Search Engine Optimisation, or simply SEO, is the process of improving a website’s visibility on search engines. Popular search engines include Google, Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo. The best web hosting for SEO can boost your website’s visibility on these search engines.
Expert Advice: Based on our research, Siteground is the best SEO-friendly web hosting company and Bluehost is the cheapest SEO web hosting for WordPress websites.
According to SearchEngine Journal, one of the top Google ranking factors includes page loading speed, and this is a ranking factor that can be highly influenced by the type of web hosting you use.
This indicates that the type of hosting you use can determine your SEO success or failure. Other ranking factors that your host can influence include site security, uptime, server location, and overall technical SEO.
Let's see a table comparison between SEO hosting companies:
Provider | Starting price(per month) | Main SEO Feature(s) | Customer Support |
---|---|---|---|
Siteground | $3.99 | 99.99% uptime Free SSL Servers on different continents Loading Speed P95 125ms | 24/7 |
Inmotion | $2.99 | Free SSL 99.9% uptime Loading Speed P95 244ms | 24/7/365 live chat |
Hostpapa | $3.95 | Free SSL Premium servers SEO-friendly site builder Avarage Loading Speed 580.8ms | 24/7 |
A2Hosting | $2.99 | 99.9% uptime Free SSL Servers on different continents Loading Speed P95 236ms | 24/7 |
WPX | $20.83 | Free CDN 99.95% uptime Loading Speed P95 89ms | 24/7 |
Bluehost | $2.95 | WordPress recommended Analytics and SEO tools Free SSL Loading Speed P95 21ms | 24/7 |
Cloudways | $12 | Free SSL Loading Speed P95 465ms | 24/7/365 |
Does Hosting Affect SEO?
Although high-quality content and other On-page SEO factors are some of the most important ranking factors, if your website loads slowly, is not secure, and has frequent downtimes, Google will not rank it highly.
A good web hosting company can help you overcome these limitations and improve your site visibility. High loading speeds, multiple server locations, and Free SSL are some of the core services by hosting providers that will contribute to the success of your SEO campaigns.
The Top 7 Best Web Hosting for SEO
Let’s dive into one-by-one reviews of the best web hosting companies for SEO.
1. SiteGround
- Enhanced security
- WordPress recommended
- Ecommerce enabled
- 100% renewable energy match
- Automatic WordPress updates
- Starting from $3.99/month
Pros
- Unmetered traffic
- Free SSL
- Free email
- Free CDN
- 30 days money back guarantee
- Unlimited databases
- Managed WordPress
- Free daily automated backups
Cons
- High renewal rates
- Limited disk space
SiteGround is known for their robust security features on their platform. This includes the free SSL certificate available on all plans. This is a big deal because in 2014, Google announced that SSL will affect rankings. SiteGround therefore keeps you a step ahead of the competition with their security features.
Speed
All plans at SiteGround run on Apache + Nginx servers. These are servers that are designed for great speed. Response time tested with K6 which is the stress tool for web hosting results in 125ms for the P95 response time.
Uptime
SiteGround offers an uptime guarantee of 99.99%. This literally means that your website will always be up. This ensures your customers or visitors can always get the information they are looking for whenever they visit the website. This will also reduce your bounce rate. High bounce rates can significantly harm your SEO.
Server Locations
SiteGround has servers in several locations, including the UK, USA, Singapore, Europe, and Australia.
Pricing
Web hosting plans:
- StartUp at $3.99 per month
- GrowBig at $6.69 per month
- GoGeek at $10.69 per month
The WordPress hosting plans have the same pricing as the shared hosting plans above.
2. InMotion
- 10 email addresses on the cheapest plan
- Ecommerce tools
- Zero downtime site transfers
- Starting from $2.99/month
Pros
- Free SSL
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Free on-click installs
- Free domain
- 24/7/365 live chat support
- 90 days money back guarantee
- Automatic WordPress updates
Cons
- No windows servers
- Time-consuming checkout process
- Limitations on cheaper plans
InMotion is a reputable web hosting company that many site owners find to be reliable. They are well-known for their free backups, 24/7/365 live chat support, automatic WordPress updates, and 90 days money-back guarantee.
InMotion is also known for its zero downtime site transfers. This means that you can switch between different hosting plans on the platform without your website going offline. In addition, all plans on the platform come with a free site builder.
InMotion has a massive base of self-help articles that you can use to find solutions. You can also always seek help from their customer support team which is available 24/7.
Speed
InMotion has the resources to ensure that your website loads fast. After the K6 test cached performance during 385.00 requests, the P95 percentile response time was 244ms and the average response 129ms.
Fast loading speeds are great for SEO. The company offers UltraStack, a tech stack optimized for speed, reliability, and security.
Uptime
The company has a 99.9% uptime guarantee. This is good enough to guarantee you good SEO results.
Server Locations
The data centers are located on the West Coast and East Coast of the United States. The specific locations are Los Angeles, California, and Ashburn, Virginia. Clients outside these two regions should use a CDN for better site performance.
