All of these hosts have been tested and reviewed. If you need more information about what “shared hosting” means, please see my article on how to choose the best host.
My selection for overall best shared host is HostGator.
HostGator is the most responsive shared host I have tried. Their sites run fast and effortlessly and have tremendous up-time. They have the whole package you would look for in a shared host. They are affordable, though they aren’t the cheapest. They are easy to use and they have great customer service. The single drawback for HostGator is that, in my opinion, their dedicated hosting is too expensive, meaning that if you outgrow their shared hosting, you would be better off to move to another hosting company. But for pure shared hosting, HostGator is at the top of the list.
My second choice, which may be the best place for you if you are extremely concerned with customer service and ease-of-use would be HostMonster.
They have only one hosting package, but they do it very well. Again, they are very responsive and fast hosting.
My third choice would be Host Papa.
They are, again, easy to use, affordable and responsive, and have the added advantage of providing 100% green hosting.
These three choices, above, are the clear leaders in shared hosting. You can’t go wrong with any of them, and I’ll put my reputation on the line there. If you are wanting shared hosting with some flexibility to move up to more powerful packages without having to change hosts, then you may want to consider GoDaddy.com. I don’t see them quite as top-of-the line, in terms of shared hosting, as the three selections above, but they are good and have a lot of flexibility for growth if you think your site may end up seeing tremendous traffic.
