with many web hosts, most of them do not setup your account instantly and usually you will need to wait from an hour to even 3 days before your account is activated.

How does BlueHost compare to HostGator?

They are very similar. Both of them are using cPanel control panel and have excellent customer service and a large knowledgebase of FAQ and tutorials. You won't be wrong hosting with any of them.

However,  HostGator is significantly more expensive even after 25% discount and does not offer a free domain name. HostGator has slightly larger file limit at 250,000 (BlueHost at 200,000). BlueHost is using SimpleScripts installer and HostGator is using QuickInstall.  

How does BlueHost compare to iPage?

While HostGator is very similar to BlueHost in user experience, there is a substantial difference between BlueHost and iPage. The most significant difference is the control panel. BlueHost is using CPanel while iPage is using vDeck. The differences is like using an iPhone with iOS vs using an Android phone. Although the interface is deferent, rest assured that both are great control panels and can have most things done easily.

Both of them are using SimpleScripts script installer. iPage does not offer SSH and cron jobs. While BlueHost has a very large knowledgebase with lots of great FAQ and tutorials, iPage seems to lack behind which means you will have to contact support more often because you cannot get the answers yourself quickly.

• Click here to visit BlueHost