Table of Contents
Digital.com’s Editor Rating?
What Users Say?
What Makes SiteGround Stand Out?
What Are the Pros and Cons of SiteGround?
Who Should Choose SiteGround?
SiteGround Hosting Plans and Pricing
SiteGround Hosting Plan Features
SiteGround Performance and Uptime
SiteGround Site Security
SiteGround Support
Recent Improvements to SiteGround
Compare SiteGround Alternatives
Frequently Asked Questions About SiteGround
What Is SiteGround the Company?
How I Rated SiteGround
SiteGround is one of the most popular hosting companies in the world, providing services to more than 2.8 million different domains. This company opened in 2004 and has been continuously working hard to grow and improve ever since. Today SiteGround serves millions of customers, has more than 500 employees, and operates multiple data centers around the world. This level of success was made possible by providing the highest quality hosting services at all times.
It is clear that SiteGround strives to provide the best hosting to its customers and at a fair price. While it is definitely not the cheapest hosting provider out there, you will be getting a really good deal, with the WordPress hosting packages starting at just $3.99 per month. All the hosting packages include great features like access to a free content delivery network (CDN), free email services, out-of-the-box caching, unlimited databases, and a Secure SHell (SSH) certificate to ensure your site is always ready for visitors.
There is no doubt that SiteGround’s focus is on its hosting, but you will also get a variety of other perks to ensure a positive experience. If you choose to use SiteGround hosting, make sure you take advantage of the following noteworthy options:
- WordPress optimization training
- Marketing guides
- Domain name registration
- Tips on how to start selling online
- Simple integration into Git (Git is a version control system that is extremely popular with software developers. It allows multiple people to work on the same codebase simultaneously and seamlessly.)
- Data backup and restoration solutions
- Security services
| SiteGround Standout Features | |
| Performance | A+ |
| Average Load Time | 5.2 seconds |
| Average Response Time | .191 seconds |
| Free Domain | No free domain |
| SSL | Free shared Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate |
| 1-click WordPress | Included with all hosting |
| Support | Professional support 24/7 |
What Makes SiteGround Stand Out?
There are thousands of different web hosting companies available, so what really sets SiteGround apart?
SiteGround Is Not a Discount Hosting Provider
One of the first things that you will notice is that SiteGround does not claim to offer the cheapest hosting around. Unlike so many hosting companies that focus on discount hosting options, SiteGround puts speed and overall quality first no matter which type of hosting you choose.
While most small businesses will want to start out with one of its shared or WordPress web hosting services, it is nice to know that you can always upgrade to a more powerful cloud hosting solution.
SiteGround Is Small Business Friendly
Whether you are a local business serving your community or you have customers throughout a larger region, you want a hosting company that meets your needs. SiteGround is an exceptional option for small businesses because it has a good understanding of the requirements you will have.
This starts with a powerful and extremely steady web hosting platform ,and continues with exceptional customer service and support. While this company does not claim to be the absolute cheapest hosting company available, it does offer all its services at a very reasonable rate.
Focus on Quality
There are plenty of examples of how SiteGround puts quality hosting over discounted prices or anything else. Understanding how the company ensures you are getting the best level of service will help you decide if it is the right hosting provider for you.
These are just some of the ways that SiteGround puts quality first:
- Money-Back Guarantee – All hosting packages come with a full 30-day money-back guarantee to ensure you are 100% happy with the services provided.
- Green Infrastructure – SiteGround operates with carbon-neutral data centers and even matches electricity used by its customer servers with renewable energy generation.
- Free CDN – All customers will have free access to a global CDN to ensure its sites load as quickly as possible.
What Are the Pros and Cons of SiteGround?
SiteGround offers some of the fastest and most trustworthy hosting for individuals and small to midsize businesses worldwide. However, we noticed some things that may indicate this hosting company is not for you. SiteGround does not offer dedicated servers, has elevated prices when you pay monthly, and there are some limited concerns related to how much disk space you will receive.
Pros
- Extremely Steady: SiteGround always puts reliability above everything else. Testing confirms the servers are up far more than 99.9%, the amount most hosting companies guarantee. This is due to premium quality servers, redundant power and data circuits, and much more.
- 18+ Years of Experience: SiteGround has been in business for over 18 years, and has earned an exceptional reputation. With more than 2.8 million domains running on its servers, the company is very trustworthy.
- Excellent for WordPress Hosting: If you are one of the millions of businesses that use WordPress to build your website, you will love SiteGround. You can install WordPress with one click (for free) and use hosting packages configured specifically for this type of site, making it run faster and more reliably.
- Premium Support for Small Businesses: SiteGround offers wonderful support to all its customers, including small businesses.. The company is staffed 24/7 and really understands that a business website needs immediate attention since it can directly impact your bottom line.
