How to Host a Website: Best Web Hosting for Affiliate Sites

How to Host a Website: Best Web Hosting for Affiliate Sites

Choosing a web hosting provider for your affiliate website isn’t a decision you want to rush.

If you make the wrong choice, you can find yourself tied into a year-long hosting plan that doesn’t fit your needs.

Choose the right hosting provider now, and you can save yourself from the headache of migrating your affiliate website later.

In this article, we’re going to cover the different types of hosting and reveal the top 10 hosting providers for affiliate websites.

We’ll also show you what to look for in a hosting provider and how to connect your domain name to your hosting.

Let’s get started.

What is Web Hosting?

Web hosting is where your website files are stored.

Every website on the internet needs web hosting.

When somebody types your domain name into their browser, the domain name points to an IP address at your hosting provider’s server.

This server stores all of your website’s files so anyone on the internet can access them.

If you think of your domain name as the street address of your website, your hosting is the building at the address.

Different Types of Web Hosting Services

There are lots of different types of web hosting you can use to get your affiliate site online.

Shared hosting is the most popular type of web hosting.

It’s an affordable option for new affiliate websites.

There are five more types of web hosting, each with its pros and cons.

They all do the basics of storing your website files, but costs can vary drastically depending on the reliability, storage, and control they offer.

Here’s a quick rundown of the six different types of web hosting:

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is the most popular type of hosting.

It’s the most affordable hosting option…

...And the vast majority of new affiliate sites will get everything they need to succeed with a shared hosting plan.

You don’t need to worry about updating or maintaining a server, enabling you to focus on building your site and growing your audience online.

As the name suggests, this hosting stores your site files on a server with several other websites.

You are sharing the server costs with multiple site owners.

That brings prices down significantly.

The downside of shared hosting is that the other websites on the server share the same memory and CPU.

This isn’t a problem for smaller websites, but as you grow your audience and get more traffic, this can result in slower website speed and a bad user experience.

You can find some great deals for shared hosting that cost as little as a few dollars per month.

Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting

A virtual private server (VPS) is a step up from shared hosting, but more affordable than a dedicated hosting plan.

It’s a good option for affiliate sites that need more control over the server and more resources to handle lots of web traffic.

VPS hosting is increasing in popularity, with the VPS industry estimated to grow 16.2% by 2026.

This hosting offers more control than a standard shared hosting plan but without the costs of a dedicated hosting server.

You will still share the server with other websites.

And you can still experience drops in performance if there is a spike in traffic on the server.

VPS hosting plans are usually quite flexible.

You can increase your share of the server when you experience spikes in traffic, like holiday promotions, and scale back when you’re in a quiet period.

If you reach the limits of a standard shared hosting plan, you’ll need to purchase an entirely new type of hosting.

With VPS hosting, you can scale up and scale back your hosting plan when you need to.

Dedicated Server Hosting

Dedicated hosting means your website is stored on a private server.

You rent an entire server from the hosting company, with complete control over the operating system, security, etc.

As you are the only website stored on the server, you have much more storage and bandwidth available.

You can expect much faster loading speeds and increased capacity for web traffic.

However, the benefits of dedicated hosting come at a price.

This type of hosting is more expensive than any other type of hosting on the list.

And you will be responsible for the server security and updates to the operating system.

Dedicated hosting is more suited to established websites with lots of traffic and the technical knowledge to handle the management of the server.

For a new affiliate site, this type of hosting is probably overkill.

Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting has taken off over the last few years.

By 2025, the cloud hosting industry is expected to grow by 20.7%.

While traditional web hosting stores your website on a single server, cloud hosting stores your website files across multiple servers.

This has some significant advantages.

When you grow your site, more resources can be dedicated to handle your increased traffic.

And if you see a dip in traffic, the number of resources you need declines, and you can scale back your hosting plan.

Improved reliability is another advantage of cloud hosting.

Because your website files are stored on multiple servers, there’s always another server to keep your website up and running if a server goes down.

