If you’re presently in search of a web hosting on your subsequent website, likelihood is you most likely haven’t thought-about the environmental affect of maintaining a web site working. Luckily for you, California-based GreenGeeks has, and the corporate has constructed a popularity for itself by providing the cleanest webhosting round.
Trey Gardner based the corporate again in 2006 and he used his expertise at a number of different massive webhosting firms to create his personal. However, GreenGeeks doesn’t simply elevate consciousness concerning the environmental affect of webhosting, it’s truly doing one thing about it by offsetting 300 p.c of its energy utilization by investing in renewable vitality.
So let’s take a better have a look at the plans, pricing, options and help obtainable from GreenGeeks to see if this eco-pleasant net host could be the precise alternative on your web site.
Click here to go directly to the GreenGeeks website
Pricing
GreenGeeks affords its clients quite a lot of webhosting plans to select from together with WordPress internet hosting, Drupal internet hosting, Joomla internet hosting, cPanel internet hosting, reseller internet hosting, VPS internet hosting and even devoted servers. In this assessment, we’ll be specializing in its shared internet hosting plans as they are going to possible enchantment to a broader vary of customers.
GreenGeeks Ecosite Starter plan is geared toward small web sites or blogs which are simply beginning out and consists of one free area, limitless SSD disk area, limitless bandwidth, limitless electronic mail accounts, a free website builder, free web site switch, cPanel and Softaculous help and extra for simply $9.95 per 30 days.
Next up we now have the Ecosite Pro plan at $14.95 per 30 days which incorporates all the pieces the Starter plan does in addition to help for as much as 300 emails per hour and two instances the efficiency. GreenGeeks says this plan is right for rising web sites that want further velocity and sources.
Finally, we now have the corporate’s Ecosite Premium plan at $24.95 a month which incorporates the entire options of the Pro plan in addition to Premium Wildcard SSL, help for as much as 500 emails per hour, PCI compliance and 4 instances the efficiency of the bottom plan.
The costs we’ve listed below are what you’d pay month-to-month however GreenGeeks does supply important reductions for those who resolve to join an annual, two-12 months or three-12 months plan. It could be higher if the corporate was extra trustworthy about its costs however this isn’t the primary time we’ve seen an online host do that. However, one factor to bear in mind for those who do find yourself deciding on a month-to-month plan is the truth that GreenGeeks expenses a $15 setup charge for these plans.
Signing up
Once you resolve whether or not you want to pay month-to-month or purchase a long run plan, GreenGeeks walks you thru its pretty simple signup course of.
After selecting out your plan, the corporate asks you whether or not you wish to register a brand new area without cost or use one that you just already personal. Next, you’ll have to enter your contact info (title, bodily handle, electronic mail and cellphone quantity) and select your fee methodology.
In phrases of fee choices, GreenGeeks accepts each bank cards and PayPal however the PayPal button is hidden away behind a ‘See extra fee choices’ hyperlink. So for those who do wish to use PayPal as your fee methodology, preserve this in thoughts throughout the checkout course of.
After the signup course of was full, GreenGeeks defined that we must look forward to our order to undergo some ‘inside checks’ to guarantee that it wasn’t fraudulent. The firm reassured us that it could name to confirm the order if there have been any issues. It took quarter-hour to course of our order after which we acquired a number of emails from the corporate which contained our login URLs, usernames, passwords, hyperlinks to help paperwork and extra.
Creating a website
GreenGeeks’ net account supervisor is a bit on the less complicated aspect when in comparison with these of its opponents with solely fundamental info akin to your contact particulars, an inventory of plans you’ve bought and buttons to view extra info.
However, the entire firm’s plans provide you with entry to its web site builder that gives you with tons of of templates to select from. The templates themselves had been nothing particular however they’re greater than acceptable for many who must get a easy website up and working rapidly. Each template may also be personalized utilizing GreenGeeks’ drag and drop editor. There is a restrict to simply three pages which can find yourself being a dealbreaker for some.
GreenGeeks additionally provides you a second website builder in SitePad. This drag and drop answer doesn’t have the identical options as Wix or a few of the different huge title web site builders however there are a great deal of templates in addition to an honest variety of widgets and customizations.
Adding extra instruments and apps to your website is straightforward because of the one-click on Softaculous installer that comes bundled with each one in every of GreenGeeks’ plans. The device supplies you with scripts to simply set up WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, PrestaShop, Magento and plenty of different well-liked functions.
Whichever manner you resolve to construct your website, GreenGeeks consists of cPanel help that will help you handle it. Our account got here with a regular set up of cPanel with choices to view server standing, create electronic mail accounts, handle databases, management safety and do all the pieces else we might count on from the console.
cPanel isn’t probably the most newbie pleasant however it’s utilized by many different net hosts so the time you put money into studying how one can use it gained’t be wasted.
Performance
Regardless of whether or not you’re a primary-time person or having been making web sites for years, everybody wants assist once in a while which is why we all the time have a look at the help choices readily available when reviewing an online host’s efficiency.
On the GreenGeeks web site, you’ll discover a help knowledgebase with nearly 200 articles rigorously organized into classes akin to Sales, General Hosting, Reseller, VPS, Billing and extra. While there may be various helpful info right here, we did discover that many of the articles are old-fashioned and in want of an replace.
For occasion the “How do I set up an E-commerce store?” article we discovered was from 2003 and since then lots has modified, which might make the knowledge on this and different older articles a bit much less helpful. GreenGeeks’ knowledgebase continues to be good to have however in our opinion, it might definitely do with a refresh.
If you may’t discover the solutions you want within the knowledgebase, a separate Tutorials part has various step-by-step guides on widespread duties. These articles had been much more detailed and comparatively up-to-date however in addition they cowl only a few commonplace webhosting matters. Instead, they present you how one can setup and handle net apps akin to WordPress and PrestaShop.
GreenGeeks additionally supplies 24/7 help through a ticket system in addition to dwell chat and you may entry each from the service’s net console.
We accomplished our efficiency checks by utilizing Bitcatcha to measure our server speeds. Overall our web site provided the form of acceptable efficiency we might count on from a fundamental shared internet hosting plan.
Verdict and Conclusion
GreenGeeks has a tough time competing with different greater net hosts that provide higher options and extra aggressive pricing. However, for those who’re available in the market for inexperienced internet hosting, you’ll be arduous pressed to discover a firm that practices what it preaches the way in which GreenGeeks does with regards to environmental points.
