Best e-Commerce Web Hosting
It’s pretty easy to evaluate Alpha Hosting and figure out if it’s the right hosting plan for you. Alpha Hosting is like the Ferrari of hosting services for WordPress managed e-commerce stores (WooCommerce, Magento, etc.).
Their hosting plans come with high-performance features that are very important for e-commerce stores (and some other sites with a lot of content or advanced processing) where speed and “discoverability” is crucial.
If this doesn’t sound like your site, then Alpha Hosting is probably more than you need in a hosting service. But if you want to discover what they have to offer, then keep reading.
How Much Does Alpha Hosting Cost?
Alpha Hosting is more expensive than most of the other hosting services when comparing their most affordable plan to others. However, when you compare “apples to apples” and evaluate all the features that come even with their basic plan, their service is actually around the same price because you would have to pay more to the other providers to get the same level of features.
The “Mercury” plan (which is Alpha Hosting’s cheapest plan) costs $25/month. You get 2 months free if you sign up for the year and right now they have a deal for 25% off the first 6 months.
This plan comes with 5 domains to host and a free domain, SSL certificate and email through Zoho.
How Fast Is Alpha Hosting?
Speed is where Alpha Hosting shines above all other hosting companies. This is why they are the Ferrari of hosting companies when it comes to speed, especially for e-commerce sites managed by WordPress (WooCommerce, Magento, etc.).
Aside from having blazing fast servers, Alpha Hosting also has caching features like Redis and Varnish (discussed below in the features section) that are like turbo chargers for your site.
If speed is the what is most important to you (especially for WordPress sites), then Alpha Hosting is the fastest you’re going to find.
How Good Is Alpha Hosting Customer Support?
As you would expect with a higher-priced hosting service, Alpha Hosting comes with 24-hour phone support. For some, having phone support is extremely important while others will never call their hosting company.
Phone support is a fantastic sign that a company is investing in their customer service, but for the cost of Alpha Hosting, we expect it as a given.
You can also get 24-hour support via chat or email and their response times are under 5 minutes.
What Features Does Alpha Hosting Have?
Alpha Hosting is second to none when it comes to features as you would expect from a premium hosting service.
All plans come with a dedicated IP so there is no chance that your site will be lumped in with bad-acting sites in the eyes of Google and other search engines.
All plans also come with automated back-ups so you can restore your site at any time. Alpha Hosting also guarantees 100% uptime (whereas most others say 99.9%)
All plans come with Elasticsearch which is particularly important for e-Commerce sites with many products. What is Elasticsearch? It’s an open-source search engine that improves WordPress search function (which is way below par). Elasticsearch is used by some of the largest e-Commerce stores on the internet.
Redis also comes with all plans and it’s one of the features that makes your site lightning fast. “Redis” is a complex caching system that stands for Remote Dictionary Server. It makes your site’s content more available to visitors so the site loads much faster for them in their browsers.
Varish is another premium site speed feature that can make your site even faster, but it is a paid add-on.
What are Alpha Hosting’s Sign-up Bonuses?
The sign-up bonus on Alpha Hosting isn’t the “steal of the century” but Alpha Hosting isn’t for bargain hunters anyway. Right now they have a bonus of 25% off the first 6 months. Also, if you sign up for the year, you get 2 months free.
All plans comes with a free domain, free SSL and free Zoho mail for 5 users
Who is Alpha Hosting Right For?
Alpha Hosting has built its platform and service around e-Commerce sites and other site owners that need an incredibly fast hosting provider. If you want a blazing fast website and you’re willing to spend an extra $10-$15 per month, then Alpha Hosting could be a great plan for you.
But if you just have a simple blog or content site, then Alpha Hosting includes more features and “muscle” than you need. You might be better off hunting for a more basic plan with great value.
Furthermore, if you have an e-commerce site that only has a handful of products, then Alpha Hosting is more than you need.
However, If you have a blog or content site with A LOT of content, then Alpha Hosting would be a good fit to help your visitors easily find your content on-site and speed up your site’s performance to improve SEO rankings.
Alpha Hosting Pros
- EXTREMELY FAST!
- Great For e-Commerce on WordPress
- Fantastic Customer Support
- Monthly Plans
Alpha Hosting Cons
- More Expensive