Disclosure: We are a professional review team. We test each product thoroughly and give high marks to only the very best. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own. When you buy a product or service using our links, we may receive compensation from some of the companies who own or sell the products and services directly. Thank you for your support and understanding.

*See also our other Rankings: Top Providers in Europe – Top Hosting Providers in Asia

Have you ever wonder what are the most important aspects you should consider when choosing a hosting provider?

Speed, security, and reliability are some of the most important factors you need to consider when choosing your WordPress hosting provider. However, the most important factor is your specific needs, and that includes, among others, the location of your target audience.

Is the location of the hosting provider important in your decision?

As you will learn in this guide, the closest the information is from your website’s visitors the better. That doesn’t mean that the hosting provider’s offices should be close to your target audience. The important thing is the location of their Data Centers.

Choosing a web hosting server location is one of the first decisions to make before launching a website project. In this regard, you can have some questions like:

• Is it best to choose a server closer to my potential users or is this irrelevant?
• How does server location affect SEO?

The answer of the above question will largely depend on your target audience. For example, lets imagine your website’s users are mainly located in one country (United States). In this case your website will perform better if the server is located in or as nearest as possible to the United States.

We have to take in consideration that one of the most important factors for Google Page Rank is the webpage load speed in mobile devices. If users are in Canada and the website is hosted in the Germany, the distance between the server and your user will cause a longer response time.

But what happens with websites that target more larger audiences, in multiple countries?

You will always have to take in consideration your potential customers. Maybe you are selling products or services that only ship to specific countries. Maybe your website is more famous in some countries than in others. Try choosing a Hosting Provider that own Data Centers in a central location near your website visitors.

In cases where you have a Worldwide audience, the use of a CDN is highly recommended. A content delivery network (CDN) is a system of distributed servers (network) that deliver webpages and other Web content to a user based on their geographic location.

Comparison Criteria

To keep this guide as specific as possible, we will focus on Hosting Providers that have Servers in the United States or Canada, and offer great support for WordPress Websites. These companies are consistently the top WordPress hosting companies in the industry when it comes to speed, quality and service.

As we dedicate to offer Website Design and Developing Services, thru the years we have personally tried all of this providers. For this guide, we are using the personal experience we had which each one. Additionally, we researched what other users are saying of each one, including ratings of trusted reviews sites.

We are comparing the Hosting Providers based on the most important factors you should consider when choosing a host provider:

• Price – We researched and found the best WordPress hosting options that cost at or below $5/mo (with the help of WebsiteSetup.org).
• Speed – Used Pingdom to track uptime and speed.
• Customer Support – We experience the hosting provider’s customer service to rate their support quality.
• User Rating – To keep this guide impartial, we will include the average user reviews from 3 trusted sources (G2Crowd, TrustPilot and WebHostingGeeks). This user rating will help you understand the experience that real user have with the hosting provider.
• Data Center Location – As this guide is intended for websites that will target an audience living in the United States or Canada, we chose hosting providers that own Data Centers based in North America.

If you want to see the final ranking results, click this link.

Ranking – Top Web Hosting Companies in USA & Canada

#5 – 1&1 Hosting – WordPress hosting on the Cheap

1&1 Internet, a well-recognized leader among global domain name registrars and web hosting providers, offers a complete range of feature-rich web services for every need, skill level, and budget. All of their products have been designed to provide the ideal combination of innovative features and affordability, with no hidden costs.

Price

1&1 Hosting is on the more affordable end of web hosting. They typically offer a very cheap 12 month introductory offer for $0.99 per month, and then increase the price after a year, which even then are on the affordable end.

Take in consideration that after your 1 year plan is over, the renewal cost is of $7.99 per mont, which balances the overall discount they made during the first year. Their pricing tiers are nearly identical to other big brand hosts like HostGator & GoDaddy when you break out the core things you are paying for (space, performance and databases). Their lowest tier plan is actually a slightly better deal than many of other hosting providers in the list, since they don’t cap the number of websites you can have.

As far as pricing goes, 1&1 gets points for space & options for anyone on a super-tight budget.

Prices often go up, so we recommend clicking at the image to check the most recent prices.

Speed and Uptime

1&1 makes no claims or promises regarding uptime for most of their web hosting customers, and neither is there an SLA or guarantee to reassure prospective clients. However, all data is stored simultaneously in two locations. Should one server fail, another will take over.

