For those of you looking to purchase Web Hosting for the first time, you may be asking yourself if there really is a difference in choosing one web host over another. Regular visitors to our website will know what my answer is to this question. But I’ve actually heard some people say that in 2016 your choices are really GoDaddy or one of the web hosting companies under the Endurance International Group umbrella (i.e. iPage, IPowerWeb, Fat Cow, StartLogic, etc.).

For sure, there has been some consolidation in the industry—with the Endurance International Group now having companies like Bluehost and HostGator in their fold. However, there are still many choices out there which include some great independent web hosting companies. In fact, I would say the best choices for web hosting in 2016 include these independent web hosts such as InMotion Hosting, SiteGround, WP Engine, GreenGeeks, and A2 Hosting.

The trend for web hosting companies as we continue into 2016 and beyond, in my opinion, will be to offer more easy-to-get-started web hosting packages to compete with the likes of Wix and SquareSpace. I’ve talked with executive management of hosting companies, and what many newbies want these days is a website—as opposed to web hosting. Since website creation companies such as Wix and SquareSpace have taken a bite out of traditional web hosting sales, we would certainly expect to see quicker and easier website creation tools from these traditional hosts.

In fact, we can already see some evidence of web hosting companies simplifying the website creation process. Along with web hosting companies like 1&1 Hosting and Web.com (that have been promoting readymade websites for some time now), a number of web hosts are now offering pre-installation of software such as WordPress or Joomla. And this year, we’ve seen the release of BoldGrid from InMotion Hosting—which allows faster and easier creation of professional looking WordPress websites.

So while the web hosting world continues to evolve, don’t be fooled into thinking everything is the same. There are still huge differences in the performance and features you can get with a certain web hosting plan. And while it may be inevitable that there will continue to be some consolidation in the industry, as of now and in the foreseeable future, you still need to do your research and choose your web hosting carefully.