BlueHost offers Linux-based hosting for an affordable price. They are one of the top hosting providers and are well-known in the web hosting space.
Navigation
History of BlueHost Hosting
Bluehost was started in 1996 by Matt Heaton and is based in Utah. They’ve been providing web hosting and domain registration to businesses and individuals since they started. Even though they are not accredited members of the BBB they hold an A+ rating with this important organization. One of their primary goals is to provide exceptional services at a great price. They’re constantly upgrading and innovating their services to improve and become better and better and this is at no cost to their customers. A company that feels they have no improvements to make is a company that will not experience the growth potential that they are capable of. Bluehost knows this and ensures that they are always growing, always adding to their services and always improving.
Their objective is to secure your business. Their highly trained, friendly staff is ready and waiting to address any need you have. They pride themselves on an excellent hold time of 30 seconds or less on average and their 100% in house staff knows all aspects of Bluehost and their products and features so you can be assured your questions and problems will be addressed quickly and skillfully.
One of the things that really set Bluehost apart from other web hosting companies is their technology. They have their own nationwide fiber network, build their own servers and have their own datacenter just for starters. In addition they build their own custom Linux kernel too. Because all of their technology is handled by them, there’s no way you will ever have to deal with any other company if there’s ever a problem like you might have to with other companies. All you will ever deal with is Bluehost and their mission is to keep things running smoothly and hassle free for their customers.
In addition to a 50,000 square foot headquarter space; they also have two secondary data centers which give them a whopping 20,000 square feet of just data center space alone. They also provide UPS power, multiple 10 gigabit fiber connections and diesel generators worldwide. Their combination of excellent customer service, superior technology and first rate facilities they can obtain their longstanding goals of helping their customers be a success with their businesses and websites.
Some of the many features that Bluehost proudly offers their customers include:
- Unlimited Domain hosting
- Unlimited Hosting space
- Unlimited file transfers
- Unlimited email accounts
- A free domain for the life of your account with Bluehost
- FREE sitebuilder with templates
- 9% uptime guarantee
- $75 free Goggle credit
They also offer a variety of add-ons that you can’t get from other hosting companies such as phpPgAdmin, language preferences, dedicated domain management system, 404 settings and built in support for goMobi, Weebly, Cloud Flare and Spam Hammer as well as others. You will more than get your money’s worth with Bluehost and that is one of their goals.
They are one of the largest hosting providers in the industry with more than 2 million websites worldwide that they power. They offer all four levels of hosting from shared to VOS, reseller and dedicated hosting too. There are no worries about your site outgrowing Bluehost, they have all possibilities handled.
Signing up with BlueHost Hosting
The sign up process is very simple. Choose the type of hosting you want from their 4 choices and click continue. You will be brought to a page where you can secure your free domain name. If you already have a domain name you can input it in the space provided and continue. Transferring your domain to Bluehost is free as well and they will help you make the transition easily and smoothly.
One your domain is secured; you will come to the registration page which is where you will fill out your personal information. This is the information that will be used to set up your account with Bluehost. This information includes:
- First and Last name
- Business name (if applicable)
- Country
- Full street address including city, state and zip code
- Telephone number
- Email address
The next section is where you will choose your payment terms. You can choose from 12, 24 or 36 month pricing. The longer term you choose the lower your cost is per month. They don’t offer payment plans, but it is in your best interest to get the longest term you can to take advantage of the special pricing they offer new signups. Also in this second section you can choose to add some extras. These include:
- Domain Privacy Protection
- Site Backup Pro
- Sitelock Domain Security
- Search Engine Jumpstart
- Google Apps for Work
All of the above extras are optional and are not required for sign up. Set up is free and the registration for your primary domain is also free. The last part of the registration is to fill out your billing information which includes your credit card. This is how you will pay for your posting package. You also have the option of paying with PayPal. With the exception of Google Apps for Work, these extras are included in the Business Pro package at no additional cost.
