Are you struggling with starting a blog or creating a website on the Internet? If so, you probably need a web hosting service provider that can help you with the process. A web hosting provider can provide necessary support and the servers to host your website on the Internet making it accessible to all Internet users.
A variety of web hosting service providers is available online. It can be difficult whether you are a novice or an expert to choose the best provider for your website or web page needs. While conducting research on this topic, InMotion Hosting continued to be one of the most recommended providers available.
HowToGetOnline.com and WebHostingGeeks.com rated InMotion Hosting as the best hosting service provider. With these comments and over 300,000 domains, InMotion has grown to a powerhouse since its opening in 2001. It also has two centers located in Los Angeles and Virginia Beach.
InMotion Hosting is one of the most established names in the business, but is it one of the best? The following is an explanation of the pros and cons associated with InMotion Hosting so that you can decide for yourself.
Pros
Depending on your preferences and goals, the following advantages can be critical to your project.
Hosting Services
The purpose of a web hosting service provider is to store important files on a secure server and deliver those files when asked to all visitors to your website. This process depends on hosting services such as uptime and server speed.
Uptime refers to the average amount of time a server has continued to run without interruption. It is typically presented as a percentage. It should be an accurate measurement of how well a web hosting service provider can keep their system running properly.
The uptime for InMotion Hosting is an average of 99.97%. This number supports the consistency of the InMotion Hosting’s servers. InMotion Hosting’s servers have also never experienced a major issue like some of the other brands did in August of 2013.
Another critical hosting service is the speed of the servers. Speed is one of the factors in Google’s algorithm for the SEO ranking. If your site has high SEO ranking, it will be at the top of the list when a client completes a search inquiry.
If a website takes too long to load, many people will leave the site. When looking at the Time to First Byte (TTFB), InMotion Hosting had loading times of 596ms or 40% faster than many other companies’ average of 985ms.
TTFB is the amount of time it takes for a server to respond to a request. InMotion Hosting has significantly improved their performance with the use of SSD drives instead of spinning tape drives.
According to the InMotion Hosting website, they guarantee to never fill their servers at 100% capacity. With this guarantee, even shared servers should be able to handle any spikes in traffic that occur.
cPanel
When you create a website, it has a client side which is called the frontend and the server side which is referred to as the backend. As the manager of the site, you create and edit the content through the backend. A web hosting company should offer their clients a backend program that is easy to use but also allows flexibility to meet both the needs of the novice and experienced.
InMotion Hosting uses cPanel as their backend and Softaculous with one-click install. As hosting goes, these two applications are simple, easy to use, and a variety of tutorials are available to assist the user. The cPanel also provides a customer all of the flexibility needed to create and maintain a fantastic website.
Many hosting providers use these applications; however, InMotion does things a little different than the other vendors. On your account management dashboard, you will find cPanel which erases the need for a separate login for billing, domains, and cPanel. The one-click installer can also be found on this dashboard.
A single login makes it convenient to access any application you need. The single management panel also allows you to access all of the upgrade options available in-house. Developer oriented solutions like a dedicated server, virtual private server, managed hosting, etc. are also available on the dashboard. This availability means upgrading can be seamless.
Discounts and Free Items Offered
As with most web hosting providers, InMotion provides a variety of discounts and free items. First, InMotion offers discounts frequently when you use their services, and the service includes a free domain name. The monthly price for InMotion is comparable to their competitors.
When you transfer to InMotion, they offer free site transfer. This free transfer is an excellent freebie, but InMotion does not guarantee zero downtime while the site is being moved. Other sites typically do offer this guarantee during the migration process.
Another area InMotion outperforms the competition is data backup. Data backups can be the single most important feature of a web hosting provider. If the server malfunctions or does down or you delete something accidentally, you will need the data backup to restore your site.
Most hosting providers either charge to backup your data or they charge you to retrieve the backup files. InMotion Hosting does all data backup and retrieval free of charge. They also provide up to 10GB of storage for free. They also offer tons of information about how to backup your site manually.
As mentioned above, InMotion provides a variety of freebies. The last one to be discussed here is Google Apps integration. InMotion Hosting has a three-step wizard that allows you to connect with Google Apps. This process allows you to use your domain with Drive, Docs, Gmail, and other Google apps for free.