- Easy-to-Use Admin Interface and Features: SiteGround has done an excellent job of designing the ‘back end’ of its hosting interface. The admin panel has all the different options you usually need in one convenient place. You can set up a custom backup schedule in minutes without any experience, or install WordPress or other applications with a few clicks.
- CDN Included on All Hosting Packages: A CDN highly improves a site’s loading times. This technology works by distributing the larger files (like pictures, videos, and more) from a website onto lots of servers hosted in data centers around the world. When a visitor accesses your site, larger files are loaded from the closest possible location. SiteGround offers a solid CDN service to al its web hosting customers, regardless of what package they are using. This makes your site more responsive so visitors will be happy to stay. At other hosting companies, this feature is often either unavailable or comes with added costs.
Cons
- No Dedicated Servers or Virtual Private Servers (VPS): While SiteGround has many excellent hosting options, it does not offer any dedicated servers or even VPS. If your site gets a lot of traffic, you will not be able to upgrade to these higher-end options. The provider does have some excellent cloud-based hosting options that can handle a lot of traffic. . The vast majority of small businesses, entrepreneurs, individuals, and others will never require a VPS or dedicated server so this won’t be a big obstacle in most cases.
- Limited Disk Space on Some Packages: Another fairly minor issue is that some of SiteGround’s hosting packages do not offer enough disk space for all types of sites. The entry-level hosting package offers just 10 GB of space, more than enough for most sites. But maybe not if you are running an e-commerce page and loading lots of pictures or videos of your products. A growing number of hosting companies offer unlimited disk space, so it would be nice to see SiteGround move in that direction. This is only going to be an issue for a small number of users, however.
- Monthly Prices are a Little High: Though the prices are absolutely reasonable, when compared to many other companies, you will be paying a couple dollars more even for entry-level hosting. SiteGround never claims to be a discount hosting company, and in most cases, the extra cost is well worth it. That being said, if you are strictly looking for the lowest possible costs, SiteGround may not be the best option.
SiteGround may be the best web host for: Most people with any type of site. The only people who really can’t use it are those that require the highest-end hosting options that need a dedicated server.
SiteGround Shared Hosting Packages
| Startup | Grow Big | GoGeek | |
| Price: | $2.99/month | $4.99/month | $7.99/month |
| Best for: |
|
|
|
| Websites: | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Disk space: | 10 GB | 20 GB | 40 GB |
| Bandwidth: | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Email accounts: | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Email storage: | Unlimited (up to disk space limit) | Unlimited (up to disk space limit) | Unlimited (up to disk space limit) |
| Extras: |
|
|
|
Who should use shared hosting? The most popular type today, shared hosting is excellent for anyone who wants high quality hosting at a very affordable price. We recommend anyone who is not sure what type they need to start with shared hosting. In general, all small businesses, entry level e-commerce sites, personal web pages, and even many midsize companies will run perfectly on shared hosting.
SiteGround WordPress Hosting Package Options
| StartUp | GrowBig | GoGeek | |
| Price: | $2.99/month | $4.99/month | $7.99/month |
| Best for: | Small businesses, individuals, bloggers | Regional businesses, online businesses, entrepreneurs | National businesses, popular social influencers, famous bloggers |
| Websites: | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Storage: | 10 GB | 20 GB | 40 GB |
| Extras: |
|
|
|
Who should use WordPress hosting? If you are planning on using WordPress for your website, this is the obvious choice. This is the same as the basic shared hosting services that SiteGround offers, but the servers are configured specifically for WordPress sites. To see what types of sites each WordPress hosting is best for, look at the outline for the shared hosting above. The same types of sites will benefit from this hosting as long as they are running the WordPress platform.
SiteGround WooCommerce Hosting Package Options
| StartUp | GrowBig | GoGeek | |
| Price: | $2.99/month | $4.99/month | $7.99/month |
| Best for: | Small businesses and e-commerce sites | Midsize businesses and e-commerce sites | Larger businesses and e-commerce sites |
| Storage: | 10 GB | 20 GB | 40 GB |
| Bandwidth: | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Who should use WooCommerce Hosting? WooCommerce is the same type of shared hosting as the previous two options. But it is set up specifically for using the WooCommerce platform designed for e-commerce sites, so it is very easy to set up and run your online store.
SiteGround Cloud Hosting Package Options
| Jump Start | Business | Business Plus | Super Power | |
| Price: | $100/month | $200/month | $300/month | $400/month |
| Best for: |
|
|
|
|
| CPU: |
|
|
|
|
| RAM: | 8 GBRAM | 12 GBRAM | 16 GBRAM |
|
| Solid State Drive Storage: | 40 GB | 80 GB | 120 GB | 160 GB |
| Network Bandwidth: | 5 TB | 5TB | 5TB | 5TB |
| Dedicated IPs: | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Who should use cloud hosting? SiteGround offers premium cloud hosting to its customers, but it isn’t cheap. Sites that get a lot of traffic, or resource-intensive traffic, may want to go with the cloud solutions. In addition, sites with seasonal ebbs and flows on their resource needs can benefit from cloud hosting because of the ability to upgrade and downgrade system resources almost instantly based on demand. Successful businesses, global e-commerce companies, and other similar larger sites can benefit from this option.