Cloud hosting costs more than shared hosting, but it’s much more affordable than a dedicated hosting plan.

Managed Hosting

Managed hosting is similar to dedicated hosting, but the hosting provider will take care of the security, updates, and management of the server for you.

With an unmanaged dedicated hosting plan, you are given the admin details and left to your own devices.

A managed hosting plan offers the benefits of dedicated hosting, but without the responsibility of managing the server.

Technically, managed hosting includes shared hosting, VPS hosting, and cloud hosting.

If you want to purchase dedicated managed hosting, you can expect to pay anything from $50+ per month.

Colocation Hosting

Colocation hosting is more suited to larger affiliate websites that have lots of traffic and need lots of resources.

You rent space at a data centre to store web hosting hardware that you have purchased or rented.

It’s generally more secure and reliable than shared hosting or VPS hosting and offers complete control over your server.

However, the price of purchasing or renting hardware is beyond the means of the vast majority of new affiliate websites.

It is also your responsibility to manage and update the server.

Colocation hosting is a good option for well-established affiliate sites with lots of traffic.

Best Web Hosting Services for Affiliate Sites

Reliable web hosting provides a solid foundation for your affiliate website.

Poor quality hosting can result in slow loading times, security issues, and increased downtime that stops people from accessing your site.

The less time you spend dealing with these issues and the more time you can spend on affiliate promotion, the more money you can make.

We recommend using WordPress to build your affiliate site.

So which are the most popular hosting providers for WordPress users?

The big three of GoDaddy, Bluehost, and HostGator are the most popular.

But that doesn’t mean they will necessarily be a good fit for your affiliate site.

HostGator and Bluehost actually came last in our list of hosting providers according to server uptime.

There are over 338,561 web hosting providers in the world.

To help you narrow your options, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 hosting providers for affiliate marketing websites.

Below the list, you’ll find the most important features you should look for in a hosting provider.

In no particular order, here’s a rundown of the top hosting providers.

10 Best Hosting Providers for Affiliate Marketing Websites

1. Bluehost

Bluehost is a well-established provider with a range of affordable hosting plans.

They provide hosting for 1.3% of all websites on the internet.

Bluehost is one of the three WordPress recommended hosting providers...

...And there’s an easy 1-click installation to install WordPress on your site.

The key benefit of choosing Bluehost as a provider is the range of hosting plans they offer.

You can start with a shared hosting plan and upgrade to a VPS or dedicated hosting plan as you grow your site...

...There’s no need to switch to a new provider as you grow your site.

If you encounter any issues, Bluehost offers 24/7 phone support and live chat.

However, online reviews are mixed, with some customers claiming that Bluehost’s technical support is lacking.

Bluehost offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

2. Hostgator

If you want to keep hosting costs to a minimum, HostGator’s shared hosting plans are some of the cheapest around.

HostGator provides hosting for 1.9% of all websites.

Even the cheapest shared hosting plan offers unmetered bandwidth, a free SSL certificate, and 1-click WordPress installation.

They also offer VPS and dedicated hosting plans.

You can lock in a discounted promotional rate by choosing a three-year contract when you sign up.

There’s 24/7 phone and live chat customer support if you have any problems.

HostGator has some mixed reviews online, but their support team do seem to follow up every complaint and try to put things right.

There’s also a 45-day money-back guarantee.

3. InMotion

InMotion is a popular hosting provider with a good reputation for excellent technical support.

InMotion provides hosting for 0.5% of all websites.

They offer a range of hosting plans, with shared hosting available for a few bucks a month.

You get some impressive free extras included with every hosting plan, including DDoS protection, malware protection, and email spam protection.

Technical support is where InMotion sets itself apart from the competition.

If you encounter any problems, live chat and phone support are available 24/7.

InMotion’s support staff have an excellent reputation for fast response times and technical knowledge.

There’s a 90-day money-back guarantee for all annual hosting plans.