Customer Support
According to InMotion Hosting, their customer support team is outstanding. After investigating the group which included reading real customers’ reviews, it can be said that almost all customer interactions with this client service team have had positive outcomes.
The customer support team is based in the United States and offers support through live chat, email, a ticket system, or phone. Customers seem to agree that InMotion Hosting has some key strengths when it comes to customer support.
First, when seeking answers to frustrating questions, you have a short response wait time, and the responses are clear and concise which makes them easier to understand. This ease of use is reassuring when you have tried everything else, and it seems hopeless.
The representatives are educated which means they understand and have knowledge of the systems they are working to explain. They are not just reading a script from a troubleshooting guide. This process allows the customer and representative to get to the root problem quicker and easier.
Next, InMotion has resources in a knowledge base where users post questions about a related issue, and the customer service representative answers the question directly in the original post. This knowledge base allows a client to troubleshoot a problem without the hassle of calling or emailing.
As stated previous, you can reach customer service in a variety of ways. InMotion Hosting representative’s respond equally to all forms of communication which means you can use the one form you prefer and get an answer just as quickly. All of the channels of communication function and serve the true purpose.
Finally, when you are going through set-up, InMotion provides an excellent, proactive onboarding process that prevents some common issues with the setup process from happening.
Security
InMotion offers Sucuri free of charge when you use their web hosting services. Sucuri provides five security tools to keep your website secure. These five security tools are detection services, regular data backup, protection, performance improvement, and respond to issues.
With this security plugin, InMotion is cleaning and protecting your website on a regular basis. This process includes malware and hacks cleanup which is critical if your site is compromised or gets a virus. It also provides protection to prevent your site from any type of malware and hackers.
Also, Sucuri helps to optimize the configuration of your website and uses GZIP compression to allow your site to perform at top speed. The other main hosting providers do not offer this configuration.
InMotion Hosting also uses Sucuri to guarantee your website has consistent remote data backups, anti-spam, and anti-virus protection which will provide peace of mind about issues sites face.
E-Commerce Support
E-Commerce stands for electronic commerce which basically means money transactions that are done electronically on the Internet. Some examples of E-Commerce are shopping, auctions, payments, banking, and ticket purchases that are completed entirely online.
E-Commerce eliminates the need to mail payments, write checks, and other payment methods that slow down commerce. Using E-Commerce allows your website to streamline the way it operates which will increase the speed of the process and will lower costs.
InMotion Hosting makes your E-Commerce transition flawless. Unlike many other web hosts, InMotion Hosting has active partnerships with some of the leading E-Commerce servers such as Prestashop and SiteGround.
These types of partnerships allow for an uncomplicated integration with payment processors making it easy to upgrade or change your website.
Satisfaction Guarantee
InMotion Hosting brags that they stand behind their products and offered services 100%. They also guarantee dependable hosting, professional staff, and a reliable customer service support team. If they do not meet these standards or customer expectations, they will issue you a full refund.
The standard for the web hosting industry is to typically offer a thirty and up to 45-day money back guarantee. InMotion goes above and beyond this warranty by providing a 90-day money back guarantee for the company’s Business, VPS, and Reseller Hosting packages that have a six month or longer term.
For clients with Dedicated Servers, pay monthly for VPS packages, or who have less than a six-month term, InMotion Hosting will give a full money back guarantee for up to thirty days after activation.
InMotion does have certain terms and conditions that may apply to this guarantee, but it is still one of the best available for web hosting providers.
When you are pre-paying for a year or longer for these services, this guarantee can reassure you and let you rest easy. It also allows you to try InMotion Hosting for at least thirty days without the risk of losing your money.
Community
InMotion Hosting has various programs that support and benefit the community. The first program is committed to eco-friendly policies. Beginning in 2010, InMotion Hosting changed their operational standards to lessen their carbon footprint on Earth.
In their data centers and offices, they have adopted practices to decrease waste production, promote recycling, and to eliminate using paper products when it is possible. These changes significantly improved their carbon footprint; however, InMotion Hosting took their eco-friendly policies up a notch in their data center.
The first ever Green Data Center was opened in Los Angeles, California by InMotion Hosting. They use Outside Air Cooling technology in this Green Data Center to reduce cooling costs by over 65% and decrease the carbon output by more than 2,100 tons every year.
