Blog hosting: which one to choose? Comparison of 6 hosts

Well, I'm warning you, it's a hell of a mess waiting for you.

What is web hosting?

If you are new to the world of blogging, it is quite normal not to know exactly what a web hosting is.

In summary, web hosting means storage space made available to websites. It makes your site accessible on the web.

This article should interest you: The complete guide to creating a successful blog

But what exactly does that mean?

The answer is very simple: for a blog to be consulted, it must be on a secure server. This is comparable to a text document that we want to consult regularly and then save to your computer's hard drive.

When you visit any blog or website, your computer receives various information that corresponds to the content of the page consulted: images, categories, buttons...This data is transmitted by the web languages (HTML, Javascript, PHP, etc.) that take the form of files and require storage space.

Where are these files stored? Where does all this information come from? You'll have guessed: « server », proposed by so-called companies « web hosting » !

The servers take the form of an ultra powerful computer that has a hard drive and a huge operating system. This is why it is quite possible for a company or individual to open and have a personal server. However, this often results in too high a cost-benefit ratio.

It is then appropriate to use an external web host that offers secure and powerful servers to host your blog, at a good quality/price ratio.

Nowadays, a web host does not just offer hosting your blog, but also presents other services such as computer support, server management, activation of an antivirus on your blog and its automatic backup.

Yes, technology is beautiful! Don't you think?

Is it paying to host his blog?

Generally, web hosting can be free or paid. But he's paid for most of the time. It all depends on the option you choose to create your blog.

Indeed, you can create two types of sites:

Hosted blog – easy life

A hosted solution is an option to have a blog « All-in-one.» You only deal with a single platform to have your domain name, web hosting, and management tool (to edit and run your site).

Among the most popular self-hosted platforms, we find WordPress.com, Squarespace, Wix or Webnode. 

The vast majority of its solutions offer a free package. You can then enjoy free web hosting.

However, the services offered by free offers are often very limited, including ultra-reduced storage space and inability to customize.

Personally, I recommend this option only to familiarize you with the world of blogging, or if you want to hold a blog out of passion, without any particular ambition. If you want to launch a blog that aspires to evolve and has generated traffic, you will inevitably have to turn to the paid packages offered by these platforms.

The self-hosted blog – for more serious projects

Self-hosted blogs resemble a DIY blog: Do It Yourself. Here you must complete the following steps by yourself:

• Acquire domain name (NDD) on a specialized site
• Choose a hoster and pay for your web hosting
• Install a management software (WordPress.org, Drupal, Joomla!)

However, I assure you it's less complicated than it looks! And because of this, a good web host offers you to complete its steps in just a few clicks, or at least to help you.

A self-hosted solution is certainly more complicated to set up, but brings much more flexibility, independence and security. Here you are the leader! Your blog belongs to you and is not affiliated with any other platform.

This is the option I recommend if you want to make a more relevant and efficient blog in the future, even if it requires you to put your hands in the camboois and in the purse!

Are there free alternatives?

Are there alternatives that can host your blog for free, in a relevant way? Without going by four paths: yes.

For this, I recommend reading this article: Create a free blog. As explained above, most offer free offers. But that's not exactly what interests us here.

When I talk to you about a free alternative, I mean that it is completely free basic and does not include various packages. In my view, a solution stands out and offers the best performance for a free offer: Blogger.

Blogger: the completely free solution

Founded in 1999 by Google, Blogger is a totally free platform. You can open a blog in a few moments and enjoy new performances. Among the advantages that Blogger presents, we find precisely unlimited storage space. Ever seen for a free solution. But the best: the possibility to connect your domain name... for free!

However, it is important to note that the platform has taken a few wrinkles and that it asks to be given back to the taste of the day. Despite a relatively aging service, Blogger retains its place among the hosted solutions.

What's that?

cPanel is a management tool usually provided by your hosting provider, already included in the chosen offer. It takes shape an intuitive control panel consists of a graphical interface. Its role is to allow you to manage your site, as well as your accommodation.

But what exactly does he propose?

Not everyone is a web developer or hardworking IT expert. To modify a blog or improve its performance, you sometimes need technical knowledge. This is where cPanel comes into play: thanks to its interface close to a dashboard, it makes it possible to make all the desired changes with ease. No technical knowledge required!

How to access the cPanel?

Some web hosting providers provide a direct link to cPanel following your subscription. It is usually found in an email sent by your host, along with welcome emails.

Is that important?

cPanel has established itself as a standard of the web industry in the field of management. It's not a mandatory essential tool, but it's a undeniable value added.

The dashboard greatly facilitates the technical tasks of your blog and presents itself as a huge advantage in managing your hosting.

Personally, if you have the budget to choose an accommodation offer including cPanel, I can only encourage you to do it. Hey! Especially as often, pricing remains very correct.

