Website design By BotEap.comBased in Utah, Bluehost is one of the leading shared website hosting providers. It was founded in 1996 and the fact that it is still going strong and is located in most of the top ten lists of web hosting providers means that it should be considered if you are looking for hosting.

Website design By BotEap.comPackage offered

Website design By BotEap.comThe first thing a Bluehost review should look at is the packages on offer. Actually, this is not necessary as Bluehost keeps it simple and only offers one package. This is a shared Linux hosting package that (at the time of writing) is priced at $6.95 per month and you can sign up and pay for 12, 24 or 36 months. The prices on the registration page are for new customers, so at renewal the charge will be $8.95 for 12 months, $7.95 for 24 months and $6.95 for 36 months.

Website design By BotEap.comFor the first 30 days there is a money back guarantee, which means you can request a full refund, after that you can cancel and get a prorated refund at any time.

Website design By BotEap.comYou can include a domain name in the free package and it will remain free for as long as you stay with Bluehost. If you choose this option, you should be aware that there is a $10 charge against any refund, to cover the cost of the domain name that you will continue to own.

Website design By BotEap.comThe package includes “unlimited” bandwidth, storage, domains and email addresses. It’s worth reading the Terms to understand what “unlimited” means.

Website design By BotEap.comThe package is complete and provides support for all the technologies most users will need, including multimedia and e-commerce features. One-click installations are provided for many popular software packages (including WordPress). A site builder is included just like cPanel to help manage everything.

Website design By BotEap.comThere are some optional extras you can pay for, including additional domain names, a dedicated IP address, SSL certificates, mail filtering, and domain privacy.

Website design By BotEap.comTechnical service

Website design By BotEap.comBluehost has a reputation for providing fast and reliable service and many people are very happy with it. However, it appears that recently (late 2010) there has been an increase in user feedback about downtime.

Website design By BotEap.comService support

Website design By BotEap.comSupport is provided 24/7 via phone, chat, and a help desk system. Bluehost reviews from its users are generally favorable, reporting that it is easy to contact support staff. Some said the support staff could have been more helpful, but no one company will satisfy everyone.

Website design By BotEap.comOther customer comments

Website design By BotEap.comI saw some negative comments about site renewals and deletions, but the company seemed to be working within their terms and conditions. It is a good idea to read them to understand what is acceptable and what is not.

Website design By BotEap.comconclusion

Website design By BotEap.comAside from no Windows hosting, the only drawback with Bluehost is the lack of an upgrade path if your site outgrows shared hosting. If that’s a risk, you’d be better off going elsewhere to start with.

Website design By BotEap.comA hosting provider that has been in business for so long is clearly doing something right and if you are in the market for shared Linux hosting, the bottom line of this Bluehost review is that Bluehost is a good choice.