Web Hosting - Need TRUE independent reviews!!!

Phoenix2312

Hey Folks,

My Wife has set up a small business and is looking to set up a reliable website for an online store...

The trouble is, despite trying Hostinger - Who advertise free web hosting (No! They advertise it but the only way you get your website is to PAY THEM!)... She is struggling to find a good provider.

I have been searching online with her, but it has become obvious from the sheer number of 4.5 to 5 Star Reviews, It is obvious that not all the review websites are to be trusted... They have probably been paid to give high score reviews (Many user reviews are also suspect!!! I checked the website of one who was apparently a customer of Site Ground, But the site is NOT hosted by them despite his Glowing review!!!!)

Can ANYONE offer some independent recommendations for us?

It is VITAL that the website host offers an Online Store function... Free or Subscription does not matter...

Please! Help us out with some honest reviews!!!!

As much detail as possible!!!

NB: Do NOT recommend Site Ground - While they seem to offer great prices at only £2.95 a month - In faint grey writing they add the note 'Exc. VAT'...

Once VAT is added - You are actually paying £20.25 A MONTH!!!!

hush-hush

Shopify offers online stores, so you don't have to care about the technical stuff. Based on your comment I'd say you'll be much better off using a service like this instead of a hosting site.

If what you're after is purely a hosting company with great reliability and technical expertise, I'd recommend Rackspace; but I don't think it fits your budget.

fishybusiness

Vidahost for me.

Found them recommended about 4 years ago and stuck with them.

Used to host a Magento store, ran it myself and support was good, even down to an issue with server load balancing. Vidahost support gave me a script to solve an issue, and also installed it for me.

More recently I have an information site for my business, using Wordpress. I have the .co.uk and .com and wanted help with forwarding, their support gave me the code for that too.

Hosting is well priced, support is great and I can honestly say I have never had an outage on my website.

They have the easy install setup for domains, so that you can install Wordpress, Magento etc at the click of the mouse.

Independent review complete!

paddyrg

TSOHost can simply install any packages you want. UK-based support .

There's discount codes in referrers forum by the way, but they're keenly priced already

Gloomendoom

Have a look at Falcoda.

googler

When I last had websites running, I used Namesco. UK based, good customer service, reliable etc.

I'd recommend them to anyone.

jbainbridge

We use 34SP. Works well and their support is great.

Double_V

One.com are best when it comes to hosting and domains.
I have been using them since 2001. They are free for a year, then £10.25/year for hosting and domain (.co.uk, .uk).
Amazing customer service.
They also provide online shop and all major payment methods. Very easy and user friendly interface.

Webbadger

It's a mine field out there based on fake reviews. I host over 200 sites. I have tried many hosts, they are all pretty rubbish unless you pay a decent amount. I'm currently using TSO, slow but ok. WPengine is good.

grant_uk

Plus one for Vidahost - very good value for money, although I've not used any of their installers for the sort of thing you're after. However, their support is very good and on the few occasions I've needed assistance or information they've been really quick to get back to me. I have about 10 websites with them.

I also have about 20 sites on a reseller account with 34sp, who I've been with for a good 15 years. Phone support is available, but their email/ticket support is not as good as it used to be. It can sometimes be the following day when they respond to a support ticket, although the quality of that support is very good when it comes. Not sure what their pricing would be for a single site, but in your case I would take a good look at Vidahost.

Discodave

+1 for Vidahost here. Feel free to PM