We are in an era where websites aren’t as dominant anymore, but that won’t stop me and millions of others who prefer getting information from a website over AI like ChatGPT. Providing a real-life experience with a product or service and giving my honest review feels more valuable than AI telling me something I already know. I will talk about Hawk Host and why they should be at the top of your list for the best web host.
My Setup with Hawk Host
I have two accounts with Hawk Host. The main reason I have two is that when I originally signed up with them, I only planned to use them minimally.
Hosting Account One – I pay $30 a year. That’s right, only $30. At the time, the offerings weren’t great regarding disk space and bandwidth. Disk space is the only issue I’ve had since I’ve added over 10 websites to this account. Bandwidth is now unlimited, so there are no worries there. It does have a shared IP, which could be problematic if you’re unlucky enough to share a host with someone who isn’t following the rules. So far, this account has been lucky.
Hosting Account Two – I signed up for my second account in early 2024. This time, I chose the professional plan. This avoids all the limitations you might find with a small plan. I have unlimited space, domains, databases, and free SSL. This account is $54 a year, which is still an amazing price for what you get.
The Amazing Offerings Both Accounts Have – One of my data centers is located in New York, while the other is in Dallas. You also have the option of hosting in Los Angeles, Singapore, and Hong Kong. You get to pick.
Services Available
Besides shared hosting, which many people will choose, they offer all the other major hosting plans. You can set up a reseller account with very good pricing. The starting plan has 25 cPanel accounts, which is enough to get you started. The top reseller plan has a dedicated IP address and 100 cPanel accounts. A two-year plan costs $9.74 a month, which is much better than many other hosts. HostGator has plans starting at $37 a month, and that is just the introductory offer. HostGator is so bad that they don’t even tell you what you will pay after the introductory offer. How people still choose them is beyond me.
You can also get semi-dedicated hosting starting at $12 a month. I suggest going with a strong virtual private server rather than a shared semi-dedicated hosting plan. Go all in or don’t is how I see it. VPS servers start at $5 a month and go up to $160 a month for a large server that will certainly do the job. Most of these servers are located in the Dallas data center. You’ll have full root access no matter which plan you choose. I’ve only used GoDaddy for my VPS, and they have excellent customer support, but they are much more expensive.
You can register domains here, but you can register domains anywhere, so find the best price and move on. The dot com domains are $14.75 a year.
As for SSL, you have choices here too. We will get into this shortly, but this is one of the reasons I moved to Hawk Host.
Tip – Say you have a two-year payment plan, and your bill is due. Contact support and see if there is anything they can do to either keep your original payment or lower it somehow. They are likely to add a discounted credit of some kind.
Customer Service
I haven’t had many occasions to speak with the customer service team. There was one time when the data center lost power and the alternative power as well. When I visited the Hawk Host website, I was informed of this issue without needing to open a ticket. They were completely upfront about everything, which was the important part. It wasn’t fun during the outage, but I trusted they were doing everything possible to get it back online.
The other time I contacted support was to ensure my site was transferred over properly. This took no time, and I was good to go. The few times I reached out for minor things, the response times were fast. The only other web host with better response times that I’ve worked with is SiteGround.
Free SSL
SSL certificates are essential for your site, as both people and search engines look for them. These certificates allow your site to become a more trusted entity on the Internet. Without one, you might get flagged by a web browser. While the topic can be boring, you can find more information about SSL certificates and their uses.
For most websites, the free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate is sufficient. This certificate ensures that data will be encrypted.
Hawk Host does offer paid SSL certificates. You can pay between $14.99 and $400, depending on your needs. If you have a high-end e-commerce store, investing in a higher-end certificate might be beneficial. It enhances your brand’s trust value, and Google may favor this commitment to security.
One of the advantages of Hawk Host is that the Let’s Encrypt SSL is free. When you add your domain and any new domains going forward, it will be included automatically. While there might be cases where you need to add it manually, you should generally be good to go.
Tip – Unless you need a higher-end certificate, make sure you choose a host that offers the free certificate before signing up. This will save you a lot of time and money.
Who Needs Reddit?
You know that Reddit appears frequently in search results. Google emphasizes this so much that a strong percentage of those results are not great. While user-generated information can sometimes be better, this Hawk Host review is a user-generated guide. It provides my real-life experience with Hawk Host. So, if you come across a Reddit thread or Subreddit about Hawk Host, remember to link this review so people searching can see a real example of what it’s like to host with them.
My Sites Live Here
Some people say the host you use will affect your rankings. I’ve used over 30 web hosts since 2004, and I can say it helps, but not for the reasons you might think. If you use a host that has frequent outages, you’ll be affected. On the other hand, you may see increased success with AWS or the biggest hosting service providers, but the cost will go up significantly. Be realistic and determine your needs for your project. What I thought was going to be a cheap host turned out to be an exceptionally affordable host that hasn’t let me down.
Do It
If you are not having success with your current host or are looking for a highly reliable and affordable web host, I highly suggest you check out Hawk Host. They offer a variety of services and products, so you’ll need to select the one that suits you best. If pricing and customer service are important to you, Hawk Host is a great choice.
My experience with Hawk Host has been positive. From the affordable plans to the reliable uptime and excellent customer service, they have consistently met my needs. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to switch to a better hosting provider, Hawk Host is worth considering.