4. GoDaddy

GoDaddy is one of the biggest names in web hosting and domain registration.

They have over 19 million customers worldwide and manage over 21% of the world’s domains.

You can choose from a range of hosting plans, with the cheapest economy plan offering some decent features for the price.

It comes with free backup and restore, unlimited bandwidth, 10GB of storage, and free Microsoft Office 365 Business Email for the first year.

There’s 24/7 live chat and phone support if you have any problems.

GoDaddy has a good reputation for promptly dealing with any issues and responding to customer complaints.

There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee on all annual hosting plans.

5. 1&1 Ionos

1&1 Ionos is the leading web hosting provider in Europe.

They offer a comprehensive range of plans, with shared, VPS, dedicated, and cloud hosting all available.

1&1 IONOS hosts 1.0% of all websites on the net.

Cloud hosting is where 1&1 excels, with affordable monthly and annual plans for managed and unmanaged cloud hosting.

The shared hosting plan offers good value, with 1-click WordPress installation, unlimited traffic, daily backups, and a free SSL certificate.

You can also get a free domain name for the length of your hosting plan - not just for the first year.

You can access 24/7 phone, live chat, and email support if you have any problems.

There’s also a 30-day money-back guarantee on all annual hosting plans.

6. DreamHost

DreamHost does things differently to the other providers on the list.

DreamHost currently hosts 0.7% of all websites on the internet.

Rather than using cPanel, DreamHost uses its custom control panel.

It’s easy to use, but this could be a problem if you decide to move your site to a different host later.

They also offer the longest guarantee of all the providers on the list - a 97-day money-back guarantee.

DreamHost offers shared, managed, VPS, cloud, and dedicated hosting packages.

You can start with a shared plan and upgrade as your site grows and you need more resources.

As a WordPress recommended hosting provider, they provide 1-click WordPress installation on all hosting plans.

Pricing is another area where DreamHost does things differently.

Rather than offering a promotional rate for the first year, DreamHost offers transparent pricing that doesn’t increase after the first year.

Customer service is available via 24/7 live chat and email support…

...But you’ll need to pay $9.95 if you want to access phone support.

7. Hostinger

Hostinger is a budget provider that is used by 0.4% of all websites on the internet.

If you pay for a four-year plan upfront, you can lock in some cheap hosting for your affiliate site.

They offer shared, VPS, and cloud hosting plans.

The budget shared hosting plan is the most popular, but it does have its limitations.

You get a single website and subdomain, 100GB bandwidth, 10GB of storage, a single email address.

You’ll also need to pay for an SSL certificate.

There is a 1-click WordPress installation, and a free website builder included - although we wouldn’t recommend using it to create your site.

Customer support is available via 24/7 live chat and a ticket-based system on the Hostnger website.

There’s also a 30-day money-back guarantee.

8. GreenGeeks

GreenGeeks is a hosting company that stands out through its eco-friendly web hosting.

If you want to reduce the carbon footprint of your affiliate site, GreenGeeks is a great option.

Started back in 2008, GreenGeeks provides hosting to over 300,000 websites.

They offer shared hosting and VPS hosting plans.

The Lite shared hosting plan offers unlimited storage and bandwidth but is limited to a single website.

You can set up WordPress using the 1-click installer, and they provide free daily backups and a free SSL certificate.

If you need assistance, customer support is available 24/7 via ticket system, live chat, and phone.

GreenGeeks offers a 30-day money-back guarantee with all annual hosting plans.

If you’re in a “green” or “eco-friendly” niche, GreenGeeks is a great hosting option.

9. SiteGround

SiteGround is the third WordPress recommended provider, hosting 0.2% of all websites on the internet.

They offer shared and cloud hosting, with WordPress 1-click installation available on every hosting plan.

Siteground’s basic shared hosting plan comes with some great features for the price.

You get unlimited bandwidth, 10GB storage, free daily backups, a free SSL certificate, and a free content delivery network (CDN).

