My Bluehost Review – Part 2: In-Depth Web Host Review

UPDATE APRIL 25, 2011

Until last week, I used both Bluehost and HostGator shared servers.  However, due to traffic increases, I’ve had to transfer all my websites to HostGator using their VPS hosting solution.  Bluehost doesn’t offer VPS or dedicated servers.  I still like Bluehost, but if you need some serious hosting power, then they are not for you.

END OF APRIL 25, 2011 UPDATE

Part 2 of my Bluehost review sets out the features and benefits of you get as a Bluehost customer for hosting your websites.

The first feature I couldn’t believe when I stumbled on Bluehost was that I could host as many websites as I wanted on a single account. Before using Bluehost, I was a member of a website building platform that charged me $300 per year for hosting and having access to their website builder for ONE domain name. That’s $25 per month for one website. You can imagine how thrilled I was to discover being able to host an unlimited number of websites for $6.95 per month with Bluehost.

In fact, during my sales inquiry call, I think I asked 3 times about this unlimited website hosting feature. I just couldn’t believe it.

To the heart of the matter.

Here’s a short list of the Bluehost features

• Unlimited number of websites for $6.95 per month.
• You can easily register your domain names within Bluehost. It’s a one-stop-shop.
• Outstanding technical support and customer service via telephone, live chat and e-mail. Part I of my Bluehost reviews series tells you about 2 instances where Bluehost’s service really shone and made me a committed loyal customer.
• 1 Click installation of popular CMS platforms WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. Setting up WordPress with Bluehost is incredibly easy.
• Courtesy website backups (this saved me an entire 60 page website). This feature alone could save you an incredible amout of grief (as it did me).
• Unlimited number of e-mail accounts per domain name. Never lack an e-mail account again. It takes about 30 seconds to set up an e-mail account.
• Unlimited hosting space (build websites as big as you like … I do).
• Secure options such as SSL for e-commerce sites.
• $50 Free Google Credit.
• 99.9% Network Uptime Guarantee – there have been times my sites were down – but it’s very infrequent and they weren’t down for long.

E-mail Accounts for Your Domain Names Are Included

You can easily set up e-mail accounts for every domain name you have with Bluehost. I set up an info@mydomain.com for all my sites. You can create unlimited e-mail accounts for every domain you have with Bluehost. There is no question that having an e-mail account or accounts affiliated with your website as being a more professional presence than a gmail or hotmail e-mail account. Take the 30 seconds required to set up an e-mail account with your domain names.

Tons of Tutorials for Getting Your Websites Going

If you’re a do-it-yourself type, there are dozens of video tutorials showing you how to do all kinds of things within your Bluehost account – whether you use WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Dreamweaver, etc.

My 2 Criticisms of Bluehost

1. They don’t inform you of any system upgrades/updates that will result in websites being down temporarily. I called them about this and their response was they used to send out notices, but they would get so many calls about the upcoming operation that it was more trouble for all concerned than it was worth. Fortunately such upgrades/updates are so infrequent that it’s not really an issue with me.
2. Their domain name availability search screen isn’t very user-friendly. I actually search for domain availability at GoDaddy because it’s a great interface. Once I find the domain name I want, I register it with Bluehost.

Domain registration tip: I’ve said this before, but it’s so important, it’s worth saying again. Be sure to set your domain name to auto-renewal (unless you’re building a temporary websites). The last thing you want to happen is to miss out on a domain renewal and lose your domain. Imagine building a website with 50 pages of content and getting ranked only to lose the entire site because you didn’t renew your domain name.

I continue to be a die-hard loyal Bluehost customer. In fact, I don’t even look elsewhere. I’m very pleased with Bluehost. Click here to read Part I of my Bluehost reviews series where I set out personal experiences with Bluehost. Or,

Click here to visit the official Bluehost website.

Please note that in addition to being a happy Bluehost customer, I’m an affiliate for them which means if you click a link above and/or use a coupon code when purchasing an account, I may receive a commission.

Related posts:

1. iThemes Builder WordPress Theme Review [with Video Overview]
2. My Bluehost Reviews Series: In-Depth Web Host Review – Part 1
3. Inspire WordPress Theme by Woo Themes – In-Depth Review