Grab a cold stubby and buckle up, as I got a ripper article for ya, s’arvo.
This one’s for all the Bruces and Sheilas out there…
OK, let me stop with the Aussie slang right here, as this can quickly spiral out of control.
If you haven’t guessed already, today we are going to check out web hosting in Australia. By the end of this text, you should have a clear idea of the following:
What’s the Australian hosting market like and who dominates it?
Who are the best Australian local and global hosts?
How to choose the right host in Australia?
What are the benefits of a good local provider?
The hosting industry in Australia is very distinct, especially compared to the US or many European countries. It is a very client-limited and volatile market, even when you take into account that almost 50% of SMBs are yet to have a web presence.
So how can you survive in an environment where you can’t grow indefinitely?
Two ways — find a small, specific niche or start buying other companies.
Mid-sized hosting providers are practically non-existent in the land down under.
You either go big or go home!
So let’s see who deserves to compete for the best web hosting in Australia.
Best Local Hosts
1. VentraIP
+ SSD storage
+ Hourly backups
+ Host unlimited websites
Score A+
Price: from AU$8.95/mo
VentraIP represents one of the three tech conglomerates in Australia that rule over the hosting market. Founded in 2010, the company quickly adopted the acquisition method of expansion. Ventra soon added the likes of Servers Australia, 9web, IntaServe Domains, JGK Solutions, and Fresh Networks to their vast portfolio.
VentraIP has two sister companies — Zuver Hosting (for end clients) and Synergy Wholesale (for resellers). Synergy holds the #2 spot on the Australian hosting market, preceded only by NetRegistry.
Website Hosting Review/blog/best-web-hosting-australia/&text=VentraIP%20has%20two%20sister%20companies%20%E2%80%94%20Zuver%20Hosting%20%28for%20end%20clients%29%20and%20Synergy%20Wholesale%20%28for%20resellers%29.%20Synergy%20holds%20the%20%232%20spot%20on%20the%20Australian%20hosting%20market%2C%20preceded%20only%20by%20NetRegistry.&related” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click To Tweet
Over 150,000 customers utilize the company servers in Sydney and Melbourne.
VetraIP Features
VentraIP has divided its shared services into three plans:
- Starter — for startups and personal blogs
- Freedom — for SMBs and online shops
- Premier — for enterprise and high-traffic projects
The packages seem pretty robust — SSD storage, 100% CPU allowance, free SSL certificate.
But that’s not even half of it.
Forget about the lousy limitations on hosted websites.. VentraIP offers unlimited email accounts, monthly traffic, and number of databases.
If you think it can’t get better than this — think again!
This Australian website host puts a strong focus on your data. Some providers back up accounts daily or every couple of days. VentraIP does that hourly.
Yes, that’s right — your data is saved and stored in a separate location thanks to the Acronis Cloud Backup software.
Talk about safety precautions!
VetraIP Support
One thing I quickly learned about the Australian hosting market is that providers are not very fond of the live chat option in their support communications.
And by not very fond of I mean almost no one offers it.
To this day, I still don’t get what the reason is. It’s the quickest way to connect to a company rep for some minor questions or pre-sales concerns. There are cases that are just too urgent or too simple to await an email reply for hours.
But facts are facts, and I had to deal with them.
To be fair, I was thoroughly satisfied with the level of email support here. VentraIP were fastest to respond among all reviewed providers, and their replies were detailed enough to cover any further questions.
Verdict
All in all, VentraIP fully deserves a top spot when it comes to the best web hosting in Australia. It’s a large-scale organization which has the capacity and workforce to provide stellar services to businesses of every size. Clear terms, next-gen technology — what more can you ask for?
2. Crucial
+ Immense resources
+ 200% CPU allocation
+ Free Cloudflare CDN
Score A
Price: from AU$22.90/mo
Crucial web hosting is one of the biggest and perhaps the best-rated providers according to Australian reviews. It was founded in a university dorm room in 2003 with the idea to give small businesses a better chance to get online.
That idea grew to amass over 6000 followers and their 50,000+ websites.
