This Bluehost Review 2020 is based on our experiences as both customers and affiliates in the past. Bluehost is a popular hosting choice among new bloggers and it’s easy to see why:

  • They market themselves as a very inexpensive hosting solution
  • They have fast and good sales team ready to answer any questions from prospects
  • They offer a free domain for the first year
  • That domain can be chosen right off their platform, making it a very easy process for beginners.
  • Lots of bloggers are Bluehost affiliates and create a lot of content recommending them as the go-to option when starting a blog.  their affiliate program offers attractive and competitive commissions, and what’s more important, they pay relatively fast compared to most affiliate programs. This is a combination that makes bloggers want to push hard for them in their effort to monetize their own blogs.

Bluehost Review 2020 – The Good:

  • They make most things easy for you
  • They are a good option for those getting started and that don’t know much about WordPress and how to run and manage a website.
  • Our experience was that their customer service was not great but was ok.
  • Reps were usually friendly.
  • They offer basic email with the plan.  it’s really limited, but hey… it’s something.
  • When you get your account ready, they make it super easy for you to access your website and WP-admin right from their Bluehost dashboard. This is super helpful for those just getting started. Ease of use is something that is incredibly underestimated by other companies.

The bad – Bluehost Review 2020

  • I’ll start with the worst. When it’s time to renew your plan, your initial price DOUBLES. For real, to the point you might as well end up paying for a premium host for that same price.  Let’s just say that getting a charge for twice as much and have the whole year charged at once does not make for a very nice customer experience.

  • While customer service was usually friendly, I found surprising (and not in a good way) the number of times it took multiple chat sessions to solve issues at times.  We had three websites running there for a bit over a year. And as affiliates, we sent them at least 5 referrals from clients, friends, and family that converted to Bluehost customers.  So it’s fair to say that our experience was not an isolated case.
  • Speed, which is an important SEO ranking factor, is far from ideal on Bluehost.  While it’s important to note that there are many things that impact speed and it’s just not only a matter of where you host, my experience with them was that on the hosting side, their speed left a lot to be desired.
  • They usually advertise with something like $2.95 a month hosting.  The fine print there is that in order to get that price, you have to prepay for three years.  And trust me, prepaying multiple years of hosting is usually not a good idea! —> insert link here
  • Many customers and potential customers also complain that they have an overwhelming and confusing checkout process that in many cases leaves the customer accidentally prepaying for more time than they initially intended.  I had two referrals frantically contact me (friends and family) because they accidentally ended up with choosing a multi-year option and ended up getting charged the whole amount for three years at once. And that’s a few hundred dollars!
  • Their checkout process automatically added things that most people barely understand to their cart (and that add little to no value).  in order to not get those things added to your cart, you had to manually uncheck them.  So that felt like a very tricky way to getting people to pay for more services.  one thing is to offer them, but to have them checked by default? I don’t know. It did not feel very transparent to me.
Screenshot of a notice informing of Bluehost renewal and its cost

This is the renewal notice letter we got

As mentioned earlier in this Bluehost Review 2020, we were Bluehost affiliates for a short time, but after seeing what we’ve explained above, especially in what felt like a lack of transparency in advertising, and in the sales and onboarding process,  I didn’t feel comfortable referring my visitors and contacts there. And while as bloggers we all have to make a living, I don’t believe it should come at the expense of my own readers. Especially when there are other options out there.

Yes, it might mean that some of the commissions are a bit smaller and slower to come, but if it helps me sleep at night then it’s worth it! 😉

So I decided that the hosting companies we’ll be recommending must adhere to a few simple rules:

  1. I must have first-hand experience with them and I would use them on my own sites in a heartbeat!
  2.  Transparency in pricing.  They must be straightforward and have a simple process in which what you see is what you get.
  3. Month to month payments! A structure that does not lock you in.  I’m a firm believer in companies that allow you to pay month to month, which means they have to earn your trust every single month!
  4. No prepaying the year, which also means, absolutely no renewal surprises!

Here are the companies that, in 2020, we feel comfortable and are excited to refer our visitors, friends and family, clients to, as well as use those hosting services ourselves on our own sites!

Cloudways

Wp Engine

WP Handle

Kinsta

These are, of course, not the only great companies out there! But I feel, based on personal experience, they are the best options based on what I wrote before.

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