Have you ever noticed how most of the major web hosting companies tend to based over in the United States?
Whilst this may not be a bad thing in and of itself, it does tend to add an extra level of complication for British customers, particularly when it comes to understanding exactly how much you’re paying for your hosting by working out those pesky conversion rates.
That’s not the only issue though.
Working with a US web company when you’re based in the UK can also pose problems when it comes to accessing technical support, especially with those hosting providers who don’t offer round-the-clock, 24-7 tech support.
Still, the good news for us Brits is that there’s plenty of UK-based web hosting companies who are more than capable of giving the US giants a run for their money, no matter what currency that happens to be in.
Here’s our pick of the top four.
Tso Host
Formerly known as 5QuidHosting when we first stumbled across them a few years ago, TSO Host ave been one of our favourite small web hosting companies for a long time now.
Plans start from as little as just £2.92 per month, which gives you 15GB of storage for up to three websites, unlimited bandwidth, and one-click installation of major Content Management Systems such as Magento, Joomla and WordPress, along with a Softaculous auto-installer capable of setting up over 200 other apps.
If that’s not enough for you, you can also opt for the eight site, 50GB storage package for £6.59 per month, or go for the higher-end eCommerce package, which gives you 100GB on which to host 20 websites, and a bunch of different eCommerce-orientated features.
With many of the major players stateside offering unlimited web hosting, these restrictions may not be perfect, but for smaller websites we’ve rarely found anyone better than TSO Host.
Justhost
Jersey-based Justhost score top marks for the pricing and no-frills approach to web hosting.
Though they’re not the fanciest hosting provider around, that’s all part of their appeal, as they forgo all the usual gimmicks and in-your-face marketing in favour of providing bare-bones hosting service that more than does the job.
Plans start from an introductory offer of £3.26 per month for an initial term of upto 36 months. For this price, you get a free domain name, unmetered bandwith and storage, a DIY website builder tool, WordPress support and much more.
Rackspace
Perhaps one of the better known British web companies, Rackspace’s stock-in-trade is flexible, scalable cloud servers capable of serving not only as a web host but also for deploying software, running Intranets and much more.
Given their focus on cloud computing over traditional hosting solutions, Rackspace charge by the hour rather than the month or year, with most of their plans for business owners clocking in at less than a penny an hour.
Ecohosting
As well regarded for their low costs as they are for their commitment to green web hosting solutions, Ecohosting’s shared plans are among some of the cheapest in the UK, typically ranging from £1.50 per month for the starter plan, up to £4.99 monthly for a completely unlimited plan.
Those of you setting up an eCommerce site would do well to at least consider Ecohosting.
Not only does their eco-friendly service do much to enhance your own reputation as an environmentally-conscious business, but they’re £2.75 per month plan is one of the most cost-effective we’ve found. It comes with a range of integrated shopping carts and shared SSL certificate, along with 5GB of space and 200GB monthly data transfer allowance.
Over to you
Is there a British hosting company we’ve left off our list? Do you house your site with a provider we haven’t mentioned here? Why not let us know on Twitter, or join in the conversation on Facebook.