Just look at Crucial’s numbers. Over 7,000 servers deployed for VPS hosting in Australia. 8.8 terabytes of information served daily. More than 10 industry awards. Thoroughly impressive.
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The shared servers utilize one of the most modern facilities of the Australian Pacific Data Centers (APDC) in Sydney.
Crucial Features
One thing I noticed all over the website, the Crucial team boasts how its services aim to be of use to the small and startup user.
Its shared packages, however, don’t quite match that notion.
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Don’t get me wrong — the accounts are packed. Like, really packed. So much so that it’s overkill.
Just look at the basic plan — you can host only two domains (one primary and one addon), but you have 50GB of storage space. Keep in mind the average website rarely exceeds 1GB. You have 50!
And the free extras just keep on rolling — Cloudflare CDN, SSL certificate, daily backups, DDoS protection.
This all sounds great, so where’s the catch?
To paraphrase the immortal words of Spiderman — with great hosting power comes great price responsibility.
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What I mean is Crucial’s prices are far from affordable for the average client. Standing tall at AU$22.90/mo, even the cheapest account costs far more than with other shared providers.
Crucial Support
Like the plethora of Australian hosts, Crucial also provides 24/7 support via phone and ticketing. While browsing the company website, however, I noticed a popup for a live chat.
Alright, here goes nothing.
А little background here: I’d just finished my Pacific Digital review before testing Crucial. PD also had a live chat option which I’d just tried (but more on that later).
Entering the chat came with a shock.
Hey, I know that name and photo — I was just talking to the same girl in the Pacific Digital support chat. So I asked directly and got the logical response — Crucial and PD are sister companies.
From there on, there wasn’t much point in having the same conversation twice, so I sent some emails instead.
Verdict
Crucial is one of the top web service providers in Australia due to its excellent infrastructure and feature-packed accounts. But those solutions are not really suited for startups and the smallest businesses. Crucial’s web hosting prices are pretty steep and can easily push your budget overboard.
3. Panthur
+ Affordable prices
+ Free backup restore service
+ SSD drives
Score A
Price: from AU$5.00/mo
Panthur is one of the lesser-known Australian hosting providers, but that doesn’t mean it’s far behind the competition. On the contrary, the company started operations over a decade ago and still going strong.
US web service provider Deluxe Corporation acquired Panthur in 2017 through its subsidiary Hostopia Australia. The same consortium holds some of the biggest local brands, like Digital Pacific and Crucial.
Panthur’s servers still remain on home ground today — in the APDC data centers in Sydney.
Panthur Features
Panthur offers a wide variety of deals, targeting businesses of different sizes. However,the Economy Hosting packages seem most appropriate for our purposes today. So what do we have there?
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What I like about the plans is that all choices pack the same features; their only difference is resource allocation.
Think of the extra perks — free content delivery network, SSL certificate, a premium website builder — you have them all, even on the cheapest plan.
There is a limitation on the number of websites you can host on each plan, though:
- 1 on the Mini plan
- 4 on the Advanced plan
- 6 on the Professional plan
But Panthur’s ace in the sleeve is undoubtedly the affordable pricing.
The Mini package starts at just AU$5.00/mo, and that’s on a month-to-month billing. Prepaying for the yearly deals can drop the price further to the whopping AU$4.00/mo.
Now, this is what I call cheap web hosting in Australia!
Panthur Support
All prospective customers can contact Panthur 24/7 via phone and email. Existing clients have the added option of ticketing support. A server status tab will also show you if there are any service interruptions and what the company is doing about them.
So far, so good.
My email to the Panthur support contained three simple sales questions, so I expected a prompt reply.
How silly of me.
In reality, it took over 48 hours to get a response, and the answers were as short as they come.
Hopefully, the support team treats tickets from existing customers with more care and efficiency.
Verdict
Panthur looks to target the small businessman, and it certainly shows. You’ve got all the essentials to establish your professional project and let it flourish. All that while keeping a tight budget and investing in other important aspects of your online business.
4. Digital Pacific
+ Green-friendly
+ Daily backups
+ Qantas reward points
Score B+
Price: from AU$7.42/mo
Pacific Digital came to be in 2000 and since then has grown to hold nearly 5% of the Australian market. Protecting the environment is one of the company’s core values, and PD is proud to keep its services 100% carbon neutral.
