The Best Blog Hosting Sites for Making Money – Want to make money blogging? You’re going to need blog hosting! Get all of the best answers to your biggest questions!
When I started my blog, I didn’t know that there were other sites out there. I just went with what every other blogger suggested. As it turns out, there are plenty of hosting sites out there. And I want to help you pick the best blog hosting sites for making money.
If you’re not hoping to make money from your blog, you will still want to keep reading. Even if you’re blogging for fun, you’ll still want a great site!
Before we get started,let’s talk a little bit about what “hosting” means.
Blog hosting is one of the things you need in order to have a blog… Especially a blog that you want to make money.
So… what exactly is blog hosting?
Blog hosting is a basically how your blog with exist on the internet. You will need not just a site for your blog to be written and maintained (like WordPress, Blogger, Squarespace, etc.), but also a place for the URL itself to live. (That’s the non techie description of it at least 😉 )
For your blog hosting site, you will need:
- A domain name/ URL : (YourBlogName . com)
- WhoIs protection/ ICANN/ WHOIS protections(because you don’t want the whole internet knowing your home address and phone number!)
- And finally, blog hosting: where you will actually run your site. They have servers that will be the home for everything about your site: your posts, photos, etc.
I’m not a techy person. At all. Actually, I’m probably the least technicalperson you’d expect to be making money off of the internet! So I’m going to explain all of this to you in the best way that I can.
Can’t I just start a blog for FREE? Why do I need to pay for blog hosting?
I mean, youcould get free blog hosting from Blogger or WordPress.com...but not if you ever want to make money from it. The free blog platforms like Blogger and WordPress.com or any other free place to start a blog will limit your ability to grow as a blog.
When you blog on a free platform like Blogger, that means that the free site really owns all of your content. You don’t have the same kind of control of your blog that you would from a self-hosted site.
The free platform sets the rules and, basically, they have the full control of all of the blogs that are used on their site. In simple terms, because they have control over your site, they limit the money that you can make from your blog.
If you want to make money from your blog, start a profitable blog the right way and don’t bother with these free platforms. Starting a self-hosted blog is a lot easier than you might think!
Is this going to be expensive to get the best blog hosting?!
This is my favorite answer: NO!!! It doesn’t have to be super expensive to get the best blog hosting as a new blogger!
You can get everything that you need to set up a money making blog for around $4/month. I’m a cheapskate at heart, so there’s just no way that I’d ever tell you to spend a ton of money right off the bat. So from here on out, my assumption is that you want to spend as little as possible starting off!
That’s one of my favorite things about blogging anyway. You can make a full-time income from your blog without needing to spend more than $4/ month. How cool is that!?
The best place to get your domain name for you blog hosting site.
BlueHost
You can get a free domain name (about a $15 value) when you get your hosting from Bluehost. So free is a pretty great price (this is a big part of why I usually think Bluehost is the best blog hosting site for new bloggers)!
I also love Bluehost for this because it’s a one-stop-shop. No need to learn any of the technical words or do anything complicated that you might mess up. One site that does it all is the way that I need my technology!
Especially for new bloggers, Bluehost is one of those blog host sites that you can’t beat. The price is great, I’ve really liked their customer service and support, and — especially if you don’t have a lot of traffic yet — you’ll have very limited issues with their lowest price plan.
(Note: If you get into Facebook groups for more than 0.002 seconds, you’ll see a lot of people have very strong opinions about blog hosting. These arguements are irrelevant when you’re first starting out, as you don’t have a lot of traffic yet to the site so worrying about what to do when you hit 100k pageviews per month on this blog host isn’t the issue. Trust me on this one… you don’t want or need the ultra-expensive blog hosting sites when you’re first starting out. You need the bare minimum to just get started and get the feel for it. That’s exactly why I always recommend Bluehost as a new blogger’s hosting site.)
NameCheap
I bought my domain name from Bluehost, but I then went over to NameCheap and bought all of the varieties of my domain name (.net, .org, .co, etc.) for between $.88 and $8 for each of them. Plus, they come with free WhoIs and ICANN and WHOIS protection for all of the domains that you register with them (about a $10 value for each domain).
I bought a domain from them for 1 year for about $12. But you can also do this from Bluehost and not have to worry about connecting your blog hosting site with the domain from a different site. It just adds a bit of a headache to have to do that.
Best Blog Hosting Sites for Making Money as a New Blogger
When it comes to blog hosting, there are a lot of options out there. Even a lot more than I will list here! These are the sites that I’ve either used personally or have spoken with someone directly about their experiences with them. So here are the best blog hosting sites based on what I have personally used as well as what my other blogging peers have said.