Pricing
Shared hosting plans for 2-year commitment:
- Core at $2.99 per month
- Launch at $5.99 per month
- Power at $5.99 per month
- Pro at $13.99 per month
WordPress hosting for 2-year commitment:
- WP Core at $3.99 per month
- WP Launch at $7.99 per month
- WP Power at $7.99 per month
- WP Pro at $15.99 per month
3. HostPapa
- Free domain transfer
- Beginner-friendly
- Starting from $3.95/month
Pros
- Free Domain
- Free SSL
- Website Builder
- 30 days money back guarantee
- Multiple server locations
Cons
- No backups for the cheapest plan
- High renewal rates
The simplicity of HostPapa makes it one of the best platforms for beginners. This is in addition to other great features like a free domain, free SSL, a website builder, and multiple server locations. The SSL and server locations have a direct impact on your site’s SEO. In addition, the website builder has in-built SEO features.
This is also the best hosting provider in Canada.
The website builder makes it easy for you to change the meta titles, meta description, and creating alt texts for your images.
HostPapa has reliable 24/7 customer support that you can always contact when you have any issues with the platform. You can also use their useful guides and tutorials. There is also one-on-one training offered where you get to interact with one of HostPapa’s experts.
Speed
The company’s servers are optimized for great speed performance. The average response time for the last 10 months is 580.8ms
Uptime
HostPapa offers a 99.97% uptime guarantee in the last 10 months of testing.
Server Locations
The data centers are located in the Netherlands, Canada, and USA.
Pricing
Web hosting plans:
- Starter at $3.95 per month
- Business at $4.95 per month
- Business Pro at $12.95 per month
Optimized WordPress plans have the same pricing as web hosting prices above. If you prefer managed WordPress, these are the prices:
- Launch at $19.95 per month
- Launch Plus at $39.95 per month
- Launch Pro at $69.95 per month
4. A2 Hosting
- Free site migration
- Anytime money back guarantee
- Starting from $2.99/month
Pros
- Unlimited transfer
- Free SSL
- 24/7/365 support
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- 30 days money back guarantee
- Multiple data center locations
- Free Cloudflare CDN
Cons
- No free domain
- Restrictions on cheap plans
- High renewal rates
A2 Hosting has a great customer support team that has become the darling of many users. They provide one-on-one support, giving customers a personalized support experience. The company provides 24/7/365 email, live chat, and phone support.
Some useful features on the platform include free SSL, free CDN, and multiple data centers, all of which have a positive impact on your site’s SEO. The company also offers anytime money-back guarantee.
A2 Hosting provides free SEO tools and plugins. These are tools and plugins that are easy to implement on the platform, allowing you to boost your site’s visibility on search engines.
Speed
You will enjoy great speeds at A2 Hosting. The Turbo servers are designed to improve website loading speeds. The Turbo servers make sites hosted at A2 Hosting load 20 times faster than other hosts. Average response time is 122ms and the P95 stress test 236ms (K6 test).
Uptime
This hosting company offers 99.9% uptime commitment.
Server Locations
The server locations are in Europe-Amsterdam, Asia-Singapore, USA-Michigan, and USA-Arizona.
Pricing
Shared hosting plans:
- Startup at $2.99 per month
- Drive at $5.99 per month
- Turbo Boost at $6.99 per month
- Turbo Max at $12.99 per month
Managed WordPress hosting:
- Run at $11.99 per month
- Jump at $18.99 per month
- Fly at $28.99 per month
- Sell at $41.99 per month
5. WPX
- Free malware removal
- 1-click WordPress installs
- Unlimited site migrations to WPX
- Starting from 20.83/month
Pros
- Free site optimisation
- 99.95% uptime
- 30 day money back guarantee
- DDoS protection
- Superfast SSD storage
- Staging area
- Unlimited SSL certificates
- Unlimited databases
- Unlimited FTP users and file manager
- Free CDN
Cons
- No cPanel
- Expensive
WPX is a web hosting company that specializes in WordPress hosting. The company offers a large collection of free themes that customers can choose from when designing their websites on the platform.
Some great features on the platform include free CDN, fast SSD storage, DDoS protection, and free website optimization.
The company offers 24/7 customer support. The team is known to be fast in responding to customer queries.
Speed
WPX is one of the fastest web hosting service providers. These high speeds can boost your SEO performance. Our test shows that WPX hosting using K9 testing tool performs at incredible numbers 89ms at the P95 stress test and an average response speed of 488ms
Uptime
WPX offers a 99.98% uptime guarantee tested with Uptime Robot. In addition, the servers are designed to deal with large amounts of traffic. This ensures that your website will always be online regardless of the amount of traffic it gets.
Server Locations
The servers are located in the UK, Australia, and USA.