Two (green) thumbs up for that choice.
The US consortium Deluxe Corp. acquired Digital Pacific in 2017 in a deal worth US$52 million.
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While there was an influx of client complaints during the initial transition period, things have since appeared to cool off and gone back to normal.
The company servers reside in the APDC data centers in Sydney. Still, it won’t be a big surprise if parent Deluxe Corp. decides to move operations to a more cost-efficient location.
Digital Pacific Features
You can tell a lot about a hosting provider from its business website. I’ve noticed a trend where long-time big players tend to neglect their site design. Why bother — new clients will still flock just because of the brand name.
Digital Pacific looks a bit like such a veteran.
Whether you need personal, business, or cloud hosting in Australia — you can find all kinds of deals here. But let’s focus on the Personal offerings.
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So you only have a choice of two plans — Basic and Standard — and I have to say neither looks very impressive. The first plan only gives you 1GB space, 10GB monthly bandwidth, and two email addresses.
Might be good enough for starters, but you will probably outgrow it pretty soon.
The price for this deal starts from AU$6.90/mo, and that’s only available if you prepay for three years.
Still, I can’t imagine staying in a closet-sized account for such a long time.
There is a supposed third plan here, but it’s an entirely custom deal, and you have to contact support for that.
And so I did…
Digital Pacific Support
While Pacific Digital advertise round-the-clock phone and email support. I was delighted to find a popup for a live chat as well.
The conversation that followed was a little awkward, though.
I only had one question in mind:
The company website stated the Basic plan came with 2GB web space, while the page with more details reveals only 1GB.
So which one is it?
Should’ve been a simple question, but I spent the next ten or so minutes going back and forth with the operator who was clearly working off a template.
At some point it dawned on me — many Australian web hosts are owned by the same corporation, so the operators are probably assisting clients on multiple brands.
Well, “assisting” might be a bit too much — they are mostly reading what I can also read on the company website.
At the end of the day, she couldn’t explain this peculiar difference but promised to pass the case to the site developers.
Verdict
Digital Pacific is undoubtedly a trusted and experienced host. Having strong financial backing, this company won’t disappear overnight, that’s for sure. Its services, however, seem to lag behind the competition, and the package plans can use some overhauling to improve their cost-efficiency.
But having your business in Australia doesn’t necessarily mean your hosting should also be there.
Here are some of the top choices you can pick with international server locations.
Best Global Hosts
1. SiteGround
+ Ultimate server performance
+ Stellar support
+ Great for WordPress hosting in Australia
Score A+
Price: from AU$6.33/mo
SiteGround is topping many reviews for web hosting in Australia for a reason.
The company has been operating for more than 15 years and currently hosts over 1.8 million domain names. Founded in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, SiteGround occupies four offices in Bulgaria, Spain, and the UK.
Remarkable performance stats and excellent customer care are the provider’s two strongest selling points.
To serve clients from all over the world, SiteGround has strategically chosen its data center locations for best coverage. You can choose between:
- Iowa, US
- Chicago, US
- Amsterdam, NL
- London, UK
- Singapore, SG (best for Australia)
SiteGround Features
One benefit of choosing a global provider is it can often present a more affordable and feature-rich solution than its local counterparts.
It’s no surprise, really — Australia is not the cheapest country when it comes to technology services.
And yet, SiteGround manages to impress when it comes to how much more it has to offer:
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Speed is of the essence, so SG turbocharges your account with the proprietary SuperCacher plugin. You can start with a 10GB account and grow from there.
I really like how SiteGround explains the bandwidth limits. Novice clients rarely have an idea what 100GB or 1TB traffic means — they need something more specific.
Like monthly user visits.
You get approximately 10,000 on the StartUp plan, 25,000 on the GrowBig package, and 100,000 with the GoGeek deal.
See? Clear as day.
A free site builder, CDN, and SSL certificate are available with every account. As you grow, you can upgrade and get more advanced control and management features.