BlueHost Hosting Package Choices and Features
Blue host offers all four levels of hosting for their customers to choose from: Shared, VPS, Dedicated and Reseller. The features and inclusions in the shared, VPS and dedicated hosting plans are outlined below. Shared hosting means that you will be put on a server with other websites. This is generally the most common form of hosting for individuals and small businesses. If you are not sure which hosting plan fits your immediate needs, talking to a sales agent can be a huge help to you.
They can assess the needs of your business or potential needs that it will have if it is a new startup and recommend the package that will fit your current needs as well as allow for some growth. They are not in the business of trying to strong arm their potential customers into buying much more than they need, so don’t worry about ending up with the most expensive plan when you clearly don’t need it.
Shared Hosting Packages
Starter (shared hosting)
- 1 website
- 100 GB Website space
- Unlimited bandwidth
- 1 domain included
- 5 parked domains
- 25 subdomains
- 100 email accounts
- 500 MB per account
- $50 Marketing offers included
Plus (shared hosting)
- Unlimited websites
- Unlimited website space
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- 1 domain included
- Unlimited parked domains
- Unlimited subdomains
- Unlimited email accounts
- Unlimited email storage
- $200 marketing offers included
- Global CDN
- 1 SpamExperts
Business Pro (shared hosting)
- Unlimited websites
- Unlimited website space
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- 1 domain included
- Unlimited parked domains
- Unlimited subdomains
- Unlimited email accounts
- Unlimited email storage
- $200 marketing offers included
- Global CDN
- 2 SpamExperts
- 1 SSL
- 1 Dedicated IP
- 1 Domain Privacy
- Site Backup Pro
- High Performance
VPS Hosting Packages
Standard (VPS hosting)
- 2 CPU Cores speed
- 30 GB SAN storage
- 2 GB RAM
- 1 TB Bandwidth
- 1 domain included
- 1 IP address
- Money back guarantee
- 24/7 support
Enhanced (VPS hosting)
- 2 CPU Cores speed
- 60 GB SAN storage
- 4 GB RAM
- 2 TB Bandwidth
- 1 domain included
- 2 IP address
- Money back guarantee
- 24/7 support
Premium (VPS hosting)
- 3 CPU Cores speed
- 120 GB SAN storage
- 6 GB RAM
- 3 TB Bandwidth
- 1 domain included
- 2 IP address
- Money back guarantee
- 24/7 support
Ultimate (VPS hosting)
- 4 CPU Cores speed
- 240 GB SAN storage
- 8 GB RAM
- 4 TB Bandwidth
- 1 domain included
- 2 IP address
- Money back guarantee
- 24/7 support
Dedicated Hosting Packages
Standard (dedicated hosting)
- 4 x2.5 GHz CPU speed
- 1 TB Mirrored storage
- 4 GB RAM
- 5TB Bandwidth
- 1 domain included
- 3 IP addresses
- Money back guarantee
- 24/7 support
Enhanced (dedicated hosting)
- 4 x2.5 GHz CPU speed
- 1 TB Mirrored storage
- 8 GB RAM
- 10TB Bandwidth
- 1 domain included
- 4 IP addresses
- Money back guarantee
- 24/7 support
Premium (dedicated hosting)
- 4 x3.3 GHz CPU speed
- 1 TB Mirrored storage
- 16 GB RAM
- 15TB Bandwidth
- 1 domain included
- 5 IP addresses
- Money back guarantee
- 24/7 support
There are plenty of choice options for you to take a look at with Bluehost. Once you know what you need initially, you don’t have to worry anymore about outgrowing your chosen plan. It’s easy to switch plans if you find you need something more and the staff at Bluehost is happy to help.
Ease of Use for BlueHost Hosting Customers
Bluehost’s site is easy for the customer to use which is one of the things that makes it a popular web hosting choice. The features are streamlined and are not hard to work with at all. Another plus is that you can password protect certain directories for added security if needed. A site that is easy to navigate is a site that customers will enjoy coming to. If you get lost every time you try to fond or do something, chances are you will look for another option that doesn’t make want to scream in frustration.