Another program offered by InMotion Hosting deals with educational services. A high school or college student can use the InMotion web hosting services for 50% less than other users. This discount allows our future leaders access to tools such as WordPress, Joomla, Ruby on Rails, and much more.
This access allows our students to get a head start on designing effective websites. InMotion Hosting also offers educators a variety of discounts on bulk shared web hosting. These discounts allow an instructor to expose their students to 21st-century skills.
Cons
Every business whether online or land base has imperfections and InMotion Hosting is not any different. If you were to research the hosting company, you would find complaints just like any other hosting company.
It is hard, however, to rely on what you read online because one or two reviews may not accurately represent a company. Whether the information is positive or negative, it still cannot be truly trusted.
For the purpose of this review, four cons/disadvantages were determined and will be discussed. These cons continuously appeared in customer review areas.
Structure of Price Plan
When you first look at the lowest price plan for InMotion Hosting, you realize it is comparable to other web hosting service providers. Unfortunately, the lowest price is only good if you commit to 24 months of service. If you only commit to twelve months, the price increases a little more.
InMotion Hosting does offer a money back guarantee, but if your project only lasts two to four months, you could still lose your money. InMotion Hosting does not provide a prorated refund for the months you do not use.
Prepaying for a year is not out of the ordinary with web hosting service providers. If you do not know the length of time needed for your project, it may be better and more affordable to go with a web host provider with a cheaper monthly plan.
Even though, this price structure definitely an issue, it is also important to consider that it is a prevalent practice used by the majority of web hosting service providers.
Price Plans
Besides committing to 24 months issue, you must also purchase the highest price plan to have access to all of the benefits of the site. InMotion Hosting offers three levels of shared business hosting. These levels include Launch, Power, and Pro levels.
All three of these plans provide a variety of services which include the following:
- 90 day Money Back Guarantee
- Free Data Backups
- Free No Downtime Transfers
- Unlimited Monthly Transfers
- SSD
- Unlimited Emaill Accounts and Storage
- Unlimited Disk Space
The above services are just a sample of what the different plans from InMotion Hosting offer.
The major differences in the plans include the support levels, readiness for E-Commerce, and the number of domains, websites, and databases supported. The number of domains, websites, and databases supported will be discussed later in this review.
When you purchase the Launch or Power plans, you do not get Pro Level Support. For a company who prides themselves on customer service, it is surprising they require you to purchase the highest priced plan to receive the best customer support.
Another disadvantage associated with the price plan is E-Commerce. If you purchase the Launch plan, you are not E-Commerce ready. When the project you are working on requires E-Commerce, you must buy either the Power or Pro plan.
Database, Website, and Domain Limitations
This disadvantage has been mentioned the most frequently in the customer reviews. Before explaining this con entirely, a few items need to be understood.
The information powering your website is stored on databases. If you have installed one application of WordPress, you are probably using one database. The number of databases allowed by a web hosting service provider represents the number of websites your server can run.
The website number reflects the number of domains that can be routed to the server. A variety of websites can be on one domain which makes it different from a database.
When you purchase a web hosting plan with InMotion Hosting, there are limits on the number of databases and domains you can have on the company’s servers. If you know the number you will need, this disadvantage will not affect you significantly.
However, it should be considered when comparing different web hosting service providers plans and their prices. It also should be considered if you plan to use a massive amount of databases, domains, or websites.
Verification Process
Many web hosting service providers offer an instant account activation. This activation system allows you to register your domain and instantly begin to create the perfect website.
InMotion Hosting does not support instant account activation. If you are a new customer with InMotion, you must be verified by phone before your account will be activated.
Sometimes, a picture of your ID or license is required to complete the verification process which can mean an even longer wait to activate your account.
This process is used to prevent fraudulent accounts from being created and is an excellent security measure for the customer. However, this process may prevent customers from using InMotion Hosting because of the delay.
This process especially affects international customers with different time zones than the customer service department.
Conclusion
These are the pros and cons that were discovered by extensive research of InMotion Hosting. Overall, this company seems to be a trustworthy web hosting service provider.
Whether it is the best or not, really depends on your preferences and needs. Some of the cons listed here may deal breakers when it comes to your personal situation. However, the pros may outweigh the inconveniences of the cons.
InMotion Hosting seems to be worth trying. Good luck with your search for the perfect web hosting service provider.