1&1 still is fine for small site that are low on graphics or overhead. So on performance, like pricing and options, 1&1’s main advantage is that they excel in the basics. However, is worth mentioning that that they do provide plenty of memory to run your website.

Customer Support

Rating sites are full with complaints about their customer service (some pages more than others), however, that is expected to a degree since they are that big of a corporation (the same happens with BlueHost, Godaddy, Hostgator)

Like other big companies, they simply view customer service as a cost to be cut rather than as a marketing channel. In our experience, customer service was ok, but they clearly are following a script as other big companies that opt to put inexperienced operators on the line.

User Ratings

G2 Crowd: – 3.3 Stars

TrustPilot: – 4 Stars (8.0 Score out of 10)

WebHostingGeeks:  – 2 Stars

Data Center Locations

1&1 hosting owns 4 Data Centers in the US, located in Chicago, New York, Kansas and Washington.

Final Verdict

1&1 has great value plans for first-time users and plenty of more powerful products for everyone else, but unimpressive support might be an issue if you run into real difficulties.

Also, visiting their website can be a frustrating experience, as it feels somehow outdated and, in our case, crashed constantly. The interface is not user friendly, specially not what you expect from a big hosting provider.

If you are just starting using WordPress and want a provider that gives you a great introduction pricing plan while offering all the essentials, then this is a great option for you.

#4  Bluehost – The most popular among bloggers

BlueHost has been providing quality hosting solutions to thousands of business and personal web sites since 1996. Today, BlueHost has become one of the most recognizable names in the web hosting industry with over 1.6M domain names hosted. Their “professional hosting” plan includes all the features you might need at the best possible price.

Price:

While BlueHost may not be the cheapest hosting option you’ll find, it’s definitely among the most inexpensive when compared to other popular hosting providers.

If you’re willing to commit to a three-year deal, you can lock in a low rate of only $2.95 per month!

But be careful, as the renewal plans jump in pricing after your initial plan is over, going as high as $8.99 for their renewal plans.

Click the image to check their latest prices.

Speed and Reliability:

Over the course of a year, Bluehost posted a below average 1,275ms speed (compared with the 850ms industry average).

Slow sites don’t just affect user experience. They also drag down performance, which potentially hurts your SEO and conversions ratings too.

Customer Support

Supporting two million different websites isn’t a small feat. Maybe that is why their customer support can be considered slow.

Nevertheless, waiting times can go up to over 43 minutes, which is unacceptable if you’re potentially losing sales during that downtime.

According to several user reviews, the experience with their support also wasn’t very good. Most answers (in addition to the long delays between them), were curt and unhelpful. Bad customer support is the most common complaint about this host provider, which affect their overall grade.

User Rating:

According to user ratings, the weak point of this hosting provider is bad customer support, and that is reflected in their low ratings.

G2 Crowd: – 3.4 Stars

TrustPilot: – 1.4 Stars

WebHostingGeeks:  – 2.5 Stars

Data Center Locations

The main US hosting operations are focused on two Data Centers located in Utah.

Final Verdict

BlueHost has grown thanks to a good marketing strategy based on “Expert Reviews” and good promotions. But, despite what those blogging guru’s say, there are MUCH better hosting options available (like the ones included in this article for example).

As an example, if you have done some research by now you will see a great discrepancy between the “experts” that recommend it and the low user reviews this hosting provider receives. Most complains are based on bad customer service, but as you can see in this guide, there are also hosts that provide a faster service and better customer support at the same price.

#3 – HostGator Managed WordPress Hosting

Be attentive, as their basic ‘shared’ hosting option is honestly nothing remarkable to talk about. However, their managed Cloud WordPress hosting has delivered some of the best performance we’ve ever seen.

They are #3 in our ranking, only because they lost points based on customer support and user reviews. But based on performance, they can easily be our number one pick.

Price

Their regular “Hatchling” plan starts at $4.95 per month, and you can throw a domain in for only $0.01. This makes it. This makes them the most expensive of the list. But take in consideration that they are open to always be competitive in prices, and can offer discounts to match competitors prices.

Prices can go up, so you can check that the prices shown are still valid by clicking on the image.

Speed and Uptime

they’ve so far been flawless when it comes to site stability.

In 2016, they’ve posted a 100% uptime which is perfect. For the last few month, uptime has been consistent, with an average of 99.99% which is impressive.

In addition to literally perfect uptime, HostGator’s managed WordPress hosting ranks in the top two for page loading times as well. With an average of 521ms, they come in 2nd place in this guide for speed and 1st place for uptime!

Customer Support

In general their customer support is average .  It’s worth noting that they do not make it easy to contact them directly. Reaching the option to chat or email customer support is a little complicated, as you will have to go thru their knowledge base first.

As with every big hosting company, waiting times can be long. In our personal experience, once we finally reached the option to chat with a representative, we had to wait for 15 minutes to chat with someone. It’s also clear that their tech support is not as knowledgeable as others included in this list.

As you will reach in most user ratings around the web, the customer support is lacking, as it has been a characteristic of the biggest hosting providers.

User Rating

This is a tricky one, as their cloud hosting sharing clearly excels over their basic shared hosting. However, most reviews you will find in the web are about their normal hosting. As mentioned before, customer support is an area where they can improve compared to other hosting provider.

G2 Crowd: – 3.4 Stars

TrustPilot: – 1 Stars (1.1 Score out of 10)

WebHostingGeeks:  – 2 Stars

Data Centers Locations

HostGator’s US Data Centers are located in Provo, Utah and in Houston, Texas.

Final Verdict

When it comes to performance, their managed WordPress Cloud Hosting is among the best of the market. With impressive uptimes, fast loading times and cheap prices, there are few providers that can compete with them.

As mentioned before, customer service is the area with the most complaints, and personally we think they can follow the examples of A2 and Siteground. However, if you are not planning to target a worldwide audience, this is among the best options you will find.

If customer support is not a deal breaker for you and performance is your priority, hands down this is the best option for you.

Their hosting plan would be perfect, if it wasn’t for their price. Their and the most expensive of the list, and we expressed them that. So they proposed two options for our clients (For a limited time):

Current Promotions:

• 25% Off the whole package using the Code 25OFFADGENCY
• The first month free using the Code 1CADGENCY
• Up to 60% OFF NEW Hosting + $4.99 on Select Domains with Promo Code Spring2017

#2. A2 Hosting – High-end hosting with a focus on performance

A2 lacks the notoriety of some of the most popular web hosts out there. But what they lack in press mentions or advertising campaigns, they make-up for with speed and performance, as they’ve managed to deliver some of the best results of this guide.

Price

Typically A2’s host pricing tends to be around the middle of the pack when it comes to pricing. Their “Lite” plan is priced at €3.44 ($3.92).

A2’s cheapest available plans are still better than the majority of competitors. However, there are still some limitations that are reserved for their more expensive plan options (like the number of sites you can host, or the ‘Turbo Boost’ features).

Keep in mind that prices can go up. You can click the image to see their latest prices.

Speed and Uptime

A2 gave the highest uptime of this guide, delivering a 99.99% over the course of a year.

That’s really good, and in the market it’s really difficult to find this statistics.

A2’s page loading times are extremly fast, at an incredible average of 406ms over  the past 12 months, which is the best score in this guide. Best of all, their page speed performance has been stable and consistent too.

Customer Support

A2’s customer support is considered good, connecting quickly and providing detailed answers to our questions with a minute of each other.

They provide a phone number front and center. There is an extensive knowledgebase, live chat, and even Skype access. Social media responses are quick too.

A2 Hosting’s reps are very “hands-on” – they offer custom installs and plenty of solutions where your rep will go in and fix the issue rather than talking you through the process. While some customers may or may not like that option, it does signal that they see customer support as an investment rather than a cost.

Overall, they have less complaints in customer support when you compare them to BlueHost and 1&1.

User Ratings

G2 Crowd: – 4.2 Stars

TrustPilot:  – 4 Stars (8.4 Score out of 10)

WebHostingGeeks:  – 5 Stars

Data Center Locations

A2 owns 1 Data Center in the United States, located in USA – Michigan.

Final Veredict

A2 isn’t as well known as some of the competition. But they should be based on performance.

Their uptime is almost the highest we’ve seen, while the page loading times are maybe the best on the market. Customer support was both quick and knowledgeable.

