Domain Registration and Web Hosting

Domain registration and website hosting management is a critical part of taking care of websites. Many people find this aspect of website-ownership frustrating and stressful. The Surelutions team is happy to help you navigate this process and translate the "tech speak" to help you understand what your website needs.

We've spent years dealing with bad web hosts, and we're providing this information here to try and save others from the same frustration.

Also see: Domain names: What Small Business Owners Need to Know

We've used A LOT of web hosts in the past 20+ years, and there are definitely good ones and terrible ones, with most falling somewhere in between. When comparing hosting plans, it's very tempting to choose the cheapest option. If you have a mission-critical website, investing an extra $10-15 per month for better security, reliability, and support is a good investment.

Our Nonprofit Web Hosting Recommendation

WordPress Web Hosting with Kinsta

Our favorite web hosting company for nonprofits and small businesses is Kinsta. They specialize in WordPress websites, which means their entire infrastructure and technical support team is focused on making WordPress websites perform well. The Kinsta Starter Plan is fine for most small to medium websites. Their pricing is around $35/mo with discounts for nonprofits and annual payments.

If you want to migrate your website over to Kinsta, in most cases we can help you switch over at no cost other than the hosting itself. The Kinsta team will be happy to help you as well.

Surelutions is a Kinsta Agency Partner. We recommend that all our clients use Kinsta, whether through our services or with Kinsta directly. For our Care Plan clients we provide a boosted plan that includes additional resources.

Sign up at Kinsta.com

Other Good and Bad Web Hosts for WordPress websites

We like these web hosts, too:

  • WP Engine - Essential plan + Boost
  • Siteground - GrowBig or higher, unless you have a tiny website
  • Flywheel - Starter or higher, unless you have a tiny website
  • A2 Hosting - Turbo Boost or higher

These three offer deep discounts for your first year of web hosting. Pay attention to the renewal price as well. In some cases their starter plans are nearly as expensive as the premium plans on WP Engine and Kinsta (as noted above in our Recommendations).

We DO NOT recommend these web hosts:

  • GoDaddy, Network Solutions, BlueHost, JustHost, HostGator, HostMonster, iPage, Dreamhost, IONOS 1&1, and any EIG subsidiary

Our Recommendation for Domain Registration

We typically use these domain registrars:

  • Namecheap
  • Other suggestions: Cloudflare, Hover.com, Namesilo

Domains are pretty inexpensive in general, so our recommendations are based on (1) how easy the interface is to use, (2) what features are included, and (3) how easy it is to transfer domains to and from the registrar.

Before choosing a provider, check whether privacy, SSL, and other features are included or cost extra. Registrars often list a very low price on the surface, but then upcharge or increase costs in subsequent renewals.

We DO NOT recommend these domain registrars:

  • GoDaddy - Watch out for the upsells. They do not include SSL certificate or privacy, so their prices are not as cheap as they appear.
  • Google Domains (now Squarespace) - We suggest a dedicated registrar, not a subservice of a different type of service provider.
  • Network Solutions - Expensive for a mediocre service, and they make it very difficult to transfer domains
  • Greengeeks - Although I do like their philosophy, they make it very difficult to make changes to your account or transfer your domains
  • HostGator, Dreamhost, 1and1 (ionos), Bluehost, iPage, and most of the others out there.