A CDN utilizes multiple server locations around the world to cache your website files and improve your site speed.

They offer three pricing tiers of shared hosting, but the cheapest plan offers more than enough for a new affiliate website.

You can easily upgrade your plan as your website grows and you need increased capacity for more web traffic.

SiteGround offers 24/7 customer support via email, live chat, and phone.

You can cancel your plan within 30 days for a money-back guarantee.

10. A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting offers shared, VPS, cloud, and dedicated hosting plans.

They provide hosting for 0.4% of all websites on the internet.

Every plan comes with 1-click install to set up WordPress.

The cheapest shared hosting plan comes with unlimited storage and bandwidth, 25 email accounts, a free SSL certificate, and CDN.

There’s a free site builder included with all plans, but we wouldn’t recommend using it to create your site.

As you move up to the next pricing tier, you get free automatic daily backups.

The top two pricing tiers provide access to high-performance hosting servers.

A2 Hosting claims their “Turbo” servers offer 20x faster website speed compared to a basic shared hosting server.

Customer support is available 24/7 via live chat, phone, and email.

A2 Hosting offers a 30-day money-back guarantee with all hosting plans.

What to Look for in a Hosting Provider

With so many options available, what should you be looking for in a hosting provider?

These are the seven most important features to look for when choosing a company to host your affiliate website.

1. Uptime

If your hosting server is down, people won’t be able to access your website, and you can’t make any money.

Server uptime is what you will be paying for, so you want this percentage to be as high as possible.

Hosting providers show their average server uptime in a percentage.

The vast majority of hosting providers have an uptime of 99%+, so you might be thinking;

Does it really matter if a company offers a slightly better uptime?

Yes, it matters.

We’ve compiled data from Hosting Facts and HRANK so you can compare the uptime of each hosting provider.

In the right-hand column, you can see the time your website will de down per year using the average uptime percentage of each provider:

1&1 Ionos comes out on top with an impressive 84 minutes downtime, and HostGator comes bottom of the list with 1,114 mins downtime per year.

If you choose a hosting provider not covered on the list, check the terms and conditions for an uptime guarantee, and run a search on HRANK to see how they perform when measured independently.

2. Customer Support

Even if you choose a hosting provider with excellent server uptime, you’ll probably encounter a problem at some point.

If you encounter a technical issue with your hosting, you want to be able to resolve it quickly.

Good hosting providers offer round the clock customer support to help you get your affiliate site back online.

The number of support channels depends on the provider, with some offering email, live chat, and phone.

You can test out the response times of different companies by contacting the presales team and seeing how long it takes for them to respond.

It’s also worth checking out what they’re existing customers are saying online about their experiences contacting customer support.

3. Domain Names

Some hosting providers limit the number of domain names you can point to your hosting server.

As you grow your site and develop your affiliate marketing business, you’ll start to notice new opportunities in different niches.

You might want to expand your business by purchasing a new domain and creating a new niche site.

If you purchase hosting from a company that limits the number of domains you can assign to your hosting plan, you’ll need to buy a separate hosting plan for your new site.

You can avoid this extra cost by purchasing hosting from a provider that offers unlimited domains.

When your site generates a large amount of web traffic, you’ll need separate hosting…

...But until then, you can save money by pointing all your sites to the same hosting server.

4. Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the amount of data your website can transfer to your visitors over a set period.

The higher the bandwidth, the more people can access your site at the same time, and the faster your website will be.

Hosting providers usually describe bandwidth as the number of gigabytes that can be delivered in a month.

Up to the point when you start to generate 5,000 visitors per month, you don’t need to pay too much attention to bandwidth.

The cheapest plans from hosting providers should be able to cope with your needs.

You can check the cPanel of your hosting account to see if you are getting close to your bandwidth limit.

It pays to prepare for the future and choose a provider with unlimited bandwidth or the option to upgrade your plan as your site grows.

5. Storage

A lot of hosting providers claim to offer unlimited storage.

