Online learning is becoming a trend these days and educators are finding it overwhelming to bring their courses online.
What’s more, hosting fees can become expensive when you don’t use the right provider that can give you the best value for money.
While your goal as an educator isn’t exactly to earn a profit, it doesn’t hurt to make your digital presence affordable.
And so we’ve decided to help you out by finding the best web hosting for education that will meet your needs and not drain your wallet.
Let’s get started.
What to Look For in the Best Web Hosting for Education
Here are a few things to look for when finding a good web hosting provider for educators:
- Affordability
- Security
- Ease of use
- Customer support
- Scalability
Affordability
This is one of the most important factors in looking for a web hosting provider.
If you aren’t aware, there are web hosting services that can cost as low as $3 per month. And they offer great features, too!
So there’s really no need to be spending more than $10 a month for a web host.
Security
Security should be a major concern, especially when you’re going to be teaching students. Look for a provider that gives a free SSL certificate and continuous backup and security measures.
Ease of Use
Not all teachers are coders. In fact, there’s a slim chance that you’ll know how to code (unless you’re an IT educator).
Wouldn’t it be nice to just have a drag-and-drop interface for your site?
Not only does this save time, but it also lessens the stress of having to learn how to put up everything from scratch.
Customer Support
Educators will want to be able to easily ask for help when something goes wrong on their platform. So, 24/7 customer support is a must.
And that’s not all. The customer service should be strong and effective so you don’t get frustrated.
Scalability
As you continue educating online, the information and the content you make available on the web increase.
There’s a high chance that you surpass the given storage space. So it’s a lot easier if you find a web hosting service that will allow you to change hosting plans seamlessly to prevent any downtime on your site.
Best Web Hosting Providers for Education
Now that you know what to look for, here are the best web hosting for education:
Let’s take a look at each one.
Bluehost
Quick facts:
- Free domain for the first year
- Free SSL Certificate
- Free 24/7 lifetime support
- 50 GB SSD storage (on the basic plan)
- Access to free and premium WordPress themes
- Built-in website builder
Bluehost is a very well-known web hosting provider for beginners. Let me tell you why.
First, Bluehost is very affordable. Its basic package for shared hosting plans can be less than $3 on your first month. Perfect for price-sensitive educators!
Second, it has very strong customer support. You can reach them on several channels, so you won’t have to worry about accessibility.
And if those aren’t enough, you’ll love the fact that Bluehost has its own resource protection.
What’s that? It’s another layer of protection on your domain that will prevent your site from getting affected by problems of other sites in the shared server.
So there’s affordability, customer support, and protection. There’s really nothing Bluehost can’t give you.
And if you’re wondering if you should use their shared hosting or a different plan, you can always get a free consultation.
How to Make a School Website With BlueHost
Quick facts:
- 100% (August 2023) uptime
- Unlimited databases
- Free SSL
- Free 24/7 customer support
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Daily automatic backups
SiteGround may not be as affordable as Bluehost, but it’s definitely one of the most reliable.
Yep, this web hosting service has a 100% (August 2023) uptime, which means that there’s a rare chance that your website will be down.
Plus, if you ever experience downtime during the first month, you can get a refund thanks to their 30-day money-back guarantee.
What SiteGround does differently than other providers is its eco-friendly model. The company aims to match the energy they use up to the same amount of renewable energy they produce. A plus for environmentally concerned educators.
The only problem with this provider is that they don’t have a lot of storage space for their basic plan.
Usually, basic plans give 50 GB, but SiteGround only gives a fifth of those. So you better check if this storage space is enough for your site’s data.
Quick facts:
- Free domain for the first year
- Free SSL Certificate
- Unlimited websites
- Quick installer for different websites
- Access to free and customizable layouts
- Minimum of 1-year subscription lock
When it comes to affordability, iPage almost matches Bluehost in its packages.
This web hosting provider offers one of the lowest packages and they become even more affordable if you subscribe for more than a year.
This makes it perfect for teachers on a budget.
But don’t worry, the price doesn’t affect iPage’s long list of features.
For example, iPage has a lot of freebies like an SSL certificate, a domain (only free for your first year), a standard email address, and a website builder.
And you also get unlimited websites that you can use. So it’s really great especially when you need your students to make websites of their own.
However, the downside of iPage is that you have to lock yourself to a plan for at least a year. There aren’t any monthly subscriptions available.
Quick facts:
- Unlimited domains in 1 account
- 10 GB SSD storage
- Free SSL certificate
- 150 email accounts
- Website builder with 400+ templates
AccuWeb Hosting is another web hosting service that can definitely give you affordable fees on a shared hosting plan.
They may not be as affordable as the others (they’re a few cents more expensive), but they definitely have a complete security package.
AccuWeb Hosting has daily website backups, anti-spam cloud service, multiple layer DDOS protection, and 24/7 secure monitoring.
Rest assured all your files and student accounts will be protected here.
Moreover, AccuWeb Hosting allows you to have unlimited domains on 1 account. Perfect for educators who will require their students to make their own sites.
Quick facts:
- Free SSL
- Free domain (on the first year)
- 2 websites
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Automatic backups for your site
And of course, there’s InMotion Hosting.
InMotion Hosting might not be the most affordable web hosting service out there, but it definitely makes up for it in its 90-day money-back guarantee.
If you subscribe to them for at least 12 months, you get this guarantee on top of a big discount for subscribing for longer than a month.
What I love about InMotion Hosting is they allow you to have 2 websites on their basic plan. They also have unlimited bandwidth, so you don’t have to worry about slow loading times.
The only problem with this provider is that you have to subscribe for at least a year to get a more affordable monthly price. And even with that discount, InMotion Hosting is still a lot more expensive than its competitors.
Web Hosting for Education FAQs
Have any questions about web hosting?
Let’s take a look at some FAQs.
What Type of Web Hosting Do You Need?
The type of web hosting to choose depends a lot on the storage you need, your budget, and the protection you want for your site.
Shared hosting is the most affordable option, but it also offers the least storage.
Dedicated hosting gives you the most protection in terms of uptime and technical problems, but it’s also very expensive.
Are There Discounts for Students or Educators?
This depends on your chosen web hosting provider.
Sometimes, these discounts aren’t shown on their website so it’s best to ask their customer service representative.
Conclusion
As an educator, you don’t want to be spending a lot on a web hosting provider.
But at the same time, you should also go for a provider that gives the most value-for-money plans.
Pick any of these providers, and you’re sure to be in good hands.