What are the points on which to pay attention when choosing your blog hosting?

In response to growing market demand, more and more web hosting companies are emerging. The competition is tough and everyone tries to offer slightly different features, additional options or more services.

However, there are a few elements to identify the quality of the proposed accommodation and the suitability of the host itself. We find in particular 5 key points :

Proposed performance

Today, there is no doubt that the Internet is constantly evolving. It is necessary to choose a web host that follows this shift and in turn offers up-to-date and state-of-the-art products.

That's why one of the first criteria you need to be careful about when choosing your accommodation is the performance of the accommodation.

This performance is measured mainly by the reputation of the host in question, but also by the technologies they offer. Today we can note the appearance of SSD servers in relation to HDD servers.

Don't be lost, I'll explain what that means!

Accommodation SDS VS hosting HDD

The SDD disks (Solid State Drive) are the latest technological breakthrough in data storage. They work through a memory chip.

With SDS hosting, your blog benefits a rapid loading speed and very reliable accommodation.

Conventional hard drives (HDDs) work on mechanical trays and not chips. They have done their job to date, but it must be noted that SDS technology currently has more benefits and performance.

To give you an order of idea, a SDS hard drive processes up to (see more) 5000 MB/second, while an HDD model deals on average 50 to 120 MB / second. A server on SSD is also less energetic than a conventional server.

SDS hosting is therefore more efficient, even if it is sometimes slightly more expensive. Even if this becomes the norm.

Quality of assistance

No web host can claim that it is completely safe from failure. Zero risk does not exist and small failures may occur.

If your blog site slows down, or if a service interruption occurs, you will appreciate the responsiveness and professionalism of good assistance.

Some hosting companies can even offer to help you on WordPress by facilitating a few tasks.

In short, customer support must be blameless! Do not hesitate to read the reviews and rely on the reputation of web hosting.

Ergonomics of customer space

In the same continuity as good assistance, we must also look at the relevance of the customer space. Web hosts are primarily present to support you in the sustainability of your blog.

This is why some people stand out from others by the ergonomics of their customer space. It must be intuitive and simple in every respect.

The presence of cPanel or not

As previously stated, the cPanel tool is not mandatory, but clearly advantageous. A web hosting that offers at least one cPanel offer has a significant added value and increases the relevance of its packages.

The price: not all offers are worth

Finally, the last criterion to be considered is certainly the one that interests one blogger most: price. And at this level, I can assure you that not all offers are worth it: there are for all prices!

Before you commit, compare the prices charged by different relevant hosting companies, there may be a more or less significant difference. See my comparison table below to save time.

Also pay attention to the offer you choose: it is important that it meets your needs and ambitions. The most expensive offer is not necessarily the best.

My Best Blog Hosts Comparison

As in all other markets, some companies are pulling their pins from the game. I share below a comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of the most popular web hosts. Be careful, you'll be surprised! (For some, in the right sense, but for others...)

O2switch

Created in 2009, O2switch is a French hosting company that is one of the market leaders. This is the first company to offer the package « unlimited » in France. These offers have a very good quality/price ratio and its popularity continues to grow.

This article should interest you: Tutorial - How to install WordPress on its o2swich hosting?

Benefits of O2switch

• Unlimited disk space
• Impressive price/quality ratio
• Reliable availability rate at 99, 99%
• Optimization for various CMS (including WordPress)
• Support available 7 days / 7 and 24 hours / 24
• SDS servers since 2014

The disadvantages of O2switch

As far as I'm concerned, I haven't found one. Some users indicate that the accommodation is unsuitable for sites with high visit rates, especially for its bandwidth...But honestly, before you get there, you'll have to go!

EasyHoster

From Belgian origin, the host EasyHoster presents quality products at an attractive price. Having all its servers in France, technical support is entirely French as anglophone, which significantly promotes communication.

EasyHoster offers cPanel and several services as an accompaniment on WordPress! This makes the platform an ideal choice for beginners who want to be well surrounded.

The advantages of EasyHoster

• Very good support and support
• Ergonomic and intuitive interface
• Good quality / price ratio
• Presence of help on WordPress

The disadvantages of EasyHoster

• No NDD offered in part of offers
• Few features for input offers
• Number of accommodation of limited sites

LWS

LWS is a French company with a simple philosophy: web hosting at very competitive rates. In other words, sometimes when one sees the prices displayed, one really wonders if it is qualitative at that level. And yet it is!

The host offers several offers including a specially adapted package, to CMS (WooCommerce, WordPress, Joomla...) and imposes itself as a very complete solution. Thanks to its simplicity of use and pricing, LWS is mainly aimed at e-commerce, website publishers and bloggers.

