Unbiased Reviews: Web Hosting Companies Used By Mom Bloggers

You’d ask, why mom bloggers?

I’ve decided to do interviews with mommies because: 1.) they can speak in plain English (since most of them started as non-techie bloggers) 2.) most review sites are biased 3.) it’s always better when you can relate in the same field.

and well of course, moms knows best!

So their feedback should be helpful especially to beginners or people who are technically challenge.

I asked these lovely mommies how long they’ve been with their current host so you’ll be able to determine the reliability of a company, how much traffic they get so YOU can compare your traffic with theirs to help you choose (or NOT to choose) which plan or host matches your current traffic and lastly, I asked them to rate their overall experience like the support system, speed, features and value.

So if you’re looking for honest and thorough web hosting reviews, check their feedback below to help you find the right company for you. I’ve split them up into 4 different sections (from A to D) to make it easier for you to scan or read the reviews on a particular web host.

Alright, let’s get started!

a) BlueHost Reviews:

1. Who are you currently hosted with? And for how long?

I’ve been with BlueHost since I started my blog in May of 2012.

2. Approximately how much traffic do you get?

According to GA (Google Analytics tracker), I get about 19k unique pageviews per month.

3. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your overall experience with your current host?

9. I’ve only had one problem since starting my blog, and it wasn’t specific to me. So, I haven’t really had a need to deal with their customer service, which is just the way I like it!

When I signed on with BlueHost, I got a good promotional rate for choosing their 3-year plan, so it’s a great value right now.

Yeah, I knew I wouldn’t be that helpful here. 🙂 It all runs smoothly with little effort on my part. I don’t plan to switch to another host anytime soon.

1. Who are you currently hosted with? And for how long?

My blog is hosted through Bluehost. I’ve been with them since February 2013, and I chose them at the time because I had heard great things about their customer service. I started off on their shared hosting plan (the most inexpensive option) and upgraded to their pro plan with a dedicated IP during a Black Friday sale this past November. I did notice a substantial difference in value between the two plans…which I’ll talk about in a moment!

2. Approximately how much traffic do you get?

The Thinking Closet sees about 250,000 pageviews a month; although when I joined up with Bluehost, I was seeing just around 20,000 mpvs.

3. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your overall experience with your current host?

Okay, so my overall experience with Bluehost on their shared hosting plan: 3/10.
My overall experience with Bluehost on the pro plan with a dedicated IP address: 9/10.

Let me break that all down for you. So, Bluehost’s strength is their customer service. Whenever I’ve called in to them with a question or issue, they’ve always been friendly and helpful.
I have found their features easy to use, which is saying a lot since I’ve never had a website before now.

The KEY issue I had with my shared hosting plan was server downtime. My site would be fine for several weeks, and then I’d run into maybe three bouts of server downtime in one day. Then, it’d be fine for a couple of days…and then, I’d get another email from Uptime Monitor saying my site was down again.

(By the way, I highly recommend you use the free service, Uptime Monitor; it will send you an email whenever your site is down and a second one when it goes back up again. It’s amazing.)

Now, in each case of my site being down, Bluehost informed me the issue was on their end. And it would eventually get fixed. But having my site frequently down for 20 minute, 40 minute, up to an hour stretches at a time during peak traffic times was not cool.

I remember one day in particular, my site was down 12 different times. At that point, I was truly fed up with them and ready to jump ship.

But when I saw a really great deal on the pro plan with dedicated IP in November, I decided to give it a go. And wow, what a difference! I can’t remember the last time my site was down, and it was not for more than 4 minutes.
The dedicated IP will help protect my site from security issues caused by other sites on my shared server. And I’ve definitely noticed an improvement in site speed since upgrading.

So, if you can find a good deal on a pro package, I would definitely recommend jumping right on that.

Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200. {Smile.} Thanks, Pauline, for having me!

1. Who are you currently hosted with? And for how long?

I have been with BlueHost for more than 4 years and will be with for another 2 years. I bought a 3 year hosting from them last 2012 and I was able to save a lot!

2. Approximately how much traffic do you get?

My main blog gets 700-1000 visitors a day.

3. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your overall experience with your current host?

Let’s talk about the interface first, I would give that a score of 10 since the interface is very easy to navigate. And Bluehost also provides tutorial for that. Every thing you need is easy to access.

As for support, although they offer a 24/7 real time support, I can only give them a rating of 7. Sometimes, I have to wait 20-30 minutes before I can talk to a representative. And there was a time that a rep does not event understand what I am talking about. It gets frustrating at times. Then there was a time that they would block my IP address, well I think it is a good since they are very conscious with the security, but it was such a hassle to me since I had to contact the support (wait for a few minutes) before I can ask them to whitelist my IP.

Features, I am not actually familiar with it haha never had the chance to tinker my hosting dashboard. All I know is how to set up a WordPress blog 🙂

As for the uptime, I encountered a few downtime but it never bothers me that much. In less than a minute my site is up. For uptime, my rating for them is 10.

Value for money? Oh yes! Another 10. Imagine, my hosting plan for 3 years and I only paid them $150 or less (argh I can’t remember haha). That’s as low as $4 per month and I can host unlimited number of blogs (if I can maintain that! haha)

I really recommend BlueHost to anyone who wants to have a hosting account.

1. Who are you currently hosted with? And for how long?

I use Bluehost for my website hosting. I have had them since December 2013.
I am currently getting 17,000 page views a month.

3. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your overall experience with your current host?

I would give them a 9 out of 10. I transferred my old wordpress.com website to a self hosted site (my current site) in December. Bluehost offers several video tutorials on the subject and made the transfer very easy for a person with no technical skills. Through their tutorials, I was able to set everything up myself without any problems.

I have had one issue with my site being slow loading. I contacted tech support for the issue. They responded quickly and were very helpful. I am very happy with the cost of my hosting service. I paid $2.75 a month for 24 months.

1. Who are you currently hosted with? And for how long?

I’ve been with Bluehost for 4 months.

2. Approximately how much traffic do you get?

I had approximately 17,000 unique visitors in February.

3. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your overall experience with your current host?

At this point, I would give Bluehost a 9. I ran into a few troubles when I was first signing up, transferring domains, etc. but they were very friendly, helpful, and made sure to follow up after the fact.

Of course, after my last host (1&1) – anything would be an improvement!

I like that I had to option to choose what kind of webmail software I wanted to use. Their control panel is very user friendly, and I am still exploring all the options they have to offer.

The price I paid when I signed up was worth it ($3.95/month). We will see what happens when my account comes up for renewal. My only complaint is the speed. There have been a few times when it has taken too long for my main page to load.

This can be a deterant for some, who may end up navigating away from your site.

b) HostGator Reviews:

1. Who are you currently hosted with? And for how long?

I am currently using HostGatorand have for the past 3 years.

2. Approximately how much traffic do you get?

When I was actively blogging I was at about 5,000 UMV and about 8,000 page views. Now that my blog is kind of dormant, I get around 1,500 UMV and around 3,000 page views.

3. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your overall experience with your current host?

I’ve never had a problem with HostGator, they have always been very helpful. I love that they have a 24/7 chat and phone support.

In the three years that I have had an account with HostGator I’ve never once had my site down, which I think is pretty awesome! I think the overall value is very good as they have packages ranging from $4 a month and up!

I’m not sure how user friendly their site is since I can be tech challenged at times and I don’t have another service to compare them too. However, they have great tech support.

1. Who are you currently hosted with? And for how long?

HostGator, 6 months.

2. Approximately how much traffic do you get?

100,000-150,000 page views a month

3. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your overall experience with your current host?

9. They have been very helpful, when I switched over from another host. They were easy to get a hold of, quick to return my questions, and always had easily understandable answers. Their features are easy to use and figure out.

Speed is great, and I have no issues. They are also very reasonable.

I pay $15/month with plenty of room to grow. The only reason I give them a 9 and not a 10 is because my site has been down 2-3 times for about 3-4 hours a time. It’s not convenient, but it’s not horrible.

1. Who are you currently hosted with? And for how long?

I was with blogger and Godaddy for a while and then made the switch to WordPress and chose Hostgator. I chose them based on good reviews from bloggers such as myself who are not internet giants.

2. Approximately how much traffic do you get?

Since being with Hostgator I have had huge fluctuations in traffic at any given time. For a mom blogger such as myself I can never see myself needing access to my own server, so Hostgator’s sharing is perfect for me.

3. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your overall experience with your current host?

10. I really like Hostgator because as often as I have had questions they have always been helpful.

I have never experienced issues with their service, although I have had service issues that I contacted them about and it ended up being something that they are not responsible for, like plugins making my site slow, yet they have helped me fix these issues.

