Tales From Home has now been running for more than a year. The journey blogging has taken me on is one that I never anticipated. I see a lot of people questioning the wisdom of starting a blog and I am here to say that its a journey I will never regret taking. Part of starting a blog is deciding on your blog host and after a year of dealing with SiteGround, I finally feel qualified to make this SiteGround hosting review.

SiteGround Hosting Review

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase after following one of my links then I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. 

When I started down blogging I followed a quick 5-day start-up course. As part of that course, SiteGround was recommended as a good web host. I didn’t know what I was doing at the time but the points they made seemed to make sense so I signed up. Since my hosting just recently came up for renewal I could have switched hosts. I choose to stick with SiteGround because in over a year of hosting with them they have yet to let me down. I choose to make this post now because I see many bloggers asking for recommendations and after a year of test driving this company I feel I can do so in good conscience.

SiteGround Hosting Review

Why Is Self Hosting Important?

To be self-hosted or to blog on one of the many free platforms available is one of the first decisions new bloggers have to make. There are many reasons to use both options and there is no rule saying you can’t start for free and switch later on. Many bloggers follow this path and do quite well but I have heard some horror stories about transfers gone bad. Switching from free to self-hosted seems like it can be a bit of a nightmare. With that in mind, I started with Self-hosted right out of the box.

Free hosting is perfectly fine if you want to blog for a hobby, use it as a thought dump or just write because you love writing. I follow and love many free hosted blogs. In fact, some of my favorite blogs are free hosted. If you want to monetize your blog and work with brands then you will want to be self-hosted.

Reasons why Self-Hosting is preferred

• All the material on your blog is fully owned and controlled by YOU.
• The creator has full control over the content of their blog. You do not have to follow a free site’s terms of service. You can place ads if you want and get more customization options when it comes to looks.
• Your work cannot be deleted on the whim of your free host. It is true that technical errors can still occur but that’s what backups are for!
• Brands and companies consider a self-hosted blog to be more professional and serious about growth.
• A Simpler URL makes your blog easier to find. People are more likely to remember the name of your site if your URL is www.yourblogname.com instead of www.freehostingname.yourblogname.com

SiteGround Hosting Review

Why pick SiteGround as a Webhost?

Guaranteed Uptime

Because your blog is going to be your business you want to make sure you pick a host that will keep your site running. SiteGround guarantees a 99.99% uptime. In the year that my blog has been running, I have never had a report of it being down. Downtime means people can’t reach your content, this can cost you followers and affiliate sales. Companies don’t want to deal with blogs that are not stable!

A Good Variety of Plans

SiteGround offers three hosting plans. This means that you can cater your investment to meet your current needs. It is also very easy to upgrade your hosting plan at any time should your traffic and visitors begin to grow.

I started with the StartUp plan but will be upgrading to the GrowBig plan in order to support a secondary website. All of these plans offer great value for your money if you are looking for a fast-loading stable website.

Easy WordPress Installation and Start-up

When I first started blogging I was completely clueless. I knew some basic HTML from posting in forums in my youth, but, designing and running my own website? That was far above my skill level! Thankfully when you buy hosting from SiteGround the option to install WordPress is given right away. SiteGround makes it easy to get up and running quickly!

Everything is pretty straightforward when it comes to WordPress, there are many theme options – both paid and freely available to choose from. If you have any trouble at all SiteGround online chat and customer service always seem available and quick to reply. I had very few problems when it came to setting up my blog, but when I did have questions I rarely had to wait more than a few minutes.

If you are migrating to SiteGround from another host or a free-host SiteGround offers this migration as a free service with the GrowBig and GoGeek Plans.

Website Security & Data Back-ups

As with all things internet related security is very important. Siteground takes the security of their clients very seriously. They were one of the first sites to develop account isolation on shared servers.

Also important considering the recent GDPR policies are the free SSL certificates. These are easy to install and renew automatically. More security with less hassle is right up my alley.

Siteground is also pretty serious about protecting your data from technical errors. They offer 30 automatic daily backups and one-click restores are something happens. One click restores are free for GrowBig and GoGeek accounts and only $19.95 for StartUp. That is a small price to pay to restore all of your hard work.

Great Customer Service Record

Siteground has a very high customer service rating. They offer 24 hours, 7 days a week phone, online chat, and ticketing support. They pride themselves on helping their customers quickly without the lengthy wait times that we all hate when calling tech support!

Aside from full technical support they also offer a large list of webinars, tutorials and easy to use set-up wizards for the more fix it yourself types.

SiteGround Hosting Review – Conclusion

I don’t think this blog would have been as successful if I had started anywhere else. Siteground made things easy for me to understand despite that fact that I was lacking any sort of technical knowledge. I have seen many new bloggers struggle with both set-up and hosting problems. I don’t know if I would have continued if I had encountered such frustrating issues right off the bat – and then I would have missed out on so much!

This is a creative journey that has taught me so much in such a short period of time. Blogging has become more than a hobby, more than an experiment in writing. Blogging, along with Keto and Running has given me a self-confidence I have never had before. In order to run Tales From Home effectively I had to set aside my self-doubt and put myself out there in a way I never have before and it’s made me a better person.