It’s worth mentioning SiteGround is one of the closest partners and active contributors to the WordPress project. So if you want to host a WP website, you can safely start your search here.
SiteGround Support
When it comes to proper customer care, few can compete with SiteGround.
24/7 assistance via phone, chat, email, and tickets.
First ticket response within 15 minutes.
Always friendly and ready to help.
It sounds so simple, and yet so few hosts choose to focus on that.
My live chat was (as always) very fruitful and confirmed my good impressions of the SG support. The operator asked all the right questions and delivered the information in a comprehensive manner.
I also sent a support ticket with a WordPress installation issue. Sure enough, the reply came in 10 minutes with my fresh install ready to turn into a stylish website.
Excellent customer care goes a long way, and so will SiteGround.
Verdict
Hands down, SiteGround offers one of the best web hosting in Australia, even without a server location in the land down under. Robust infrastructure and feature-rich accounts pair up with the most amazing support to create the perfect solution for online businesses. Not the cheapest out there, but certainly worth every cent.
2. FastComet
+ SSD-powered accounts
+ Variety of server locations
+ Knowledgeable support
Score A
Price: from AU$4.30/mo
While FastComet is a relatively new provider, it doesn’t lack the necessary expertise. It might have operated for just over five years, but the core team has at least 20+ years of combined experience.
Fastcomet hosts more than 50,000 websites and flaunts a 9.7 reliability score from 33,980 authentic user reviews.
Website Hosting Review/blog/best-web-hosting-australia/&text=Fastcomet%20hosts%20more%20than%2050%2C000%20websites%20and%20flaunts%20a%209.7%20reliability%20score%20from%2033%2C980%20authentic%20user%20reviews.&related” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click To Tweet
Australian customers have several nearby data center choices — Singapore, Japan, even India. Apart from those, you can also take your pick between Dallas, Chicago, Newark, Toronto, London, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam.
Very few hosts come even remotely close to such coverage.
FastComet Features
FastComet offers cPanel web hosting in Australia through three shared packages:
[FastComet plans screenshot]
The FastCloud option is optimized to host a single website, whereas on the Plus and Extra plans you can have as many as you wish.
The provider is pretty generous when it comes to server resources — even the lowest plan will give you 15GB SSD space, 2GB RAM, 2 CPU cores, and around 25,000 monthly visits.
Along with this sweet deal, you get a free Cloudflare CDN, daily backups, and no-cost data migration.
The prices for this bundle look good as well — starting from about AU$4.30/mo, the basic plan is more affordable than what many local Australian hosts can offer. Just keep in mind this is an introductory price, so the renewals would be steeper.
FastComet Support
FastComet is definitely one of the very few hosts that come close to matching SiteGround’s level of customer care .
You can find live help 24/7 via live chat, phone, and email. Existing customers can also utilize a ticketing system for technical questions.
All that and a bag of tutorials and KB articles.
The live chat operator connected within seconds and showed immense knowledge from the get-go. I didn’t let him get off easy and bombarded him with all kinds of pesky sales questions, but he was clearly well-prepared.
You are certainly in good hands with FastComet.
Verdict
The best Australian hosting provider isn’t necessarily IN Australia, and FastComet is living proof. Packing a significant amount of server power and a ton of useful features, the FC accounts come at a reasonable price. The impeccable Support Team is just the cherry on top.
3. Hostinger
+ Unmatchable prices
+ Lightning-fast speeds
+ WordPress optimized
Score A
Price: from AU$1.45/mo
Hostinger offers some of the best value web hosting solutions out there. The company was initially named Hosting Media but rebranded after it reached one million users in 2011.
Today, Hostinger houses over 29 million websites in 278 countries. An average of 15k new users joins every day, which equals to a new client every five seconds.
Website Hosting Review/blog/best-web-hosting-australia/&text=Today%2C%20Hostinger%20houses%20over%2029%20million%20websites%20in%20278%20countries.%20An%20average%20of%2015k%20new%20users%20joins%20every%20day%2C%20which%20equals%20to%20a%20new%20client%20every%20five%20seconds.&related” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click To Tweet
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Hostinger utilizes seven interconnected Tier-3 data centers around the world — in the US, the UK, Netherlands, Lithuania, Brazil, Singapore, and Indonesia.
The latter two provide the best connection and speeds for Australian customers.
Hostinger Features
Entering the hosting world with Hostinger couldn’t be easier. Startup clients have three plans at their disposal:
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As with other similar providers, the cheapest plan is optimized for a single website, while the next tiers give much more creative freedom.
All accounts give you access to Hostinger’s proprietary control panel, which is quite user-friendly and easy-to-navigate.
Hostinger spares no resources when it comes to speed optimization. The entire hardware is supercharged with a custom server-side caching, SSD drives, and automatic server deployment.
But the price is the real kicker.
Starting from a mere AU$1.45/mo, you can get a reliable hosting service for less than a Starbucks coffee.
Renewal prices are also lower than what most can offer to new clients.
It’s amazing they still manage to make a profit at the end of the day.
Hostinger Support
Email and ticketing are the primary means to get support assistance. Both are available 24/7 and easy-to-be-found on the company website.
Phone and live chat are not an option, even though there is a “let’s chat” button on the Contact Us page.
For what it’s worth, their email reply was prompt and on point, much better than what I got from most of the local Australian providers.
I am sure serving millions of customers, each with their own questions and concerns, is no walk in the park. That’s why I’m letting off Hostinger a little easy here. But if they could find a way to add more support options to the mix, that’d be great.
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Verdict
Hostinger might very well be one of the best choices for web hosting in Australia. Its shared services provide SMBs an excellent opportunity to start their online presence with minimum investments. The low prices have little effect on the account features, and users still enjoy the full hosting experience on all service levels.
That completes our list of the best Australian hosts (for now).
Here is how I came up with the contenders and how you can check for yourself.
Our Methodology
Every provider on this list is here for a reason. We have tested over 20 hosts to separate the wheat from the chaff and bring you only the finest grain the Australian market has to offer.
The rigorous process included service analysis and several groups of tests which encompass the most crucial factors to watch out for when choosing a new host.
- Speed — one of the essential metrics for your website. Website Hosting Review/blog/how-speed-affects-website/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Speed affects everything — from the initial user experience all the way to your sales numbers. Three out of four people will abandon a website if it fails to load within five seconds. A good host will ensure a blazing-fast connection to your server and assist with site optimization tips.
I created accounts with every reviewed host and launched a basic WordPress site. Then I cross-tested and analyzed results from three platforms — GTMetrix, Pingdom, and WebPageTest. - Uptime — the other make-or-break factor when it comes to web hosting in Australia (or anywhere else for that matter).
In an ideal world, your website should be out there 100% of the time, and your provider should have clear procedures to minimize downtimes, even in extreme cases.
In an ideal world…
I attached my accounts to the StatusCake monitoring system and reviewed the results after a minimum of 30 days. I will update the uptime statistics of each host regularly to keep this content up to date.
- Features — a great company has to offer the full package. Hosting providers have a lot of options to ease the experience of their clients — SSLs, CDNs, SSD storage, daily backups. Whether hosts offer them and how much they charge can make all the difference for a startup or growing business.
I reviewed the shared offers of all competitors, as this is where most entrepreneurs start when launching an online project. Learn what’s under the hood and if it’s enough to get your business going. - Support — every client deserves proper assistance, regardless of how much they pay. A lot of providers boldly offer 24/7 support across multiple communication channels, but how many are actually doing it right?
My job was to contact a live person and determine their level of hosting expertise. I performed a couple of tests for each company to get an overall impression and avoid the occasional rookie rep messing things up because of sheer inexperience. - Price — the final thing before getting the best business web hosting is a price tag that matches your budget. Some hosts can pack a ton of features, but those lush offers come at a price. At the other end of the spectrum, you have the extremely cheap providers which rarely give you anything apart from the essentials.
Which one is more suitable?
It’s up to you to decide!
My job is to show what numbers to expect as a new customer and, more importantly, how much they’ll grow come renewal. All the hidden bits and pieces often pop up at the most unexpected moments, so you better be wary.
Those are the factors that I checked and tested for you.
But there are a few more you can easily discover for yourself.
Five Things to Check Before Buying from an Australian Provider
1. Connectivity Speed
Your connectivity speed determines how fast your server will receive and respond to web requests. Needless to say, you want the process to be as seamless as possible.
You can contact your potential candidates through the support channels and ask the rep for access to a test file to check the connectivity speed. Any good host will keep such test files on every server location.
2. Sales Assistance
You can best recognize a great provider when in need of technical assistance. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get an overall picture even before becoming a client.
All the top hosting sites in Australia extensively train their support representatives so you can easily spot when you are dealing with a professional. Even a simple sales conversation speaks heaps about the quality of assistance.
Watch out for:
- templated responses
- 1-2 word replies
- irrelevant links for tutorials
- a constant push for a sale
If you notice any of the above — run! That host is clearly not a great choice support-wise.
3. Pricing Structure
Offering lower introductory and higher renewal prices has slowly become the industry standard, but many clients are still unaware of that fact. Tempted by big promises and amazingly low prices, many jump headfirst into a venture that might later cost them their business.
Take your time to fully understand what costs are involved in joining your potential host and what future fees you should expect. A good practice is to check if there is a money-back guarantee in place and how easy it is to take advantage.
The devil is in the details.
4. Data Center Locations
Our topic today is Australian website hosts, so the server locations are of the utmost importance. When your content lies close to your visitors, its loading time is minimal, and everyone can enjoy a speedy website.
The land down under is pretty far from most major connection hubs, so it’s best to choose a provider with data centers in Australia, or at the very least — Singapore or Japan.
5. Online Reviews
Many have walked the road you are about to take. So a little extra insight from behind the curtains can only solidify your impressions or make you reconsider your choice.
You can find a lot of online reviews about best or fastest web hosting in Australia, but you should always take the information with a pinch of salt. Many of them might come from paid affiliates or disgruntled customers, so their objectiveness is questionable.
Instead, try and determine if there are often-repeating pros or cons.
Are many clients suffering downtimes?
Are pages loading slowly?
Maybe a lot of people seem to fancy the support they get?
You get the idea.
Importance of a Good Local Host in Australia
The Australian online market might be limited but far from exhausted. Succeeding in such a specific business environment requires the right tools and the right partners.
A good hosting provider can be both.
Choosing an Australian web host carries a ton of geolocation benefits:
- optimal server speed
- local support
- tailored services
- convenient data center location
Still, global providers will always have a strong presence on the market just because of their scale and the competitive prices they can afford to throw.
Conclusion
Hosting providers in Australia have a mountain to climb once they enter the market. One solution is to rock a unique service and secure a small niche for your company.
The other is to have a long-term growth plan which includes a lot of mergers and acquisitions.
As of 2018, three major consortiums control nearly 76% of all hosting services in Australia.
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As Servers Australia managing director Jared Hirst puts it “everyone is going to get bought, or they are going to go broke.”
Choosing a new hosting partner has never been so crucial.
FAQ
Q: Is there free web hosting in Australia?
A: Many free web hosts operate on international markets, including Australia. The problem with them is they are never a suitable solution in the long run. More often than not, you suffer from:
- severe limitations
- intrusive ads
- non-existent support
- unexpected downtimes
- lack of basic functionalities
Free providers are mainly useful as a testing environment for low-demanding web projects but never for a serious business website.
Q: Is Bluehost good for Australia?
A: Bluehost is a global hosting provider which also offers services to Australian customers. The company is part of the EIG consortium and employs a data center in Provo, Utah.
While it doesn’t have a local data center location, Bluehost is a leading choice for a lot of Australian entrepreneurs because of the long experience and affordable packages.
Q: What is the best web hosting in Australia?
A: Web hosting in Australia can generally be divided into two groups — offers from local and global providers. Before you choose your host, you need to outline your needs, your resource consumption, and technology requirements.
It’s only then that you are safe to go out there and shortlist some potential winners.
Want to try another market? Check out our reviews of the hosting services in Website Hosting Review/blog/best-website-hosting-uk/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>the UK and Website Hosting Review/blog/best-web-hosting-india/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>India.
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