In our experience, they’re one of the best WordPress hosting options you can choose. If you feel like this is your option, click the button to check their latest prices.

#1 – Siteground: One of the fastest, most reliable and secure web hosting providers.

Our First place goes to the underdog of this list.

Founded in 2004 by a few university friends, SiteGround gradually but steadily turned into a leading web hosting service provider. With only a handful of people working from their university dorm rooms in the beginning, today the company has more than 400 employees and is constantly growing.

They key for their success was their focus on “handcrafted” hosting, that consist on personalizing the hosting packages, and in premium customer service. This turned their customers into fans, and you can see this reflected in the different review sites around the web.

Price

SiteGround’s can be a little more expensive than the other hosting providers, with their “Startup” plan starting at €3.95 ($4.52), which is the most expensive of the options we included in this guide. However, they with the extra cents you pay monthly you get premium customer service, CDN, and WordPress specific Cache Technologies that will make your website extremely fast.

Its important to note that the Starter price is not always discounted down to €3.95, as sometimes they offer the plan at its full price (€7.95). Always check the most recent prices (You can click the image to check the most recent prices)

Speed and Uptime

SiteGround promises to match the industry average uptime of 99.90%.

And then they over-delivered with a 12-month average of 99.96%!

SiteGround follows up their impressive uptime stability with a solid top-5 page speed performance too.

Their average of 500ms was 41% faster than the competition’s 850ms average.

Consistency has also been a positive, with little-to-no hiccups or issues along the way.

Customer Support

Siteground started very small, but focused on one thing: customer support. In our personal experience, they have one of the friendliest and more experienced technical support of all the hosting provider on this guide.

It’s apparent that they invest a lot in their employees, because their employees actually put on technical events to train developers.

Those factors, plus their endorsement from high profile WordPress core contributors, puts SiteGround’s customer service in a whole different level.

Even after doing a background check and surveying other sources, we still couldn’t find many negative responses about their support.

User Rating

G2 Crowd: – 4.2 Stars

TrustPilot: – 5 Stars (9.7 Score out of 10)

WebHostingGeeks:  – 4.5 Stars

Data Centers Locations

SiteGround has one Data Center in the United States, located in Chicago, Illinois.

Final Verdict

We gave SiteGround the first place over A2 hosting because they excelled in three key factors: reliability, WordPress specific features and overall customer service experience.

Their WordPress specific features include a SuperCacher to reduce the work your site has to do when delivering files to visitors. They’ll also combine this with a CDN (that features over 34 locations) to make sure large file types don’t drag down your site speed either.

The additional features make up for the difference in page loading speed, so you can be sure that if you have a well coded WordPress theme your site will be blazing fast.

They also provide LetsEncrypt support, a free service that provides SSL Certificates to websites for free and that is increasingly important this days.

If you feel this is the right solution for you, click the button to get their latest prices.

Conclusions

If you are choosing based on performance, you cant go wrong with either HostGator Managed Cloud, A2 or SiteGround. Their WordPress-specific technologies will make your website fly. (with a well coded theme)

If you are just starting with WordPress, we recommend you choose a provider that will help you in every step of the way. You can go with either Siteground or A2 hosting, knowing that they have some of the most experienced Tech support of the list.

For the biggest companies (BlueHost, Hostgator) there will always be negative comments and complaints, mostly because their corporate size doesn’t let them focus on the customer as they should.

If you feel more comfortable choosing a big name, be sure that BlueHost and HostPapa will  get your website up and running and will offer decent capabilities for a smooth experience.

This are the results of our ranking:

To read the review of each hosting provider, click on it’s name. If you already decided on the best option, click the button to see their current prices and promotions.

#1 Siteground:

The most reliable, with the best WordPress focused characteristics and premium customer service.

#2 A2 WordPress Hosting:

The fastest, with the best uptimes and good customer service.

#3 HostGator Managed WordPress Cloud Hosting:

Top performance and uptime, only needing to improve it’s customer service. *Get a Discount Code

#4 BlueHost:

The most popular of the list. Delivers a decent performance if you can look past their customer service.

#5 HostPapa:

An “average” choice, with good customer support but slow performance.

Now that you chose your web hosting provider, get a fast and responsive website that can take advantage of the advance tools they have to offer.

*Read also: Top 5 Recommended Hosting Providers in Europe

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