By reviewing and looking at BlueHost.com’s website, it’s easy to see that this company will be around. They put together a serious, professional web-hosting service with all the right stuff. The site’s design works well, as the features are laid-out & easy on the eyes. I even found their contact-information easily, which was a plus for user-related questions or problems. BlueHost has tons of awards from the online industry validating their hosting services. There’s a demo of their control panel, for beginners to learn how cPanel works. They built their control panel to be easily used. The demos on how cPanel works are geared for beginners & advanced users. (nicely done)

BlueHost’s Featured Components and Pricing

The featured components are pretty straight-forward (& nothing’s missing). All the important and expected features are there and very easy to find and work-with:

* cPanel / including DEMOS * multiple database support * FTP * Email I found something unique and it was the BlueHost’s package featuring unlimited disk-space, and unlimited band-width.

There is a limited number of databases (50 each for MySQL and Postgre) and they’re providing more FTP and email accounts than anyone could ever use (1,000 and 2500, respectively). They’re giving unlimited numbers of addon domains, parked domains, and sub-domains as well. Pricing varies & depends on how long you sign up for:

* 3 Months: $9.95/month + a $30.00 Setup fee. *The Domain isn’t included. ($10.00 if purchased from BlueHost)

* 6 Months: $8.95/month + a $30.00 Setup fee. *The Domain isn’t included. ($10.00 if purchased from BlueHost)

* 12 Months: $7.95/month **Good Deal (no setup fee, free domain included) * 24 Months: $6.95/month ***Best Deal (no setup fee, free domain included)

I don’t like and usually don’t get the most minimum three month contract offers and it is not easy to find this option on their site. You have to click around to find it (it’s actually in the second step in their order process) It takes a little effort to find the prices and they are very competitive for long-term usage.

BlueHost’s Terms of Service

This web hosting company has a very straight-forward Terms of Service agreement, with little legal jargon. It’s a bullet point page with the major points listed in an easily-read formation. The one shady-point that I saw stated that “All activities may be monitored, recorded, and examined by any authorized person, including law enforcement.” The lesser semi-shady point I found states “Any violation found or fraudulent activity that system personnel deem inappropriate may have your account immediately terminated without notice and any recorded evidence reported to authorized persons.” To be fair to BlueHost, the points are actually quite clear, and not hidden inside of a 10 page agreement. *easy to find*

cPanel / Control Panel

It takes two clicks to get into the control panel & if you know about cPanel, it is standard. You have the SQL, your sub-domains, & your email-accounts, featured in the cPanel. There are also a few nice additions that include a domain manager, a site-builder, and the option to manage your account right within. Basically, you can log into their billing-dept. It’s a convenient feature.

The Fantastico at BlueHost is the latest version with all of the scripts. The cPanel was very quick and it performed everything it was supposed to do.

Script Installation

You can add your domains through add-on domain feature in cPanel. I added a few domains and everything seemed to work well, and without any problems. This hosting company doesn’t allow SSH/Shell Access by default, but they said they will enable shell access for your account if you fax a copy of your driver’s license, passport, or other ID to them. I installed a few basic scripts (a blog, a CMS, a forum) & didn’t have any problems. Their Speed was about average, and it seems to be keeping-up with all of the latest software updates.

Support Services

When I called the support department’s toll-free number, I was talking to someone within 30 seconds after dialing. I asked some basic questions: Do you support mod_rewrite (Yes), do you support mod_security (didn’t know, but checked), and do you keep your Fantastico up-to-date with the latest versions (Yes) The customer-rep was nice, and seemed to know what he was talking about. He wasn’t reading from a teleprompter. (There wasn’t any delay in his answers)

I had some other questions about some complicated issued that usually anyone can face. It took only couple of minutes and I was able to speak to a different representative. (They have more than one tech on duty, & that’s a great plus to get answers quickly) When I asked if they support PHP5 (they said they have two servers that do, and can move accounts if needed (or) desired. I also asked if they support Ruby on Rails (No), and if I should use ‘localhost’ as my host name with the script I was trying to install (Yes). I reworded my questions to test the email-support system. It only took 22 minutes to receive their answer. It was impressive, because it was already late in the afternoon, approaching closing-time for most people.

After performing my review, I’ve found BlueHost to be a solid web host service. This company has their act together and deserves their listing as a top quality web host. Their impressive functionality and solid support-staff make this company an easy choice for beginners & advanced users alike. In all, very user-friendly & a solid experience.

The Good: Good control panel functions: (cPanel) has a few nice extras. There’s plenty of space and bandwidth, good customer-support, & fair pricing.

The Bad: a few Semi-shady points in the TOS (nothing too sinister, & clearly outlined) Their 3 month minimum contract price is kind of hard to find, but its there.

Jacqueline Gharibian is the author. . She has done an extensive research and review about BlueHost web hosting. To read more reviews about other web hosting companies and also other products, please visit her site at ReviewTheWeb.

As the Internet becomes more popular, people’s trust in online shopping is increasing so reliable web site hosting is needed to reinforce that trust. People will not trust companies that have web sites that are slow to load or constantly ‘down’ due to technical difficulties, server load or suspensions for exceeding bandwidth. A growing online company could see that growth stop and then disappear due to that sites unavailability for lengthy periods because of server issues. Finding a reliable web site hosting service should then be the number one priority.

Online companies along with individuals will want to select a reliable web hosting company that also offers great customer service, fair and competitive pricing plus first class management. There are some suggestions you will want to remember when looking for a reliable web hosting company. If you are seeking quality and reliability you will want to do a some research before you make your final decision.

Finding a reliable web site host is the first step to setting up a successful online business. Your website host is in effect the neighborhood where your online business is stored. First, learn the basics of what is involved about web site hosts. What is a host – it’s nothing more than a computer known as a server that stores all you web site files. When someone types in your web address, it is this computer or server that sends the information back to them. That persons computer will display your site based on the information sent to them. In effect, you are renting space on your web site hosts computer. Most people select shared hosting to begin with although dedicated hosting is the best option for bigger web sites. The name says it all. Shared hosting means you share a server with other web sites while a dedicated host has only the one client. Commercial sites need dedicated servers for a number of reasons including security, speed and storage space.

As the Internet is growing so is the number of companies offering hosting services and the more competitive the market is becoming. Some offer inexpensive monthly prices, some even offer free hosting. As a business free web hosting may sound like a great solution however; having a website that is also shows advertising that may or may not compete with your online business is not a very good idea. In general a free web host does not have the quality of customer service a paid reliable web hosting company would have. These servers are also normally crowded with personal web pages and have limited options. Many have technical issues that may include down times which could have a negative effect on your new business. These are all factors you need to consider.

Paying more for a reliable web hosting company is a better option. Reliable hosting services also provide additional features that can added to your visitors experience. Another issue to think about is future expansion. There are so many different services that are on offer from quality hosts include shopping carts and security certificates. When choosing a reliable web hosting company think of it as a long term business arrangement.

Before starting an online business, find out what features you are going to need for your online business. This not only in regards to the web site, but to other aspects such as budgets, what you want to accomplish, short and long term goals. All these areas need to be addressed. Network with other business owners to see what experiences they have had with web site hosting. This will give you an idea of where to start looking.

Most businesses are watching pennies when they start up so hosting costs may be low on the agenda. A word of caution here, a reliable web host may not necessarily be the cheapest but you will get what you pay for. Reliable web hosting is just that and is based on the reputation it has gained over the years, not the price.

Want to find out more about dedicated web site hosting, then visit our site and discover more on how to choose the best hosting package for your needs.