Automatic WordPress Installation and Updates
SiteGround will provide you with the tools you need to automatically install WordPress and keep it updated. This feature is available on all its packages, but most people who use WordPress will want to use its WordPress-specific hosting packages.
Free Email Hosting
One of the biggest ways that SiteGround stands out from other hosting companies is that it offers great email hosting on all packages. Get your own email set up and running quickly and easily with this hosting company.
Domain-Specific Email Addresses
Email hosting is an important feature for many site owners, especially businesses. This feature allows you to create email addresses that end in your domain name, which gives you a professional look. Many hosting companies charge for this feature, but not SiteGround.
You can create as many email accounts as you need without any extra charge. This is all done through your cPanel. Also, you can set up spam filters, email forwarders, and other related features quickly and easily.
Out-of-the-Box Caching
SiteGround offers simple caching solutions on all its hosting accounts. Caching helps a website to load more quickly for people who have been to the site in the past. Having frequent visitors to your site is very important, so this can be a useful feature.
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
SiteGround wants to make sure that all of its customers are happy so it allows you to try the services for a full 30 days. If you don’t love your experience, you can get a full refund.
Daily Backups
All hosting packages from SiteGround can have daily backups enabled. Note you can set up your own custom backup schedule if daily is not the right option for you.
Easy to Use, Customized cPanel
SiteGround has customized its version of cPanel to make it easier to use.. The company ensures all your most frequently accessed tools will be found at the top of the page so you can access them whenever needed. This is a very intuitive setup that makes running a website simpler than ever.
Simple to Manage Your Services
You can manage your whole site from one SiteGround login, but it is where you deal with everything for the servers only. If you install a content management system like WordPress, you may create a separate login for that side of things. However, creating and administering your website, email, and other related services, is all done from your cPanel page.
Grow Your Business with Dozens of Site Tools and Add-Ons
SiteGround includes a variety of tools and features to make it easier to create and run your website. Whether you are an experienced webmaster or you are trying to make your first site ever, these tools will help you to get started.
Multiple Options for Creating Your Site
No matter which hosting package you sign up for, you can choose from a variety of different content management systems, including WordPress. If you use WordPress, you will likely select one of the WordPress-specific options from SiteGround. Even if you are custom coding your own website, you can upload those files through either the secured FTP option or the built-in file manager tools.
A sample of available apps in the SiteGround marketplace.
99.9% Uptime Guarantee
SiteGround offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee, which is on par with the industry average. In our experience with using this system and running tests, however, it is actually up far more than this. It has one of the most reliable hosting environments in the industry.
Technology to Support Fast Page Load Times
SiteGround knows that site loading speeds are one of the most important things for its customers, so this is always a priority. Customers who choose SiteGround will get access to solid state drives, CDNs, and other excellent technologies that help to optimize the speed of your site. It even has hosting servers specifically configured for WordPress, WooCommerce, and other popular types of sites to get the best possible performance.
Free Google CDN Integration to Speed Up Your Site
SiteGround has partnered with Google for CDN and a variety of other features. As Google expands its cloud services, SiteGround will take advantage of it for customers. Google has data centers around the world so no matter where your site’s visitors are from, they will get the speed boost made possible by this premium CDN.
99.9% Uptime Guarantee
SiteGround offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee, which is on par with the industry average. In our experience with using this system and running tests, however, it is actually up far more than this. It has one of the most reliable hosting environments in the industry.
Technology to Support Fast Page Load Times
SiteGround knows that site loading speeds are one of the most important things for its customers, so this is always a priority. Customers who choose SiteGround will get access to solid state drives, CDNs, and other excellent technologies that help to optimize the speed of your site. It even has hosting servers specifically configured for WordPress, WooCommerce, and other popular types of sites to get the best possible performance.
Free Google CDN Integration to Speed Up Your Site
SiteGround has partnered with Google for CDN and a variety of other features. As Google expands its cloud services, SiteGround will take advantage of it for customers. Google has data centers around the world so no matter where your site’s visitors are from, they will get the speed boost made possible by this premium CDN.
Advanced Security Options
SiteGround goes above and beyond with security features. A dedicated security team is always looking for ways to improve the security of the servers in general, and each site it hosts. Some of the great features and tools that will help to secure your site include:
- Smart firewall configuration
- AI-powered anti-bot filtering
- 24/7 active server monitoring
- Distributed backups
- Advanced WordPress security features
- Free SSL Certificate
Free SSL Certificate
No matter which hosting package you sign up for at SiteGround you will be given a SSL certificate. These certificates come from Let’s Encrypt SSL, a leader in shared certificates. Having this certificate in place will not just help to secure your site, but it will also help to boost your rankings with the search engines.