So there are tiers in the blog site hosting game. Some of the hosting sites are far superior to the others, but when you’re just starting out you don’t need the crème-de-la-crème. You need something that will help you figure out what you’re doing without needing to pay a lot of money.
So I’m going to break this down into 3 tiers: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
Beginner blogger
As a beginner blogger, you don’t need to worry about the site speed dipping as you get to the higher traffic volume just yet. You just need something that WORKS. The beginner blog host sites here are exactly that. No bells and whistles, no unnecessary additional costs per month… JUST the blog hosting.
Note that in a lot of these sites when you go to check things out and price them out, the blog host will say something like “up to [some number] of pageviews per month.” I promise, this shouldn’t be a hinderance to you when picking you blogs hosting sites.
That’s because this is a process that will take time to hit that number. Exceeding even 10,000 pageviews per month as a new blogger for your very first blog host site is very unlikely for a while. So don’t skip the lowest tier plans in these hosting sites because you’re anticipating that you’ll exceed the pageviews. You can always upgrade if you just hit it out of the park! Almost every blog host site will help you go up a tier if you see your site’s traffic outpacing your plan!
Beginner Blog Hosting: BlueHost
Bluehost is the site that I used to start my blog. They make everything easy to start so that you aren’t overwhelmed right off the bat.
Their prices for hosting range from $1.95 – $13.95/month for their plans (which is all you need to get started). It’s so easy to move up in their plans if you need to, but starting out with basic is the best way to start. If you’d like to know some more detail about Bluehost, I did a VERY honest review of Bluehost and everything that you need to know about them.
- Basic plan:$1.95 – $3.95/month for their basic plan (which is all you need to get started). For this price, you get 1website, 50GB of storage and unlimited bandwidth. You also get 5 free email accounts that you can use with your domain name and then have forwarded to Gmail if you want to.
- Plus plan: This is their intermediate plan. At $5.95/month, you get 10 websites, 150GB storage, and unlimited bandwidth. You’ll also get up to 100 free email accounts.
- Business Pro plan: Bluehost’s largest plan comes in at a whopping $13.95/month, giving you unlimited websites, bandwidth, storage, and email accounts. If you’re at a point where you need this kind of service, I’d go with another host (see more below).
Youdo need to pay for the year upfront, which is a bummer. But it’s an expense that you can easily save up for and then make very quickly from your blogging income.
Starting out with Bluehost is the easiest hosting setup out there.
Starting out with Bluehost is the easiest hosting setup out there.When you first sign up for Bluehost, you choose your domain name and you’re all set. Then you enter your billing info andTADA! You’re all set to get started. All you need to do is click on the “one-click WordPress install” button and you’re ready to start blogging.
The problems that I started having with Bluehost didn’t come until I had more than 75,000 pageviews in a month. Apparently, you should upgrade from their basic plan after you pass 25,000 monthly pageviews. Whoops… I did not know that!
For the most part, when you’re starting out, it’s a great starting point. The support staff is readily available, it’s easy to start using, there’s very little setup that you need to do, and it’s easy to upgrade from either Bluehost or into an intermediate of anadvanced hosting site.
Learn more about Bluehost and get a special low price through my link here.
Beginner Blog Host Site: GoDaddy
GoDaddy is another one-stop-shop for domains and hosting. They will take care of everything for your site from start to finish.
Their base hosting package starts at $1/ month through my special discounted link. Their next step up package starts at $5.99/month using my discount link as well. They charge a $7.99 fee for the whole year for the WhoIs protection.
I’ve only used GoDaddy for non-Wordpress websites, and it was a little crazy on the backend. But WordPress is definitely much easier to use than their GoDaddy website builder!
The price is good but…
They have very good technical support during the day, but if you have an issue after hours, you’re likely to get a poor experience. But for $20 in a year, you get what you pay for.
It’s a good place to start your site, but you’ll likely outgrow it quickly (since they’ve been known to restrict data for high performing sites). And while it’s a good thing that your site is growing, they make it difficult to switch hosts when you need to leave.
Bottom line, if you only want to pay $20 to start a blog, Godaddy is the way to go. Check out their amazing deals using my discount link.
Beginner & Intermediate Blog Host: SiteGround
As far as the best blog hosting for new bloggers, Siteground is regularly considered the best in customer support for any hosting site. They have 3 tiers of plans that are all highly rated:
- The StartUp plan: At $3.95/month, this plan is the “beginner” plan. This is the recommended plan if you have less than 10,000 monthly pageviews (which is TOTALLY normal for quite a while when you start out).