Pricing
WordPress hosting plans:
- Business at $20.83 per month
- Professional at $41.58 per month
- Elite at $83.25 per month
6. Bluehost
- Free domain for the first year
- WordPress recommended
- Starting from $2.95/month
Pros
- Unmetered bandwidth
- 30 days money back guarantee
- Analytics and SEO tools
- Beginner-friendly
- 1-click WordPress installs
Cons
- Limitations of the starter plans
Bluehost is a popular web hosting company that provides reliable shared hosting plans. This service is also popular because it is beginner-friendly.
BlueHost is also a WordPress recommended platform, and this is one of the reasons why it was picked as one of the best SEO web hosting service providers. Hosting your WordPress site on the platform should give you good SEO results.
Other features you’ll enjoy include unmetered bandwidth, 1-click WordPress installs, and a free domain for the first year. You also get access to analytics and SEO tools. This means you do not need third-party tools to view the performance of your website.
BlueHost's customer support team is available 24/7.
Read More: BlueHost Review
Speed
The company provides good site loading speeds. They recently surprised me with their loading speed. Tested again with K6 with 300.000 requests/s response time is 21ms. The average response time is 13ms. At the same time tested with LoadStorm response time goes over 1600ms. The speed is good enough if you purchase a Hosting plan that isn't the cheapest one.
Uptime
Although Bluehost does not offer an uptime guarantee, tests have indicated their uptime to be around 99.95%. Tested with Pingdom
Server Locations
The company is yet to disclose the location of its servers. However, it is believed that the company has 6 data centers worldwide. The presumed locations are USA-Provo, Utah, USA-Orem, Utah, India-Mumbai, UK-London, Hong Kong, and China-Shanghai.
Pricing
Web hosting plans:
- Shared hosting at $4.95 per month
- VPS at $18.99 per month
- Dedicated at $79.99 per month
WordPress hosting plans for 1-year commitment:
- Basic at $2.95 per month
- Plus at $5.45 per month
- Choice Plus at $5.45 per month
- Pro at $13.95 per month
7. Cloudways
- Free Migration
- 24/7 real-time monitoring
- Fast load times
- Starting from $12/month
Pros
- Free SSL
- Unlimited application installation
- Automated backups
- Dedicated firewalls
- Staging environment
- Regular security patching
- 24/7/365 support
Cons
- Limited trial period
Cloudways provides easy and stress-free cloud hosting services. Hosting with Cloudways guarantees you reliability, exceptional speeds, and scalability. You can choose your preferred cloud hosting platform. The options include Digital Ocean, Vultr, Google Cloud, Linode, and AWS.
Some of the great features you’ll enjoy include free SSL, dedicated firewalls, automated backups, and regular security patching.
Customer support at Cloudways is available 24/7.
Speed
Cloudways has the right resources to give you fast loading speeds. Tested with K9 tool the P95 test response time is 465ms
Uptime
The company provides a 99.99% uptime guarantee.
Server Locations
Cloudways, through its five cloud hosting platforms, has 65+ data centers spread across various continents. These locations are in Asia, America, Australia, and Europe.
Pricing
Digital Ocean pricing plans:
- $12 per month
- $26 per month
- $50 per month
- $96 per month
What to Look for in a Good SEO Web Hosting Provider
A good hosting provider provides your website with the perfect environment for optimal performance on search engines. A good SEO web hosting provider will have the following:
- Speed: The host should have the required resources to guarantee fast page loading speeds. Google penalizes slow speeds and you do not want your website to be caught by these punitive actions.
- Excellent uptime: The hosting provider should have the required resources to guarantee uptimes of at least 99%. Constant downtimes are not good for SEO.
- Multiple Server Locations: Having multiple server locations will enhance user experience for your audience, regardless of their location.
- Good Customer Support: Customer support should be available 24/7 and have the right expertise to solve common site issues.
SEO Web Hosting FAQs
Free web hosting may not be the choice for anyone interested in search visibility. This is because most free web hosting service providers lack the resources required to power your website to the first pages of search engines. For example, free web hosts are known to have average or slow loading speeds. In addition, you may experience frequent downtimes which will negatively affect SEO performance.
BlueHost is a WordPress-recommended web hosting service. This should tell you enough about the reputation and performance of the platform. Although the company has various limitations when compared to other popular web hosting companies, they have the right resources and tools to give you good SEO results on your WordPress site.
Conclusion
The web hosting company you choose to use has a major impact on your website’s visibility on search engines. Ranking factors like page load speeds, security, and uptime directly depend on the type of host you use.
The best web hosting for SEO is one that gives you access to all these resources and tools to boost your site’s SEO performance.
Want to Learn More?
As one of the co-founders of Codeless, I bring to the table expertise in developing WordPress and web applications, as well as a track record of effectively managing hosting and servers. My passion for acquiring knowledge and my enthusiasm for constructing and testing novel technologies drive me to constantly innovate and improve.
Expertise:
Web Development,
Web Design,
Linux System Administration,
SEO
Experience:
15 years of experience in Web Development by developing and designing some of the most popular WordPress Themes like Specular, Tower, and Folie.
Education:
I have a degree in Engineering Physics and MSC in Material Science and Opto Electronics.
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