Support system: I like that I can go on and chat with a real person 24 hours a day and that I get a service ticket in my email that details the call. I have always had a happy, knowledgeable person helping me. Even when I am flustered or upset, they are still nice and helpful.

Features: I like that they send me updates in email about extras that are available, but honestly, I pay them and forget about it because I don’t have issues with them.

Speed: At the basic level there is bandwidth sharing with Hostgator so eventually as you grow you will need to upgrade to keep your speed. There are 4 levels of service choices available but I cannot see myself needing more than the second tier of options.

Value: I am in a place to recommend them until I have a bad experience. I believe that they are a good value and a trusted, professional company that has earned their good reputation.

c) RFE Reviews:

1. Who are you currently hosted with? And for how long?

I’m hosted with RFE Hosting, I’ve been with them for 8 months.

2. Approximately how much traffic do you get?

I get between 60-180,000 page views per month.

3. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your overall experience with your current host?

I would rate my experience as a 10. Right from the beginning they’ve been helpful with getting transferred to their services and offer fast help whenever I’ve needed it. It’s also less expensive than my last host which offered lousy support. Their hosting is definitely worth the cost!

1. Who are you currently hosted with? And for how long?

My blog is hosted through RFE Hosting and I couldn’t be happier with them. I just switched from Blogger to WordPress in September so it’s only been a few months. I was so nervous about switching but Aaron, the owner, was extremely helpful. I love that if I have a problem, question, or concern, I deal directly with the owner of the company.

2. Approximately how much traffic do you get?

I get approxiately 100,000 pageviews a month and my site has never been down or slow.

3. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your overall experience with your current host?

I would give RFE Hosting an 11 on a scale from 1-10. Every time I have a question Aaron responds immediately! I had a few issues with a plugin using up all my memory and Aaron quickly helped me fix the problem. I would highly encourage anyone looking for web hosting to contact Aaron with RFE Hosting! It is so comforting to know that I don’t have to worry about my website hosting.

c) GODaddy:

1. Who are you currently hosted with? And for how long?

I have a WordPress self-hosted blog and we use GoDaddy.com for our domain. We’ve been with GoDaddy and self hosted since September so about 8 months now. It was a big transition but it was worth it in the end!

2. Approximately how much traffic do you get?

We have about 35,000 page views a month. We’re not huge but we are ok with that!

3. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your overall experience with your current host?

For the most part GoDaddy has been pretty easy to deal with. I actually had some one set up my wordpress.org site so I’m not for sure how the transfer went but I’ve dealt with customer service twice. Once, during the transfer and once for another small issue. They are very helpful and worked with me to figure out what I needed done! I would definitely rate them around an 8 mainly because they’ve been helpful every time I’ve had a question.

Their customer service is great. As I said above they have always helped out when I needed anything. They are fast and you don’t wait on the phone a long time. Everyone I’ve ever talked to there have been helpful and friendly also.

With GoDaddy I know there are a lot more features then I even use. I also have an email account with them for my blog and there are lots of add-ons that you can choose from.

They seem to be a very diverse company that can help with anything you need.

Other than my blog I also made a little website with their easy website builder. It’s very user friendly if you don’t know anything about programming.

They seem to want to help.

The speed on my site seems pretty quick for the most part. I know it could be quicker but sometimes I get a little crazy with the plugins. Though I’ve been minimizing and cleaning up lately. I’ve never had an issue with any downtime since I’ve been with GoDaddy or self-hosted so I don’t think that is an issue.

GoDaddy is fairly cheap and I think it is worth it. Going self-hosted has made a huge difference in our blog and now I wonder why I waited so long to do it. GoDaddy has friendly customer service and they will try to help you with anything you need. I have found in the blog community though that everyone is willing to help which is amazing! I’ve met so many great people who know a lot more than I do about running a blog.

1. Who are you currently hosted with? And for how long?

Godaddy. I have been with my host for three and a half years now.

2. Approximately how much traffic do you get?

I normally get around 1000 page views per day. Sometimes it’s a little less on weekends, though.

3. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your overall experience with your current host?

Overall, I am very happy with my hosting company and I would give them a 9 out 10. I am extremely happy with the speed of my site and the uptime of my host, which has only gone down once in the time I have been with them.

Whenever I have questions or have needed their help, their customer service is extremely helpful and they have gotten the issue resolved quickly. I also love that they send me email reminders when it’s time to renew so that there is never a lapse and my site is not affected.

I really feel that I get a good value for my money with my current host and plan on staying a loyal customer.