The web hosting industry is a highly competitive industry with a lot of options available. iPage is a provider that has been increasing in popularity for some time. Some members find it to be the best in the business, and fantastic for the needs of many site owners. People who need or want to have access to advanced features and options, including a generous shared hosting plan, can find what they’re looking for at iPage. There are a few negatives to the site, but the many positives here put it high in the rankings for the best overall web hosting site.
Numerous services are offered by iPage, including shared hosting plans. The plans are only available for one year, two years, and three-year packages, with no month-to-month options available. If you need hosting for a shorter period of time, packages here might be too long for your needs.
There is one shared hosting plan offered at iPage, at an excellent price point. Combined with the advanced features the hosting package offers, there is a lot for people just starting out and people who are veterans of online business and blogging.
Virtual Private Server hosting plans are also available, also called VPS hosting. These sites are designed for people who think they will be getting higher traffic volumes overall. In some cases, compliance requirements will prevent a website from using a shared server. VPS plans are fantastic to consider in the situation, as you do not need to pay for a higher price point that dedicated hosting packages have if you do not need all of the other benefits they bring.
The Virtual Private Servers perform well, with three Linux-based server plans offered. These are called the Basic, Business, and Optimum plans. The first tier, the Basic plans, give 1GB of RAM, 40GB of storage, and 1TB of monthly data transfers. The Business plan offers more of each of these, and the Optimum plan, which is the top-tier plan, offers 8GB of RAM, 120GB of storage, and 4TB of monthly data transfers.
Dedicated Hosting Plans are also available at iPage. These plans are similar to what many other companies offer. The Setup server comes with 4GB of RAM, 500GB of storage, and 5 TB of monthly data transfers. It also includes three IP addresses and a free domain name. Other plans are also available, plans which offer more. The Professional plan has 8GB of RAM, 1,000GB of disk space, and 10TB of monthly data transfers. It also includes four IP addresses. The top-tier plan, the Enterprise server, has the same storage space as the Professional server but has an increase in RAM at 16GB, as well as 15TB of monthly data transfers and five IP addresses.
Hosting plans designed specifically to work with WordPress are also available. Both plans offer a domain name, unlimited storage, unlimited email, and unlimited monthly data transfers. The top-tier plan, also offers enhanced security and expert customer service. There are other websites that specialize specifically in hosting for WordPress, which can offer more advanced features. Take a look at my reviews here at TheHostingGuy for more information on these.
Plus, check out the Reseller Hosting Plans if you want to get involved in web hosting without having to deal with infrastructure or customer service.
There is a single shared hosting plan that is offered by iPage, which costs $2.99 per month for the one-year plan. This is a low price point, and this price point is one of the reasons that people love the provider so much. These hosting plans see a drop in price for longer terms. One of the amazing things about iPage and one of the reasons I like it so much is that it features unlimited disk space, unlimited monthly data transfers, unlimited email addresses, and more. This means it can grow with your business, which is fantastic.
Virtual Private Servers start at $24.99 per month for the Basic plan. The Business plan is $59.49 per month, coming with more features. This plan offers 4GB of RAM, 90GB of storage, and 3TB of monthly data transfers. The Optimum plan has a higher price point than this, offering more RAM, storage, and monthly data transfer space. This plan starts at $99.99 per month.
The base level of dedicated server, the Startup server, starts at $149 per month. The Professional plan starts at $194 per month, and the Enterprise server goes for $239 per month. These plans have your website on its own server, so it does not need to share capabilities with other websites.
Special WordPress hosting plans are available, with some plans starting at $7.49 per month that is called the Starter plan. The Essential plan offers more features and starts at $10.49 per month.
Reseller hosting plans are also available at iPage, allowing people to get into the web hosting business while not having to deal with infrastructure. Reseller Hosting Plans start at $49.95 per month, and they let you apply your own branding to the servers you rent, as well as to the email. All customer service, in this case, is handled by iPage, with tech support.
One of the most important elements of having a website is its uptime. You need to be able to be found by clients and customers, blog readers, and potential connections. If your site is not up, they might not be able to find you when needed. iPage provides a dependable service with fantastic uptime. During my 14 day test period, the site did not go down once. While most every site is going to have a small amount of downtime each month, two weeks straight with no downtime is exceptional.
Building a website on iPage is easy to do with the tools provided. The basic drag-and-drop site builder on the site is Weebly, which is well known as a top website builder. The basic service is included with your package, though upgrading to the premium version is easy to do. This service is fantastic for building good-looking webpages quickly, though some more advanced website builders want to use other options, which they can here.
WordPress is also an option on the site, with simple installation already in place. iPage uses the Mojo Marketplace, which many fans love. Importing a WordPress site is even easier to do, with a special import button that iPage offers.
There is also an e-commerce feature built into the site. It is easy to get started, simply by clicking the ShopSite Starter icon. Bundled with the essential plan is the ASIC version. This has a 15 product limit, and also a five-page limit. There is no third-party application integration, though you can upgrade to the Manager version or the Pro version quickly and easily for more features.
The security features on the site do provide protection in the form of malware monitoring. It also supports DomainKeys Identified Mail and Sender Policy Framework authentication technology. These both provide added security. Additionally, for $31.99 per year, iPage offers Secure Socket Layer certificates. This provides encryption for data transfers between a computer user and the website. For people wanting to sell products on their site, an SSL certificate is essential.
Customer service is offered over the phone 24/7. There is also an online webchat. I tested both of these, asking questions, and getting assistance. The customer service representatives gave straightforward answers and were very knowledgeable. The online chat experience was also simple, providing links to knowledge base articles to help with the questions I needed assistance with.
One thing I was extremely impressed with was the refund policy for the site. iPage promises to give you the remainder of your unused fees back when you cancel. This is phenomenal, and one of the best “refund periods†out there.
For people who are looking for cloud-based hosting options, they will need to look at another hosting provider. Fortunately, iPage as a website that can grow with you as your site grows outside of this though. There are no Windows-based hosting options, so people looking for that service will need to look elsewhere as well. iPage only offers one year, two year, or three-year plans. There are no month-to-month plans offered. That said, the company promises to refund you the remainder of your unused fees whenever you cancel, which is a fantastic policy that steps up the game.
I have used the services at iPage before for my personal sites. Even though it lacks Windows-based hosting and cloud-based hosting, the packages are very generous, and there is great value to what the company provides. With advanced options for people who need more powerful web hosting, iPage is a fantastic all-around platform that is backed up by a knowledgeable customer service team. Check out iPage; the site is likely to be a good fit for you. It is recommended, so take a moment and take a look today.