Help & Support Tickets
Bluehost’s Help Center is super easy to use and you will find the information you are looking for quickly. Each feature of the hosting plans are explained in detail in the help center so no matter what part you’re struggling with, help is right there for you.
In addition to the Help Center, Bluehost has impeccable customer service that is hard to beat. They are always available to help you, no matter what your problem is and they’ve been trained to handle service calls, so calling and walking away with your problem unresolved is highly unlikely.
There are step-by-step guides for common tasks that can really trip up a newbie, over 60 video tutorials to show the user what to do, a user forum that you can participate in, a knowledge base that is very in-depth and a lot of other options all designed to make the most of your hosting package and experience with them. Take the time to go through all that is offered to help and teach you and you could very well end up mastering everything there is to know about your website.
Video Tutorials
The video tutorials below can be instrumental in helping you learn how to do certain things when it comes to your site. They cover all kinds of tasks and can make a newbie feel very much at home with their own site. Included in the video lineup is:
- How to access your email with Gmail
- Managing your email accounts
- Transfer a Domain
- How to create an FTP account
- How to setup Outlook 2010
- How to install WordPress
- How to create an email forwarder (aliases)
- Transferring away from Bluehost
- Using Apple’s mail application
- Redirecting web pages
- How to access your email with Yahoo! Mail
- Purchasing an additional domain
- Publishing with DreamweaverCS5
- WordPress: Introduction
- How to log into Webmail
- How to install concrete5 using Simple Scripts
- How to increase the PHP memory limit
- How to setup a Cron job
- Using phpbb
- How do I password protect folders?
- How to create custom name servers
- Publishing with Dreamweaver CS4
- How to migrate WordPress
- How to renew your cPanel hosting account
- Using Windows Live Mail
- How to change the WordPress URL
- Publishing with Dreamweaver CS3
- Create an autoresponder
- How many files are on my account?
- Publishing with MS Publisher 2010
- How to use Legacy File Manager
- How do I see how much disk space I’m using?
- Publishing with Adobe lightroom
- Using Mozilla Thunderbird
- How to migrate from Fantastico to Simple Scripts
- How to enable Telnet in Windows 7
- Using Cyberduck FTP
- Using WinSCP
- How to install and use Dada mail
There are also 10 videos on Bluehost Academy which is on their YouTube channel. The help options are endless on Bluehost and there is a lot for you to learn to do to make your website and business even more outstanding.
Contacting BlueHost Hosting and Finding them on Social Media
If you need to contact the staff at Bluehost for anything from billing to technical questions, there are a few different ways for you to do that. They have live chat, telephone support and email as well. Having several numbers and methods to contact support staff means that you do not have to wait to get your problems and questions addressed. Bluehost is dedicated to providing their customers with the best customer experience they can and that includes providing exceptional customer service to their dedicated customers whether they are brand new or have been with them for years.
Website: www.bluehost.com
Email: embedded form on the website
Live chat: accessible from the Bluehost website
Telephone Support: United States – (888) 401-4678
International: +1 (801) 765-9400
Their hours are as follows:
Sales: 6 AM – 9 PM (MST), 7 days a week
Technical Support: Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Renewals: Monday – Sunday 6 AM – 9 PM (MST)
Billing: Monday – Saturday 6 AM – 10 PM (MST) Sunday 8 AM – 10 PM (MST)
Verifications: Monday – Sunday 6 AM – 9 PM (MST)
Terms of Service: 24 hours a day Monday – Friday. Saturday – Sunday 6 AM – 10 PM (MST)
Dedicated hosting customers: Exclusive, toll-free line: (855) 503-0450
If you want to follow Bluehost on their social media sites, just follow the links below. They’d love to have you as a part of their followers.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bluehost?sk=app_217146381660299
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bluehost
Google +: https://plus.google.com/+bluehost/posts
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/bluehost
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bluehost.com
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/bluehost/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/bluehost
Resources
- BlueHost Hosting – http://www.bluehost.com/