SiteGround Review 2023 – Expert Analysis, User Insights & More Features

SiteGround is a web hosting service provider that offers various plans and features for different types of websites. According to their website, they are “crafted with care” and provide fast, secure, and reliable hosting solutions. Some of their features include:

– Premium Google Cloud platform
– Ultrafast server setup
– Top WordPress speed
– Latest technologies integrated
– Top-rated hosting support
– 24/7 system administration
– Smart WAF (Web Application Firewall)
– Distributed backups

SiteGround also has a login portal for its customers, a careers page for potential employees, and a review by Forbes that evaluates its pros and cons. SiteGround is available in multiple languages, such as Italian.

SiteGround was founded in the early 2000s; it’s offered web hosting for the past 15 years and expanded across many countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, and Australia.

In addition to basic shared hosting, SiteGround offers cloud and reseller hosting with higher limits of disk space, bandwidth, and processing power.

SiteGround tends to quantify how much of something you get, for example, it doesn’t measure your data transfer but estimates its lowest web hosting plan will allow for about 10,000 monthly visitors, after which you may need to upgrade.

Pros

• All plans use SSD storage
• Free CDN for faster loads
• Static and dynamic caching
• Free SSL
• Free email (webmail)
• Managed hosting
• Uses Google Cloud data centers

Cons

• Pricier option than competitors
• Priority support for high-level plans only
• No phone support
• Limited storage and site visitor allowances
• No physical scaling options

SiteGround Features

Storage and Bandwidth Limits

SiteGround limits storage and the number of site visitors per plan, which is uncommon. The StartUp plan only allows 10GB of storage, which is low compared to most other web hosts. Upgrade one level to double your web space to 20GB, or bump it up to GoGeek, which will get you 40 GB. Although it seems stingy, these allowances should be enough for most small businesses.

Free CDN

All plans include a free CDN feature from Cloudflare. Some of SiteGround’s competitors offer this feature as a plugin in the control panel, and it’s free to use up to a certain point. SiteGround puts a larger emphasis on speed, so it highlights the CDN and other features that increase site response times.

Having a global network of servers that essentially host copies of your site makes it easier for users from all corners of the world to quickly access your site. So, if your site lives on a server in Chicago, and someone from Finland goes to your website, a CDN ensures your site loads quickly because there’s a copy of it on a server nearer to Finland.

Using SiteGround as your web host with the Cloudflare CDN can also help protect against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, thanks to the distributed traffic among other servers.

Cloud Hosting

SiteGround doesn’t offer virtual private servers (VPS) or dedicated hosting, unlike many of the best web hosts. It does offer cloud hosting, though. So, if you find you’re outgrowing a shared hosting plan, there’s no medium plan, such as a VPS. You’ll have to move directly into a cloud hosting plan, which starts at $100 per month.

Ease of Use

SiteGround makes everything easy to do, from ordering a service to installing an app. Choosing a plan is self-explanatory, and you can pick your term length before checking out. The marketplace includes extras you may want to add, including a premium CDN, dedicated IP, and domain privacy.

User Dashboard/cPanel

The dashboard to your account is a reimagined version of cPanel. The site tools you use most get pinned to the top, or you can set which tools you want to pin. You get a one-click install for some of the most popular apps added to websites, including WordPress, Drupal, OpenCart, Moodle, and osTicket. All the tools are aptly named, such as SSL Manager, Backups, and Site Scanner, so it’s easy to figure out what to use.

Security

There are multiple security features you employ from your SiteGround account, including backups, SSL certificates, and a site scanner. The backup manager lets you create up to five manual backups (on mid- and high-tier plans) to save on the server in addition to the automatic daily backups the system creates. You can access up to about a month’s worth of backups at any time.

SiteGround’s site scanner acts as an antivirus for your website. It’s a paid add-on that lets you scan your site for any malware. The premium version lets you scan the files you upload and put them in quarantine, as needed.

What Sets SiteGround Apart?

SiteGround is a web hosting service provider that has many features and benefits that set it apart from other hosting providers. Some of the things that make SiteGround unique are:

• It uses Google Cloud as its hosting platform, which means that it has access to Google’s network of servers and other advanced options.

• It offers a variety of hosting plans for different types of websites, such as WordPress, WooCommerce, or Cloud. Each plan comes with different features and resources, such as disk space, storage space, visitors per month, and CPU cores.

• It provides free SSL certificates, free CDN, free email, daily backups, automatic updates, staging environments, and other advanced features for all its plans.

• It has a highly knowledgeable and responsive customer support team that is available 24/7 via chat, ticket, or phone.

• It has a 30-day money-back guarantee for customers who are not satisfied with its services.
  – It has a reputation for delivering fast loading speeds and a high uptime guarantee for its websites.

•  It uses renewable energy match and supports various environmental initiatives.

SiteGround Pricing and Plans

SiteGround offers different pricing and plans for its web hosting services. Here is a table that summarizes the main features and costs of each plan:

All plans include free SSL, CDN, email, staging, and 24/7 support. The GoGeek plan also has advanced features such as Git, white-label clients, and priority support.

The prices shown are for the initial subscription term of 12 months. SiteGround also offers shorter and longer terms, but the prices may vary. For example, the StartUp plan costs $19.99 for one month, $11.99 for 24 months, and $9.99 for 3monthss. SiteGround also has a 30-day money-back guarantee for its shared hosting plans.

SiteGround also provides other types of hosting services, such as WordPress, WooCommerce, cloud, reseller, and enterprise hosting. These have different features and prices depending on your needs. You can check out their website for more details.

SiteGround Customer Service and Support

SiteGround gets high marks for its knowledgeable support staff. It sticks to live chat and email or ticket support only, so you can’t contact anyone over the phone. However, you will be able to see helpful info about your support agent, including name, number of customers they’ve helped, and what their rating is.

To get priority support, which moves you into a different queue for help, you’ll have to upgrade to the highest-priced shared hosting plan, GoGeek. Priority support comes from the most experienced support agents. The line is shorter, so you get support more quickly. And you get the highest-quality help.

SiteGround Alternatives

Many web hosting service providers can be considered as alternatives to SiteGround. Some of them may offer better performance, features, support, or pricing than SiteGround. Here is a table that compares some of the best SiteGround alternatives and competitors for 2023: