So you are planning to set up shared web hosting on your site, right?
It is obvious to get attracted to the “Cheap Pricing” benefit. Because of this benefit, Shared Hosting became the leading service in the market, holding up 37.64% of the market share.
However, you should have carefully considered the advantages and disadvantages of shared hosting before making a decision.
In this tutorial, all your common queries related to shared hosting will be cleared including:
- Shared hosting meaning
- Shared hosting benefits & limitations
- It’s performance
- Buying guide
- Best shared web hosting service
- And more…
By the end of this post, you will be able to decide whether shared hosting is a good option for you or not. Plus the recommendation on handpicked shared hosting services is given too.
So are you ready? Let’s dive in.
Table of Contents
As per Wikipedia, Shared hosting is a web hosting plan or package that allows multiple websites to be hosted on the same server. The resources of the CPU (disk space, RAM) will be equally shared and allocated to different websites.
Video Explanation by Hostinger:
Shared web hosting is the simplest way to get your site online. It’s the best option for people who don’t have a lot of money or expertise, but still want to host their own site. Perfect for those beginners who want to set up a new website.
To understand what does shared hosting mean, have a look at the diagram below:
Quick Note: A shared server would work well upto 100k monthly visitors.
Wondering If shared web hosting is right for you? Here is the quick answer.
Prefer shared web hosting when:
- You are a beginner and you don’t have a good budget.
- Your site requirement is low (Below 100k monthly visitors)
- You just want to create a simple business or portfolio website.
- You are looking to set up a personal blog or micro niche blog.
- You are ready to deal with basic to mid-level performance optimization.
- Your bandwidth & storage needs are limited.
All these above scenarios are perfect for shared hosting servers.
- When the website is old and you are looking to transfer to an existing site with a good audience base (100k+ visitors)
- When you’re looking to set up an eCommerce website.
- When you want to achieve a high level performance and website loading speed.
- Avoid it when you want to create a professional web application.
- When access to custom developer friendly features won’t matter to you.
Advantages of Shared Hosting:
- So affordable – Starts from just $1.79/mo
- With the inclusion of cPanel, shared hosting can be easy to manage.
- Usually, all shared web hosting is upgrade friendly.
Disadvantages of Shared Hosting:
- You never know when the server gets overloaded by other websites because of a surge in traffic.
- Because you are sharing resources, there is always the possibility of someone hacking you.
- Because of a lack of resources & advanced customization, Achieving a high level of performance won’t be possible.
The Shared Hosting servers are slow compared to a dedicated server or VPS hosting servers. You can’t ignore this fact.
The hosting company also plays a major role in performance. A shared webhosting offered by a company such as Hostinger or Bluehost produces much better performance than some newly or unestablished hosting services in the market.
The above hosting companies can help you to achieve 85+ scores in website performance & speed testing tools like GTMetrix & Google PageSpeed.
Quick Note: In our Hostinger review and Bluehost review you can find more information on the performance of these shared hosting providers.
If your shared hosting server uptime and bandwidth allocation are poor, Then your website loading speed, uptime, and response time will suffer. And hence it directly impacts the technical aspect (Core web vitals) of SEO.
As per the current SEO trends, Google wants core web vital metrics to score high as mountains. These are the metrics that measure how good your website’s performance is in terms of user experience.
Gladly, Both Hostinger & Bluehost shared servers have a history of a good scores in core web vitals metrics.
By learning about performance & SEO, You must be relieved to know that Shared hosting servers can be considerable.
But, What makes a Shared Hosting package great?
Before selecting a hosting package, one should thoroughly review the features of any Shared Hosting plan.
Here is a list of features that make up a Shared web hosting plan worth taking.
- Make sure your hosting provider offers 99.99% uptime guarantees.
- An option to choose a data center should be listed.
- The bandwidth should be unmetered.
- It should have enough SSD based storage.
- Priority customer support is a must.
- It should include the option of automated backups.
- It should support cPanel.
- An upgrade option should be given.
- Migration must be free.
- Free SSL & other security related features should be present.
- One click apps installation should be there (including WordPress)
- Minimum 30 days money refund policy.
Hostinger & Bluehost – Best Shared Hosting Examples [meet the features we discussed]
Hostinger Shared Hosting:
Hostinger is one of the leading hosting providers in the world. With more than 10 years of experience, they have built a reputation for excellent customer service and reliability.
Hostinger offers shared web hosting plans with generous disk space, SSD disk space, and unlimited bandwidth. They also provide SSL certificates to secure all data transfers and provide support 24/7 via phone, email, or live chat.
Hostinger Shared Hosting Plans & Pricing
| Hostinger Plan | Special Offer | Special Coupon |
|---|---|---|
| Single Shared | ₹62/mo or $1.79/mo | ANILAGARWAL |
| Premium Shared | ₹134/mo or $2.69/mo | ANILAGARWAL |
| Business Shared | ₹224/month or $3.59/mo | ANILAGARWAL |
Bluehost Shared Hosting:
Bluehost is a reliable, easy-to-use WordPress recommended hosting provider that has been trusted by millions of businesses.
With Bluehost shared plans, you never have to worry about your website being slow even when there is a lot of traffic. They offer a wide range of plans that include tons of features to help you easily build your website.
Bluehost Shared Hosting Plans & Pricing
| Bluehost Shared Hosting Plans | Special Offer |
|---|---|
| Basic | $2.95/mo |
| Plus | $5.45/mo |
| Choice Plus | $5.45/mo |
| Pro | $13.95/mo |
Quick Note: Learn which would be the best Bluehost Shared Hosting plan for YOU!
You can go with anyone. We have tested both Hostinger and Bluehost and have found them to be equally capable of meeting our needs. Pricing & few features may vary.
Is there any alternative to Shared Hosting?
Pricing wise, There are no alternatives to shared hosting.
However for performance enhancement – Managed Hosting, VPS Hosting, and Dedicated Server hosting can be considered as shared web hosting alternatives.
Is shared hosting good?
Shared hosting is a good option if you are looking for a budget-friendly hosting plan, but it will not be suitable for big websites which are hitting 100k+ visitors monthly.
How much traffic shared hosting can handle?
Upto 100k/monthly.
When should I use shared hosting?
Shared hosting is a great option if you are planning to launch a new website or if your site’s current bandwidth and storage requirements are low.
Can I use shared hosting for wordpress?
Yes. You can choose WordPress hosting (shared) plans which generally come with the same price but they’re optimized for WordPress.
Is shared hosting good for eCommerce?
If you don’t need advanced customization and have a budget to stay within, shared hosting may be a good option for eCommerce.
Which company offers the cheapest shared hosting service?
Hostinger.
Is shared hosting safe?
No wonder how advanced protocols are set up by Hosting service providers, the chances of hacking especially in shared servers are always there.
Is Shared Hosting Free?
No. However, some hosting providers including Bluehost offer first month free hosting.
Now that you have a sense of what shared hosting is, it’s also clear that it’s an ideal option for beginners. For beginners, shared hosting is the most cost effective and simplest way to get a website up and running.
If you still have queries, please share them in the comments.
