Gaining traffic is what every website creator aims to do.
But higher traffic also means more bandwidth and data needs that your starting hosting provider probably can't provide.
If your website has outgrown its original hosting environment and you're looking for a better place to host your content, then this article is for you.
I've listed the best web hosting platforms for high-traffic sites for 2023. This way, you’ll get the best website experience possible.
What To Look For in Web Hosting for High Traffic Needs
But before that, you have to remember…
In order to find the best, you need to know what to look for.
There are 2 important things to consider. These are:
- Bandwidth and data transfer
- Reliability
Bandwidth and Data Transfer
If you're facing heavy traffic on your site, it's a given that you'll have high data needs. A good high traffic website hosting plan should have ample bandwidth and data transfer caps so you won't have to face any of your sites going unavailable due to insufficient data.
Reliability
A website outage is an online business's worst nightmare. This can cost you customers and sales which leads to lost opportunity and profit. To keep up with your customers’ needs, low outage risk is essential.
The Best Web Hosting Services For High-Traffic Sites
The options below are focused on VPS and dedicated server web hosting providers that are more effective in dealing with the demands of heavy traffic compared to shared hosting options.
Let’s take a closer look at these providers’ services.
Best Overall - BlueHost
BlueHost is the go-to web hosting provider for more than 2 million sites, including multi-million dollar companies with massive traffic.
Its VPS packages provide you with separate server storage space, so you won't have to share resources with other websites.
This translates to exceptional speed and reliability in dealing with high traffic demands, allowing for greater site stability that is unmatched by basic sharing packages.
Their basic VPS package starts at around $20 providing 200 GB of lightning-fast SSD server space, giving your site’s users a smooth experience and ample 1TB of bandwidth per month.
And if that isn’t enough, you can go up to a 3TB bandwidth per month with their Ultimate Plan.
Users also get extra freebies, such as SSL certification — a must-have if you want your site to show up as “secure” to your users.
What makes BlueHost stand out is its seamless and easy user experience, making it stress-free.
With out-of-the-box WordPress tools and resources such as cPanel, BlueHost makes creating, managing and updating your website as easy as pie.
BlueHost even provides a site staging feature that allows you to create a demo site to test changes on.
So if you're looking for a reliable, heavy-duty hosting provider that's feature-filled and easy to use, BlueHost is your best bet for an all-around excellent experience.
Cheapest VPS Option - A2 Hosting
If you're facing heavy traffic but don't have the deepest pockets, A2 Hosting provides the cheapest web hosting services.
The tradeoff, however, is that it's an unmanaged VPS. This means you won't get an easy-to-use interface and sleek design. If you plan on getting support from A2 Hosting, you better set aside time to brush up on your coding skills.
But, you'll get a full 2TB of bandwidth to support all your heavy traffic needs with their basic package for just around 5 bucks!
What's great about A2 Hosting is that they give you the ability to customize your hosting package, tailoring it to your needs. (However, these add-ons will cost you extra.)
If you’re on a budget but are looking for a way to make the most out of your money, A2 Hosting is a great option.
Simplest Hosting Pick - ScalaHosting
A simple, fool-proof web hosting provider perfect for individuals who just don't have enough free time is ScalaHosting.
Their VPS provides its own exclusive cPanel (called S-panel) to make the user experience even more trouble-free and easy to use.
A one-stop-shop for all your WordPress needs, their email management, and security features through the S-panel makes life a lot easier, especially if you've got a business to run.
While sufficient to handle moderate amounts of traffic, their servers aren't exactly the most up-to-date when it comes to hardware.
But if you're just starting or are running a pretty basic website, then ScalaHosting is a great option to consider.
Best Dedicated Server Option - Liquid Web
If you're facing next-level traffic and don't mind getting your hands dirty with the coding and technicalities, then Liquid Web's dedicated server package is a great fit for you.
Providing you both Linux and Windows-based hosting options, their servers sure do pack a punch, with 4 cores, 16 GBs of RAM, 250GB of SSD, 1TB of HDD storage space, and more on their most basic package offering.
Along with the impressive specs, you get a standard of 5TB bandwidth, so you won’t have to worry about having data caps.
With a 99% uptime guarantee, you'll almost never have to face pesky downtimes and hosting issues.
Their exceptional customer service is available 24/7 to answer any of your questions, ensuring your site keeps running by effectively managing any technical issues that may pop up.
Having your own dedicated server, with its added security tools, makes your site resilient to any outside attack. Plus, you won’t have to share your resources with other websites.
However, as it is with most dedicated server offerings, there is a high level of technicality involved in using Liquid Web. It’ll be difficult to manage everything if you're a one-man army.
It's also pretty expensive, costing around $170 a month (if you pay for a year in advance).
Best For Scalability - Nexcess
If you're running or want to run on WordPress, and are already thinking about the future, then Nexcess is your best bet.
With a plan for everyone, no matter where your site is on its journey to success, Nexcess makes it easy to switch plans depending on your site's needs.
With over 7 different packages for WordPress-managed web hosting, ranging from $15 to $800 monthly, you have enough flexibility and options to work with.
The best part is that they offer 2TB of bandwidth on their most basic option, which is an awesome value!
However, you won't have ample storage in their basic option, as 15GB of storage can be a little hard to run on, considering pre-existing software that’ll probably take up a few GBs before you start.
But if you're looking for a web hosting provider that supports scalability, you can’t go wrong with choosing Nexcess.
FAQs - Best Web Hosting For High Traffic
What Is Shared Hosting?
Shared hosting is when a single server houses numerous websites that all compete for the limited resources the server offers.
Why Isn’t Shared Web Hosting Recommended?
Shared hosting isn’t a good choice for anything other than small blogs and sites, as it is notoriously bad at handling high traffic and sudden demand spikes.
This results in websites crashing or becoming exceptionally slow, which isn’t the best if you’re trying to attract and keep viewers on your site.
They also aren’t as secure as other web hosting offerings.
Why Do I Need Web Hosting?
Without web hosting, your content will have no means of storage, meaning users won't have access to any information you want to put up.
That’s where a hosting provider comes in.
They host your content on their servers so that it’s available online for the world to see.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for the best hosting provider to manage your high traffic website, then this list offers a choice suitable for every type of site and budget.
Just be sure to select an option that's in line with your site's needs and the level of technicality you’re comfortable with.
Good luck!