Uptime and Reliability
According to our tests, SiteGround servers had an average uptime of 99.989% over the past 30 days, which is quite impressive.
Site Response Times
Many things will impact a site’s response time, with the way a site is actually made being one of the most important. The servers and overall configuration of the web host, however, will also have a big impact. SiteGround does an excellent job at making sure that its servers respond as quickly as possible to every request.
When I ran the tests on SiteGround, the average response time was 622ms, which is extremely impressive. This is just a measurement of how quickly the servers respond to a request though, so make sure you do your best to create your site in a way that will ensure it can load quickly.
SSL Certificates
We have briefly mentioned above that even shared hosting packages come with a free SSL certificate, but what is this? Why is it important? Do you, as a small business owner, need one for your website?
SSL is an encryption protocol. You can think of SSL as the series of instructions your server and a user’s web browser must follow when sending and receiving information to make sure the data being transferred is not intercepted by and read by unauthorized parties.
I was very happy with the level of support provided by SiteGround. When you are paying a little more for hosting, you expect to get help when you need it and that is just what the company provided. The customer support team is staffed 24/7 and seems genuinely interested in making sure that you have a good experience.
SiteGround offers support via phone, live chat, and email. You will also get a ticket from the internal system in the unlikely event the company can’t solve your problems on the first call.
Another thing to keep in mind is that SiteGround regularly publishes and updates its help page with many articles that can provide the answers to most questions that you may have. A quick search will get you pointed in the right direction so you can move forward right away.
The following are just some of the recent product improvements from SiteGround:
- Expanding into a new Madrid-based data center
- Improved security with the launch of new site scanner tools.
- Launch of SiteGround’s custom CDN
- SiteGround optimizer plugin made available for free to all WordPress customers
Compare SiteGround Alternatives
| Web Host | Pricing | Hosting Packages | Basic Plan Features | Compare |
| SiteGround (4.5) | $3.99-$400/month |
|
| |
| WP Engine (4.5) | $20-$233/month |
|
| WP Engine is focused strictly on WordPress hosting, so those types of sites tend to perform well on its hosting. SiteGround can run any type of site efficiently. Consider WP Engine if: you are using WordPress exclusively. |
| BlueHost (5.0) | $2.75-$119.99/month |
|
| Bluehost’s prices are slightly lower, but SiteGround’s quality tends to be a little better. Consider BlueHost if: Price is the most important factor for you. |
| Dream Host (5.0) | $1.99 – $279/month |
|
| Dream Host puts a major emphasis on security. While SiteGround does a great job in this area, Dream Host’s free antivirus and antimalware really stand out. Consider Dream Host if: Digital security is paramount for your site. |
| InMotion Hosting (4.0) | $2.99-$539.99/month |
|
| InMotion Hosting offers an impressive 100 GB of solid state storage on its entry-level package, compared to just 10 GB at SiteGround. Sites hosted by SiteGround, however, tend to load faster. Consider InMotion Hosting if: You need extra storage space for your site. |
| HostInger (4.5) | $1.39-$3.99/month |
|
| HostInger offers a free domain for a year and is a little cheaper. SiteGround’s quality and speed outperform HostInger, though. Consider HostInger if: You want to save money on your domain and monthly hosting bill. |
Frequently Asked Questions About SiteGround
Is SiteGround a Good Hosting Company?
How Do I Speak to Someone at SiteGround?
How Do I Create a Ticket in SiteGround?
How Do I Host a Website on SiteGround?
Is WordPress Free on SiteGround?
Which SiteGround Plan is Best for WordPress?
Who Are the Typical Users of SiteGround?
Does SiteGround Offer an API?
Is SiteGround Available in India?
How I Rated SiteGround
Evaluating web hosting companies is quite a challenge because there are so many different options out there, and many of them offer exceptional services. In order to accurately review any hosting service, including SiteGround, I spend a significant amount of time interacting with its services.
It is always my goal to provide objective facts and information about the company as well as my own personal experience with the services it offers. For this review, I spent hours reading through every detail of what SiteGround has to offer. In addition, I dedicated hours to interacting with an account on its system to ensure I have a complete understanding of how everything works. Of course, I also put in quite a bit of time running a variety of different tests to determine speed, reliability, and more.
After completing this evaluation, I can confidently give SiteGround an overall rating of 4.5. If the company had popular services like VPS hosting and dedicated services, it would have gotten a perfect 5/5 stars. When looking at the services it does offer, I was very impressed with how SiteGround ran its business and would not hesitate for a moment to recommend it to small businesses, entrepreneurs, bloggers, and just about anyone else who needs quality web hosting.
