Best UK based web hosts?

[realmaverick]

I'm looking for a good UK based web host for a small business.

Not necessarily dedicated, but certainly the option to have a dedicated IP address.

Any personal recommendations?

Thanks guys

 

[zigojacko]

Define "good"...?

Your 'good' may not be everyone else's 'good'. With the exception of the obvious like 99% uptime which I think every web host in the world claims anyway.

 

[ryedale]

As Zigo says, look beyond the standard claims and spend a lot of time reading reviews about the support and customer service provided.

 

[Nochexman]

We have worked with Havenswift Hosting and Squirrel Hosting for several years and been satisfied with both. They do seem to specialise in small businesses.

 

[realmaverick]

As Zigo says, look beyond the standard claims and spend a lot of time reading reviews about the support and customer service provided.

Yeah, I'm not at all interested in the companies claims and more interested in hearing personal experiences and recommendations.

I appreciate what's good for one isn't necessarily good for another, but IMO a good host is a good host.

No special requirements other than a dedicated IP. I'd like it to be managed with 24/7 support.

The website will be running Wordpress and receive about 100 visitors a day to start and rising, so the ability to upgrade when necessary.

I'll check HavenSwift and Squirrel, thanks

 

[BHDS]

I use TSOhost and so far have found them to be excellent. Their support is all UK-based and very responsive to queries both over Twitter and via phone. I can give you a 10% discount code if you read up on them and decide they meet your criteria. Just PM me.

 

[zigojacko]

but IMO a good host is a good host.

No. Not quite.

Just in the same way a good developer for one person might not be a good developer for another.

You've already stated you're hosting Wordpress. There are specialist companies that host Wordpress websites and one of them is pretty damn awesome. That's going to be far better for you than a bog standard web host like Fasthosts... #justsayin.

For what it's worth, you're best off avoiding most of the mainstream web hosts, most of what they offer is cheap and low quality and most experience countless issues eventually. It is probably only those companies where you'll get 24/7 support though.

 

[zigojacko]

I use TSOhost and so far have found them to be excellent. Their support is all UK-based and very responsive to queries both over Twitter and via phone. I can give you a 10% discount code if you read up on them and decide they meet your criteria. Just PM me.

We came across a load of restrictions with TSOhost a while back and ended up fixing loads of problems caused by their hosting. Based on this alone, I wouldn't recommend them.

Can't remember what the issue was now but sure was something to do with Magento sites, as such, we ended up hosting most of them after that. I believe there was reference to the issues on this very forum somewhere.

 

[KM-Tiger]

No special requirements ...

That's your mistake, IMHO. 'Good' can only be measured against requirements.

I could recommend a really good host, for instance, but if cPanel is on your list of requirements you are not going to get it, so it would be a waste of time to do so.

 

[nahosting]

With WordPress you can use Windows or Linux hosting as it runs well on both.

With shared hosting a dedicated IP address will be available if you need a SSL certificate, you may need to pay extra for this depending on your package level.

From our experience 24/7 support is a fallacy. Not only does it increase costs significantly for any host, often meaning they sacrifice quality elsewhere, it is also not widely used from late at night to early in the morning. 24/7 monitoring of systems and network is a different story and is essential.

Smaller hosts also offer a more personalised support experience and can generally help with programming issues and configuration.

Good luck.

 

[Charleswilmott]

I like digital ocean vps hosting, it's only $5 a month, and it's good!

 

[Ian J]

I had a number of problems with my Wordpress site which was being throttled back due to excessive use of resources in December and changed to a smaller host but that didn't improve matters and I didn't find them helpful as they wouldn't deal with my web company but would only deal with me and I'm not techie. After just a week I moved it again to my web company's own hosting but that still didn't improve matters and I even received a contact from Google saying that they couldn't spider my site effectively so yet again I moved it - this time to https://www.openmindhosting.co.uk/ as it was recommended by one of the forum members and this time I hit lucky. Phil from Open Mind (who is a forum member) was extremely helpful not only transferred the site for me but sorted out one or two of the issues with the site that were causing problems and the site now runs smoothly

If that's not enough Open Mind have been very helpful with subsequent issues, most of which have been of my own making and if that's still not enough they can hardly be called expensive so they get an unconditional recommendation from me

 

[jamesosix]

another +1 for tsohost. Great 24/7 support, dedicated IP's etc. I have used them for the last few years and always been impressed with them. For example, buy pro hosting @ £49.99 per annum, use code ' afasthost ' and get a free domain worth £8.99 and 10% discount, which takes it down to £44.99 and with 24/7 support, you never need to worry.

all the best.

 

[shazi]

i think godaddy and hostgator are nice and reliable choices !

 

[Ian J]

i think godaddy and hostgator are nice and reliable choices !

I love your sense of humour

 

[junipaire2009]

No. Not quite.

Just in the same way a good developer for one person might not be a good developer for another.

You've already stated you're hosting Wordpress. There are specialist companies that host Wordpress websites and one of them is pretty damn awesome. That's going to be far better for you than a bog standard web host like Fasthosts... #justsayin.

For what it's worth, you're best off avoiding most of the mainstream web hosts, most of what they offer is cheap and low quality and most experience countless issues eventually. It is probably only those companies where you'll get 24/7 support though.