The advantages of LWS

• Extremely competitive price
• Offered domain name
• Reactive customer support
• Very easy to use

The disadvantages of LWS

• Limited number of visitors
• Catalogue a little too supplied at times: it is difficult to find it with all the offers

OVH

Also called cloud OVH, you must have heard about this French host. And because of this, OVH has for a moment experienced a tremendous popularity. The latter features several features such as a domain name offered in the first year, a free SSL certificate and unlimited monthly traffic.

On paper, the host offers suitable options. However, it is certainly the one I recommend the least: its pricing is often expensive compared to the services offered and its customer support is almost non-existent.

In short, the services deserve to be re-evaluated, which unfortunately impacts the performance and quality of use of the host.

The advantages of OVH

• French-speaking company
• Free domain name in first year
• Presence of several offers adapted to amateur bloggers as professionals

The disadvantages of OVH

• Platform not very ergonomic and not very intuitive to use
• Several blockages and bugs reported
• Failure of technical support

Ionos

By its full name Ionos by 1&1, the host is presented as a general public solution. Indeed, Ionos offers a wide range of hosting: mutualised or dedicated, VPS, Cloud or only to record NDDs.

It is suitable for amateurs, but also for more experienced bloggers. One of the advantages of Ionos is its low prices during the first year. For example, you are totally able to reserve a .fr or .com domain name for 1€ year, then 9€ The following year.

Slightly below some of its competitors, Ionos has a correct support.

The advantages of Ionos

• Single rates the first year of subscription
• Plurality of accommodation offers
• Domain name offered in first year
• Good protection against malware and DDOS

Disadvantages

• No cPanel
• Limited visitors
• Limited number of email addresses

PlanetHoster

PlanetHoster is a powerful hosting provider that offers offers similar to o2switch. Based in Canada, however, the company has several servers in France. Accommodation is stable, relevant, fast and convincing.

Assistance is appropriate, but sometimes lacks responsiveness. The web hosting provider offers offers with cPanel, even if they are slightly more expensive than those of for example doo2switch.

The advantages of PlanetHoster

• Traffic, bandwidth and unlimited storage space
• Very secure servers
• Efficient loading speed and time
• Offered domain name and SSL certificates

The disadvantages of PlanetHoster

• Random support (had I ever seen lunar responses in some knowledge?)
• LiteSpeed Cache not available for free

Hostinger

Based in Lithuania, Hostinger has some special features. It provides accommodation at a broken price, but also specialized in offers of WordPress sites. And for good reason, Hostinger offers several packages to host a WordPress site.  

It thus becomes more efficient for sites that use this CMS. Like LWS, the host is also a registrar that allows you to book and register domain names at an accessible rate.

The advantages of Hostinger

• Offered domain name
• Very good quality / price ratio
• Optimized for WordPress
• Very intuitive interface

Hostinger's disadvantages

• Limited monthly visits (good limit is quite high)

Comparison table of the different web accommodation

But before making a decision about your accommodation, scroll through the article to enjoy a discount code!

Discount code & other offers for your web hosting (is that not the class??)

Promo code LWS (-15%) : CA12

Promo code EasyHoster (-15%) : BLOGADDICT15

What are the differences between a VPS and a mutualized? Should I pay attention to it?

To meet all needs, web hosting providers offer different types of hosting offers. Each of them has its own characteristics and the two best known types, we find mutualised accommodation and VPS accommodation.

But what does that mean exactly and what is the difference between the two accommodations? Well, it's less complicated than it looks!

What is shared accommodation?

This type of web hosting is certainly the most common. It consists of hosting multiple websites on a single server. The majority of platforms offer this type of hosting: preconfigured options that do not require any particular expertise in server administration.

What is VPS hosting?

When it comes to VPS hostings (Virtual Private Server), it is a single server (hard disk so) divided into several virtual servers with various software technologies.

Thus, a user can host their site or blog on a virtual server that has its own memory and central unit. This system allows for greater customization than a shared server.

VPS or shared server: what to choose in the end?

Generally, shared accommodation offers a very correct ratio of services to prices. This is a suitable and recommended choice for low- or medium-traffic sites that do not necessarily need particularly high safety measures.

VPS accommodation, on the other hand, allows for more parameters and administration than a shared accommodation. It offers more advanced performance and reliability, making it a valid option for sites that target larger traffic.

There is also Dedicated accommodation, a tailor-made offer that offers to host a site on single device (server). This is the high-end option of web hosting: you have all hardware resources and are completely free to configure the server as you see fit.

It is a solution that is however expensive and is only suitable for large sites with very high traffic or very specific need (not for us bloggers therefore).

Conclusion

I hope this article has helped you to see more clearly about the choice of your web hosting for your blog. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.

To conclude this article, focus on the first three hosts presented, namely:

• o2swich
• EasyHoster
• LWS

You can't be wrong. These are safe values and, moreover, are accessible.