Decision fatigue is real. And creating a website means making countless choices. You need to choose a domain name, choose a web host, choose your layout and design elements… Even when you have someone helping you build your website, there are times when you need to be the one who has the final say. I consider it part of my job to collect and present a few good options from which you can make a well-informed choice.
So, you’ve selected a domain name and you know you’re going to build your website using WordPress. You’re off to a great start! Now you need to decide where you are going to store all of your website files, also known as hosting.
Let me briefly interrupt this post to inform you that some of the links on my website are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
If you decide to do that, thank you for your support! I really appreciate it.
~Marsha
There are countless options for website hosting. Try searching for the “best web host for WordPress” or “top hosting sites.” It can make your head spin trying to figure out which one will serve your needs and not break the bank. My research led me to two outstanding choices. You can’t really go wrong either way, but you’ll still need to pick one.
The Criteria:
My focus is on web hosting for small businesses located in Atlantic Canada.
The hosting service needs to be easy to use, affordable, fast, secure and reliable.
I only compared shared hosting plans, due to price. But both of these web hosts also offer upgraded hosting services with Virtual Private Servers (Cloud Servers) or Dedicated Servers. They also each have a starter plan with fewer features. Bluehost’s Basic Plan is priced more competitively, and while it doesn’t offer all the bells and whistles from my chart below, it probably provides as much as most of my clients really need.
I considered my own personal experience as well as what I’ve heard from people I know (not reviews online).
The Contenders:
Bluehost
On reputation alone, Bluehost would win. They’re one of only three WordPress “recommended” hosts, and they host over 2 million websites. They are absolutely worthy of your consideration, even though I don’t use them myself. I am confident, after speaking with other people who build websites for a living, that they are an excellent web hosting provider and I am willing to recommend them based on their reputation and the opinions of people I trust.
Web Hosting Canada
I use Web Hosting Canada to host my own websites, so when I say that they are my preferred hosting company, I’m speaking from personal experience. In addition to the data in the chart below, I will say that I have been very happy with my service from whc.ca and they are the #1 host I recommend to Canadian clients (whether you decide to go with a .com or .ca domain). I’ve had some challenging requests for them and they always get me the answers and assistance I need quickly.
Features |
Bluehost
|
Web Hosting Canada
|
| Unlimited Websites | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Unlimited Email Addresses | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Unlimited Disk Space | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Unmetered Bandwidth | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| SSL Certificate | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Free Domain or Transfer | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Free Website Transfer | ✘ | ✔︎ |
| Daily Backup/Restore | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Domain Privacy | ✔︎ | $9.99/year |
| Full-SSD Servers | ✘ | ✔︎ |
| Cloudflare CDN | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| 24/7 Phone & Online Support | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Bilingual Support | ✘ | ✔︎ |
| Eco-Friendly Datacenters | ✘ | ✔︎ |
| 100% Canadian Datacenters | ✘ | ✔︎ |
| 30-day Money Back Guarantee | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| 1-Click WordPress Install | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| C-Panel Dashboard | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| Introductory Price | $7.94/month | $3.92/month |
| Renewal Price | $20.01/month | $7.99/month |
Bluehost vs Web Hosting Canada
The 3 main reasons I chose whc.ca for my web hosting needs over Bluehost are:
- Price
- Eco-friendliness
- 100% Canadian dataservers
These features are really important to me, but maybe not so much for you.
I recognize that in business, reputation is a huge consideration and you might be willing to pay more for that.
So, I’m curious, which web host do you prefer and why? Leave a comment below and let me know!
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