Hi Zigojacko

Which is the Wordpress host that is pretty damn awesome if you don't mind me asking?

Cheers

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

Hi realmaverik,

As others have stated it does depend on your requirements, although I do also agree good is good. For example bar some personal preferences good support and good quality uncrowded servers will be good for everyone.

Things to consider which can vary:

Choose a UK host if you're targeting UK customers - your website will load faster for those users and this can also positively impact your search engine ranking.

For a Wordpress site Linux hosting is arguably the best choice - it's lower cost and you'll see no benefit from using Windows hosting.

Do you have a preferred control panel? cPanel is the industry standard and generally considered the best solution. This is only available on Linux hosting.
cPanel allows you to move to any host and gives you standard features and controls, whilst a proprietary control panel (typically offered by the very large hosts) doesn't and tend to be more limited.

As you're looking for hosting for a small business and you'd like a dedicated IP address then you may want to look at eCommerce hosting. Some providers include a free dedicated IP address with eCommerce hosting packages, and you'll get higher performance over standard web hosting.

Obviously we're biased but as others have mentioned if you're after a more personal level of service, and appreciate advice on plugins and more hands on help then a medium sized host can provide that level of service.

If you have any questions feel free to get in touch, we've been hosting UBKF members for years and we'd be happy to help.

Good luck

All the best,

Dan

 

[zigojacko]

Hi Zigojacko

Which is the Wordpress host that is pretty damn awesome if you don't mind me asking?

Cheers

If I remember correctly, I think they are http://wpengine.com/

I don't use them myself as we host ourselves hence why I'm not entirely sure but I have come across lots of people that say that they have a lot of WP perks and specialist set up/support.

 

[ricky776]

I have a server with heart Internet not the cheapest but wouldn't go else where now

I hosted with 1&1 for 6 years and they want bad really 24 hour customer service where you can call some one

Heart is all web based support

All hosts are great it's when some thing goes wrong when you see how good they are

 

[BenWS]

You should use rochenhost if you're using WP - it's pretty cheap and you can get a dedicated IP

You can choose to have your server based in London but they're a German company

 

[Ian J]

You should use rochenhost if you're using WP

Why?

 

[BenWS]

Why?

They have automatic WP install scripts and a big pro is that they also have a backup service on there for free. Most hosts charge £100^ to restore your server to a backup point. On rochen you have access to these and can do it in one click yourself.

 

[BenWS]

That's why

 

[ZeroDouble]

Uk Host Speed Comparison [shared hosting]

All sites have a basic WP install, and no optimisation what so ever. I gave all the sites several pings from pingdom, and logged the best score.

Obviously a bit anecdotal, but here's the results;

Vida host [cpanel] - 2.32s

Vida host [cloud] - 1.83s

dream-hosting.co.uk - 2.16s

Eukhost - 2.19s

webhosting buzz - 2.16s

Hi hosting - 1.79s

Tek hive - 2.34s

unlimitedwebhosting.co.uk - 1.95s

webhost.uk.net - 1.93s


I can't really comment on the support side of things too much as it would be unfair to the companies that I've had no reason to contact, but both vida host and web hosting buzz have been great in the past (although I don't like the fact that vidahost don't have live chat, where as webhosting buzz does).

Just my 2p.

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

@ZeroDouble nice to see us coming up top for speed, it's something we take quite seriously.

@BenWS any decent host will provide one click installation. With Softaculous you can even be emailed when a new version is out, or have it automatically upgraded for you. Some hosts like us also let you choose Wordpress when you order so you don't even need to use the one click installer.
As for charging £100 to restore from a back up - I don't know of a single decent web host that even charges for back up restoration. We perform daily backups, restore free of charge on request, and provide a control panel so you can restore from any point in the past 30 days. To be honest that's standard - or at least what you should expect from a decent host. You may be referring to dedicated server backups or just got the wrong impression from a bad host, but I certainly wouldn't say that most hosts charge for this.

 

[BenWS]

On my phone so excuse any typos..

Fasthosts is a prime example of one that charges. I wasn't stating that rochen is the be all and end all. Just putting them forward as a reliable host (out of the very many) I've used in the past.

Will have to test out your hosting at somepoint then dan!

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

No typos . Ahh that would explain it, fasthosts are terrible.

No problem, we're always happy to host another member

 

[toastking]

Hihosting (who posted above) I would recommend. As I must've been a pain in the backside as a customer but they really helped me out, which was great considering I wasn't paying a lot of money at all.

I was running a blog with a test environment to design a new theme, with about 4-5 domains. To be fair to them I didn't know what I was doing really, but they did a great job at a good price. As and when I start projects in future I can't imagine I'll look elsewhere.

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

Thanks toastking, always a pleasure.

 

[ZeroDouble]

@ZeroDouble nice to see us coming up top for speed, it's something we take quite seriously.

Glad to hear it, and credit where credit's due.

Don't worry though, I'll be sure to make a concerted effort to see what I can break in the coming weeks / months in order to test out your support as well.

 

[JamesBarnsley]

UKHost4U is the host I use and they have never let me down.