- The GrowBig plan: This plan is $7.95/month and is the “intermediate” plan. You can have multiple sites with this plan (totally unnecessary when you’re first starting out, but it’s good to know later on) and comes with 20GB web space. This is the recommended plan for 25,000 monthly pageviews or less.
- Their GoGeek plan: At $14.95/month, this is their most advanced plan. It allows you to have multiple websites and comes with 30GB web space. They recommend it for no more than 100,000 monthly pageviews. This is another plan that I’d just as soon move to another host.
I’ve gotta be honest with you: I was told by my tech guy to move to Siteground a long time ago, but I was so scared.
The thought of moving everything sounded too technical and difficult. So I stayed with Bluehost which was giving me a LOT of trouble as I was bringing in more than 80,000 monthly pageviews at the time.
Come to find out that Siteground will move your site for you for free. No sweat about it. I was kicking myself for a long time over this!
I have yet to hear anyone ever complain about their hosting with Siteground. They constantly rank in the top 5 or higher in customer service and page load speeds.
It’s the most expensive of the 3 beginners, but if you’re less concerned about saving a few bucks and more concerned about a blog host that will last you through your first year, Siteground is the way to start and grow.
You can learn more about Siteground and get a special discount price with my link here.
Intermediate & Advanced: BigScoots
If you’re looking to make blogging into a full-time job, Big Scoots is where you want to get your hosting after you’ve been making some profit off of your blog. You can even get a plan for $2.55/month but you need to pay for it upfront, the same way that you do with Bluehost.
I haven’t used Big Scoots for their smaller, beginner packages. But Ilove them. I’ve not once had any down time with them in the 6 months since I started using them. They did my site migration in less than an hour after I signed up with them, and they did it for free. Their
They did my site migration in less than an hour after I signed up with them, and they did it for free. Their customer service team is so patient with me and my complete and utter lack of any technical knowledge. They are incredibly responsive to any and all types of issues or questions that you might have.You just can’t beat their quality.
Their plans are:
- 50CC (beginner): Starting at $2.55/month, this is the most basic plan from BigScoots. It comes with 1 domain, free daily backups, unlimited email accounts, and 10GB bandwidth.
- 100CC (intermediate): For $5.95/month for 24 months or their monthly option of $7.95 (yay! Finally a monthly payment!), you can get 5 domains, a free domain, unlimited email accounts, free daily backups, 10GB storage, and 100GB bandwidth.
- 150CC (their “best value”): Starting at $8.95/month for 24 months or $10.95 for the month-by-month payment, this is a great deal for a more advanced blog with a larger following and much more need for quicker speeds and less downtime. It comes with 20GB storage, unlimited email accounts, free daily backups, free domain, and 200GB bandwidth.
They even have super advanced plans for gigantic websites and blogs, but I won’t bother to bore you with the crazy $500/month plans (yes, really).
You can learn more about BigScoots and get a special discount price with my link here.
Out of these best blog hosting sites for making money, which is the best hosting site for new bloggers?
I’m the least technical person out there, so I’m going to tell you my opinion from someone who had no idea what any of the technical aspects of blogging meant.
I truly think that the best site is either BigScoots or Bluehost.
These have been the 2 sites that I’ve used for my own blog and each one of these hosts has served me very well for what I needed at the time.
Bluehost was my starter blog host site.
It really made starting my blog easy. I wasn’t so scared to do anything for my blog when I got started. As someone who really stinks with computers, if it had been too difficult to start, I would’ve thrown in the towel before I even got started.
Thankfully, Bluehost was very beginner friendly and I felt like it was geared directly to me: a blogging newbie hoping to make it big with very little computer knowledge or training.
Another cool thing about Bluehost and why I think that it’s one of the best blog hosting sites for making money is that if you try them and hate them, they’ll give you your money back. Even if it’s 6 months later, you can still get a prorated amount of money back.
BigScoots is my step-up and current blog hosting.
Without knowing it, I exceeded Bluehost’s hosting capabilities for the plan I was using. I didn’t know at the time that it was possible to outgrow a blog host at the time, but it makes sense. I don’t personally know anything about BigScoot’s smaller programs, but if they’re anything at all like their larger plans, I know that they’ll be awesome!
Again, I don’t know how easy or difficult it was to begin with BigScoots, but I know that their customer service is second-to-none. And migrating (the fancy word for moving your whole site as-is to another host) to BigScoots is free and easy (like, you tell them to do it, and they do it for you).
