Review: Bluehost Web Hosting and Domain Registration

So, first off, if you’re not familiar with what web hosting and domain registration actually is, let me give you a quick idea. When you have a website, it needs somewhere on the internet to actually live. I like to think of it like a plot of land where you build your house. You have to have a piece of land before you can even think of building a house, and that’s what a web host is like. In the case of my website, I am buying a piece of land from Bluehost, and that’s where I am building my house (or this website).

In reality though, Bluehost owns a bunch of computers called servers which connect to a bunch of other servers throughout the world, and this network of servers is what forms the Internet. Every month I pay about $10 – $12 and get a small piece of these server networks where I get to host my site. There are also a bunch of different types of web hosting, but when you’re first starting out it’s best to stick with shared hosting as it’s most affordable. I won’t get into here, but check out this article if you’re interested in the different types of web hosting.

The other half of the equation is your domain name. Once you’ve got your house built on your plot of land, you need an address for it so that people can find it. That’s essentially what your domain name is, the address to your website.

In my case, I keep it simple and host my website on Bluehost, and also register my domain name with them. Of course, when you’re first starting up a website, your biggest concern is probably cost and this is what I pay for mine:

• $12 per month for the hosting itself
• $18 per year for the domain registration

Bluehost advertises around $3.95 per month, but this is only for their minimum plan and you will realistically pay closer to $12 per month. Still, this is very affordable and will be comparable to most of the other companies offering shared web hosting.

Why Should You Choose Bluehost?

To be perfectly honest, I don’t think that there are many differences between all of the web hosting companies, and you shouldn’t fret over the decision of choosing one too much. I’ve always been a big fan of Pat Flynn and when I was first starting out I heard Pat recommend Bluehost a few times and decided to give it a shot.

Since then, Bluehost has done nothing but work and I’ve had no reason to change. Because of this, I can’t compare different hosting companies for you and tell you the pros and cons, but I can tell you that Bluehost works and if you’re tired of trying to decide which one is going to work best for you, Bluehost is a simple answer because it does exactly what it’s supposed to and nothing more or less.

The one thing about Bluehost that I really appreciate is their support. There have been a few times that things have gone wrong on my site, such as not being able to log into the back end of the site, or only getting the “white screen of death” after updating wordpress and that sort of thing. But, every time this happens I open a chat with Bluehost and they have consistently been able to sort out the problem with me. This usually takes less than 30 minutes.

So, I’ll be the first one to tell you that there might be cheaper or better performing web hosting companies than Bluehost, but for me it works and does everything that I need it to in an affordable package. Make sure that you research a few other hosting companies to see if there is one that is a better fit than the others, but if you’re like me and you find them all to be the same, then going with Bluehost is an easy choice, because it works.

What is this site about?

This site is my place to share everything that I know about photography and travel. I'm not an expert, I'm just a guy who loves this stuff and I want to share everything that I learn, as I learn it, with complete honesty and transparency. So, whether you're looking to improve your photography or you want to learn more about travelling to a new place, I want to help you on your journey. Check out my about page to find out more and get in contact with me. I'd love to hear from you!