However, if you check the terms and conditions, it usually states something like “within normal website usage”.

For the majority of affiliate websites, a few gigabytes is more than enough storage.

If you plan to create video courses or upload lots of video product reviews, check the fine print and choose a host with clearly stated storage limits before you purchase your hosting plan.

6. Reputation

One of the best ways to judge a hosting company is to check out what their customers are saying about them online.

If they provide a good service, there will be plenty of positive reviews and comments dotted around the web.

You can also check third party publications and websites to see what the experts are saying.

A simple search of Google should reveal the general reputation of any hosting company you are considering.

No company is perfect so expect there to be some negative experiences, but if the majority are positive, you can expect the company to be reliable.

If the company has hundreds of unhappy customers, move on and find a more reliable hosting provider.

7. Variety of Plans

The most successful people in any industry are the ones that plan for the future.

You’re looking for a hosting provider for your first website, but you should have goals and ambition to expand your affiliate business over time.

A shared hosting plan offers everything you need to get your site up and running…

...But you’ll want to upgrade to VPS or dedicated hosting when your site outgrows your shared plan.

It’s much easier to upgrade your hosting plan than it is to migrate your site to a new provider.

Think about where you want your site to be in a year and two years time, and choose a hosting provider that offers the services and hosting plan you can upgrade to when you need it.

Don’t Choose a Provider Because of a Free Website Builder

Hosting providers offer a bunch of extras to try and attract new customers.

A website builder is usually one of these free add-ons.

These free tools generally result in excess code and slow website speeds.

You’ll quickly find out that free website builders don’t offer the functionality and customization you need for your affiliate site.

What’s more, if you create your site using one of these website builders, you can find yourself tied to the hosting provider...

...And if you want to move, you’ll need to rebuild your site from scratch.

How to Link your Domain with your Hosting

Once you’ve registered your domain name and purchased web hosting, the next step is to connect the two and create your website.

Each domain registrar has a slightly different interface and control panel, but the basic steps are the same.

Here’s how to connect your hosting to your domain in 4 simple steps:

Step 1: Find Your Hosting Provider Nameservers

After you’ve purchased your hosting, you’ll receive an email containing your login details for your hosting control panel.

This email also contains your nameservers to connect your domain.

Nameservers will look something like this:

ns1.hostingcompany.com

This is what you need to paste into your domain name control panel.

Step 2: Add Nameservers to Your Domain

Head over to your domain registrar and log in to your account.

From your dashboard, you need to find the section that includes custom nameservers.

Depending on the domain registrar, this could be located in the sidebar, in a Manage Nameservers section, or in a DNS Settings section.

Step 3: Enter Your Nameservers

Once you’ve found the nameserver settings, you’ll see a screen that looks something like this:

You want to paste the nameserver you received in your welcome email into the Nameserver field.

Depending on the hosting provider, you may have several nameservers:

ns1.hostingcompany.com

ns2.hostingcompany.com

Paste each nameserver into its corresponding field and click “Change Nameservers”.

If you’re struggling to find the DNS settings in your cPanel, your domain registrar customer support will be able to help you.

They’ll usually connect your hosting for you if you provide the nameserver information from your welcome email and tell them you want to update your nameservers.

Step 4: Wait for Your DNS Settings to Update

Most domain registrars state that changes to your nameserver settings can take up to 72 hours to come into effect.

Everything is getting faster these days, and you might find that your nameservers are updated within a few hours.

You can check by typing your domain into your browser and visiting your website.

If your hosting is connected, you’ll see the landing page of your hosting account or a coming soon page.

That’s it!

You’ve connected your domain name to your hosting.

Conclusion

Hosting is an important element of a successful affiliate website.

Choose poor quality or limited hosting and you can place roadblock on your path to a successful and profitable affiliate website.

Once you’ve purchased your domain and your hosting, the only thing holding you back from creating your affiliate website is you.

It’s time to get to work, build your website, and start your journey to becoming a successful affiliate marketer.