What it really comes down to when you are talking about buying the best blog hosting sites is what you’re willing to spend.
You could go with GoDaddy for less than $20 for the whole year. Or you could go for the less pricey up-front option of the true monthly payment of $7.95 (making the whole year $95.79) with BigScoots. If you’re looking for cheap and easy, Bluehost is the way to start.
FAQs about blog hosting and blog hosting sites
What makes a good blog hosting site?
There are many different blog hosting sites on the internet. So, how do you know which one is best for you? Here are some things to consider when choosing a blog hosting site:
1. The amount of storage space and bandwidth that is included in the plan.
2. The type of templates that are available.
3. How user-friendly the site is.
4. Whether or not you can use your own domain name.
5. The support that is available if you have problems setting up your blog or need help with blogging basics.
I don’t get the need for hosting sites for blogs… what gives?
I know it seems weird. Like, you should just be able to jump online and start your blog, right?!
So a hosting site for a blog does a lot of things for you. Think about it like Instagram or TikTok or even Youtube. You create the content, you add it to the site, and BAM it goes off into the world wide web.
Those platforms are hosted (granted… by massive servers that take up rooms the size of football fields), just like your blog will be.
There’s a lot of coding and tech intricacies that go on behind the scenes of blogs and websites. And a host handles all of that boring stuff so that you can focus on your zone of genius which is making your awesome content.
What is the best blogging platform for making money?
The real answer to this is that the best blogging platform for making money is any of them… EXCEPT the free ones. At the end of the day, almost every one of the blogging platforms out there — even the ones that I didn’t mention here — do the same job.
The job of blog site hosting is to give your blog a space to exist on the internet. The hosting site for the blog keeps it up and running. Whatever host for blog that you choose to go with is going to be just fine as long as it makes your site live! 🙂
Can I just use a free WordPress site or Blogger hosting for my site?
The answer to this is… not if you want to make money from your blog. This answer can get a little deep, but as far as why you can’t monetize there are a few reasons that you should look into paid for blog hosting:
- Advertisers — as in on-page ads — will not work with sites that are on free platforms
- Affiliates — which you can read more about here — usually won’t accept you into their programs if you don’t have a self-hosted blogging site.
- Your URL will include “yourURL. wordpress.com” or “yourURL. blogger.com” which can hamper the ability to legitimize your business and blog
Free blog hosting is bad because it can limit your blog’s potential. Most free blog hosts don’t offer the same features as paid hosts, which can limit your ability to make money from your blog or attract readers. Additionally, free blog hosts often place advertisem*nts on your blog… but you get little or NONE of that profit. Finally, free blog hosting is usually less reliable and secure than paid hosting services, leaving your blog susceptible to attacks, hacking, or malware.
Does this mean it’s a self hosted blog site?
Yes, when you pay for your hosting, you will have what’s called a “self hosted blog.”
All that means is that you take total control over it and you aren’t beholden to Blogger or WordPress.com for your site speed, security, and authority.
What can I expect to pay for blog hosting?
This question makes my frugal heart all pitter-patter! 😉 Hosting for bloggers doesn’t have to be expensive! Let’s break down the actual costs for each of the blogging hosting sites I’ve outlined.
Most blog hosting is sold as “per month” but you must pay upfront for the whole year in many cases.
- Bluehost CAN be as low as $35.40 for the whole year
- Siteground can be as low as $53.87 for the whole year (they make you pay an additional fee for the domain registration of $17.99, so this might be a good time to check out namecheap as well to save a few bucks).
- GoDaddy (with my special discount) can be $35.88 for the whole year, but without the discount, it’s $107.88 (which I think is insane for a beginner blog host site, but I digress)
- BigScoots can be $18.90 today (extra $10.99 for the domain registration), and $7.95 monthly going forward.
Related posts:
- November’s blog income report: $3,292
- How to start a profitable blog
- Rock affiliate marketing when you stink at sales
- Best tips for a new blogger from a 7-figure blogger
- Everything I learned in my first year blogging
- How to get your husband’s support to start your blog
- How an email changed my world
- Blog Resource Guide
- Blogging pro eCourse
Who is your blogs host? Do you like them?
I’d love to add your experiences to this post for future readers! Just comment below with your host and your experience with them and I’ll be sure to add it to this post and link it back to you! 🙂
The Best Blog Hosting Sites for Making Money – Want to make money blogging? You’re going to need blog hosting! Get all of the best answers to your biggest questions!
