Ecommerce store hosting suggestion?

[johncampbell]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this forum, I am looking to start my ecommerce business please guide me what to look for before buying domain and hosting from any seller and the bandwidth criteria.
I quite interested to go with managed services because mostly managed provider offers 1 click apps installation with including major features. I also try to find myself in different blogs, review sites and hosting forums & found these providers like Siteground Inmotion, Cloudways & A2hosting who offer similar features but need more suggestion about it.

Is any one can help me to select the right one, would be great if dropshippers share their experience here?

Thanks,

[New Perspective studio]

I am not a drop shipper but have designed a few different types of eCommerce stores.
In my search for better hosting solutions I have come to find general rule of thumb, never go for smaller companies, bigger ones are almost always better with the exception of a few, smaller hosts 99% of the time are just trouble for you and your developer and are probably reselling to you from a bigger host.

You dont want to be on a shared on re-seller package as a eCommerce store. So Vps or a dedicated server is the way to go.
Obviously a ssl is a must and if you are going to be shipping around the world I would get cloud flare.

As for bandwidth that would depend largely on you traffic and that would depend on your market and marketing efforts ie social media and seo, as well as the range of products you are going to have on the site. '

Generally hosts allow you to upgrade these if you hit a limit however "CDNS" like cloud flare save you up 30% bandwidth and prevent leeching.

Big Companies I would not advise based on my personal experience afrihost, host 4 africa ,1grid (formerly web4africa), hetzner,.

Guys I have heard good things about Domians.co.za, Dreamhost, bluehost and in motion hosting.

I hope this at-least narrows your choices.

[Cobalt]

Before i wouldn't have said this but as of current i highly recommend 1grid especially if you're starting out. They've got great packages and they're well priced (except for the dedicated servers). Free SSL is included with letsencrypt certification. Their support is 7 days a week until midnight which is a highlight feature.

[New Perspective studio]

Before i wouldn't have said this but as of current i highly recommend 1grid especially if you're starting out. They've got great packages and they're well priced (except for the dedicated servers). Free SSL is included with letsencrypt certification. Their support is 7 days a week until midnight which is a highlight feature.

Are we talking about the same guys ?I have been with them for a few years since they rebranded twincein that time support as i have experienced is not 24/7at all unless you mean you can log a ticket when you want :
SALES:
Monday – Friday 8 am – 5 pm

BILLING:
Monday – Friday 7 am – 5 pm

HOSTING:
Monday – Sunday 7 am – 9 pm

DOMAINS:
Monday – Friday 8 am – 5 pm

Also they do not offer lets encrypt.

Their pricing is nothing to brag about, you can get similar packages from lets say domains.co.za with a much better ttfb ( another thing I dislike about 1 grid )

[Cobalt]

Are we talking about the same guys ?I have been with them for a few years since they rebranded twincein that time support as i have experienced is not 24/7at all unless you mean you can log a ticket when you want :
SALES:
Monday – Friday 8 am – 5 pm

BILLING:
Monday – Friday 7 am – 5 pm

HOSTING:
Monday – Sunday 7 am – 9 pm

DOMAINS:
Monday – Friday 8 am – 5 pm

Also they do not offer lets encrypt.

Their pricing is nothing to brag about, you can get similar packages from lets say domains.co.za with a much better ttfb ( another thing I dislike about 1 grid )

Their hosting plans come with lets encrypt automatically. That's how my domains are certified.

I've been using them for years and i only recommend them since the last few months, their support is sterling, i can call them any day of the week until 12AM (yes, midnight).

I never use the ticket system anymore since their live chat hours are up to 7pm or 9pm, and I can call them anytime

[Cobalt]

Actually even 1grid's pricing is better than the one you mentioned (domains.co.za), their small package is R62 while 1grid's is R49. So i would say 1grid all the way

[New Perspective studio]

Their hosting plans come with lets encrypt automatically. That's how my domains are certified.

I've been using them for years and i only recommend them since the last few months, their support is sterling, i can call them any day of the week until 12AM (yes, midnight).

I never use the ticket system anymore since their live chat hours are up to 7pm or 9pm, and I can call them anytime

We MUST BE talking about different companies ... this cannot be the same 1grid that was webafrica then > gridhost then > 1grid in the space of a 2years.

So its 2:53 am i gave em a call and once i chose options got the answering machine telling me to phone office hours.

Also no lets encrypt I dont have any on the 9 domains I have with them maybe i am doing something wrong... all my websites start out on http and any use of ssl tools prompts me to buy a comodo certificate.


The pricing is different however I would pay 13 bucks a month more any day if it means besides the other advantages the ttfb ( however you can get cloud flare if you are stuck with 1grid ). I usually optimise for speed as a part of deployment and its quite a lengthy process depending on the site and host. With domains I have always goten under 200ms ttfb whilst 1grid is always above that.

Also domains comes with a free.co.za domain which is billed at 79 rand per annum on gridhost.

In terms of emails 1grid offers the unlimited accounts and I know you can set it to unlimited inbox space whereas domains have limits on. Domains emails are however set up with spf records no request needed and overall from my experience have never had issues. On 1grid I have had 4 separate issues on accounts involving their web-mail.

As I say I could be missing something , I would love to be wrong on this one as I would have alot to gain because of the number of sites I have with them

[Cobalt]

We MUST BE talking about different companies ... this cannot be the same 1grid that was webafrica then > gridhost then > 1grid in the space of a 2years.

So its 2:53 am i gave em a call and once i chose options got the answering machine telling me to phone office hours.

Also no lets encrypt I dont have any on the 9 domains I have with them maybe i am doing something wrong... all my websites start out on http and any use of ssl tools prompts me to buy a comodo certificate.


The pricing is different however I would pay 13 bucks a month more any day if it means besides the other advantages the ttfb ( however you can get cloud flare if you are stuck with 1grid ). I usually optimise for speed as a part of deployment and its quite a lengthy process depending on the site and host. With domains I have always goten under 200ms ttfb whilst 1grid is always above that.

Also domains comes with a free.co.za domain which is billed at 79 rand per annum on gridhost.

In terms of emails 1grid offers the unlimited accounts and I know you can set it to unlimited inbox space whereas domains have limits on. Domains emails are however set up with spf records no request needed and overall from my experience have never had issues. On 1grid I have had 4 separate issues on accounts involving their web-mail.

As I say I could be missing something , I would love to be wrong on this one as I would have alot to gain because of the number of sites I have with them

Midnight = 12AM, not 24/7

[New Perspective studio]

I dont get support when it starts getting close to 5pm, unless they open up again during the evening ? also what about lets encrypt through them i am really interested in how you got it would save me alot of hassle.

[Pranitamarne]

Excellent thread! Thank you!