I’ve been staring at various blog hosting sites for months. I spent hours comparing and reviewing everything you could possibly think of as it pertains to blog hosting. I’ve been blogging since 2008 and always used the cheapest blog hosting I could find because well, that’s what my budget allowed. I didn’t think about the money you invest in your blog business is what helps boost your blog business.
The year 2020 brought a lot of changes to my life, and my business is part of these life changes. I started forcing myself to accept that you must spend money to make money. Now, I’m not saying you just spend money frivolously, you have to spend money wisely to grow your business. After evaluating all of my options and having used HostGator as well as NameCheap to Get a FREE domain when you buy Shared hosting! I decided that I’d invest some cash this year, and ultimately save money in the long term.
I made the switch to Siteground. This switch didn’t come lightly. There were a few bloggers who had horrible experiences with Siteground which left me a little undecided but after much debating and budgeting, I decided that they have the overall best option for my price point and needs.
- The speed is much better. I can maneuver around the sites, load my niche-sites, and make adjustments without waiting for a noticeable delay as I was experiencing with my previous host.
- My WooCommerce sites run much faster, albeit not as fast as one would get on VPS hosting, but it’s good enough for me!
- Super easy migration from one host to another for WordPress and WooCommerce sites. With just a few clicks you’ll have your blogs up and active on the new Siteground plan.
Migration Woes With Switching Blog Host Sites
I remember when I made the switch a year or two ago from Namecheap back to Hostgator, I had the most awful time migrating my blogs over to the new hosting. I had to have a friend come to help me with the process because I couldn’t figure out which database “number” went with which blog site. It was so hard, tedious, and frustrating!
Thankfully I had a friend who could get in there and make the adjustments to my mess with ease and the blogs were up. For those who want to have less headache and enjoy doing it yourself, Siteground makes it really easy. You use the SG Migration Tool plugin to migrate WordPress blogs over to Siteground.
Migrating from Another Host to Siteground with WordPress Sites is as easy as:
- Selecting your plan, as shown below.
- Getting it all paid for and going through the security checks. Yay for security checks!!
- Then using the SG Migration Tool to transfer your WordPress and/or WooCommerce site over to this new hosting.
- Changing your nameservers where you purchased your domain so that the domain points to Siteground.
- Waiting for the nameservers to make the switch, usually happens within 24 hours. GoDaddy had mine done in a few minutes.
- Enjoying faster, high-quality blog hosting with a company that passed my deep review analysis over the last year.
Signing up for Siteground is Super Easy
It’s as simple as selecting the plan that fits your needs. Below are the three best options for WordPress and WooCommerce bloggers.
I chose the Grow Big plan and saved over $30 a year paying for the 12-month plan at one time. Once you click the plan you like, you’ll choose a domain. Enter the domain you already own or purchase a new domain.
I already own my domains in GoDaddy, so I chose the “I already have a domain” option and inserted my details for BrandyEllen.com.
Next, you’ll proceed to make your payment. As I said, I saved a bit of money in the long-term paying for 12 months of Siteground in advance. I was willing to invest in a better hosting plan this year and prepay so we don’t have the monthly payment in our budget sheet.
You’ll select which option to pay monthly or annually for the plan. Confirm the terms and privacy details, and whether you want to receive Siteground news and special offers by email or not, and click pay now.
The Next Steps with my Blog Hosting Switch
You’ll need to use the SG Migration Tool plugin to easily migrate your WordPress websites to Siteground hosting. This is as simple as downloading a plugin, uploading it to your WordPress plugins “add new” area, installing and activating the plugin. Then you’ll take the “token” that Siteground gives you, paste it into the box for the plugin, and bam! You’ll get an email when the migration is complete.
I did this for all four of the current websites I own without any issues!
Add SSL Certificate
The next step will be to add an SSL certificate. These are free with your hosting plan. Siteground makes this process easy, too!
Log into your Siteground account and see the list of your websites in the dashboard.
- Click the “manage” button on the domain you need to add the SSL to.
- You’ll scroll down to see SSL as an option. Click add under the SSL option.
- On the next page, you’ll see three columns of options, select the SSL certificate you want, and click activate.
Now that you did that, you’ll go into your domain’s WordPress dashboard and into the SG Optimizer Plugin. Click on the “environment optimization” tab. and turn on “enable HTTPS”.
It’s. That. Simple.
What I Loved About Signing Up for Siteground
Something else I noticed about switching blog host sites is that Siteground has a few security features that no other hosting plan has had me deal with in the past. I had to confirm a small deposit that Siteground made to the account I used for payment. This helped them confirm that I was indeed the account owner, and was a very simple step to complete for my added confidence in the security of this blog hosting site.
I also had to get a security code sent to my phone number on file so they could confirm that my phone number is valid.
Knowing that Siteground went up and beyond to confirm these security details from the onset, makes me feel even more confident about my switch to this blog host company.
In conclusion, it’s easy to make the switch to a new blog hosting site when you take the time to review your options. If you’re ready to take the plunge and invest in a good blog hosting site this year, then please click here to select your Siteground plan today!