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GoDaddy Gone Bye Bye

When I had my website created and setup with Jim Daniels and his Daughter Sarah, all of my hosting was done as a companion site on his master GoDaddy server platform. I had no problem with this procedure as I found out right off the bat that I could access my site quickly as an individual entity apart from any connection with his or any other site on the server.

As stated in earlier blogs, by doing it this way he has been able to create, add to, monitor, and help me resolve issues that I have encountered as I faced startup issues and built my blogging landscape. I pay a reasonable monthly fee for this service and I have been happy with the benefits received thereof.

Recently, he needed to upgrade his main GoDaddy server to a higher performance level, both for his websites, and those of all his piggybacked website clientele such as myself. Needless to say, that procedural change didn’t go well at all. GoDaddy was constantly botching the whole thing and tying up his, mine, and everyone else’s efforts to post new blogs while waiting for a completed product that never did finalize properly as far as I know.

Does This Mean A New Hosting Platform Is Needed?

When he notified me that he was having trouble with his GoDaddy transfer machinations, he asked me if I had a preference for another hosting entity.  I responded by stating that a number of other bloggers that I follow recommended BlueHost as a web hosting entity. His response to my suggestion was not what I was expecting.

He replied by stating that he could not do BlueHost for the main reason that it was showing horrible reviews on a web hosting review site called TrustPilot. He sent me the link to the site and I was surprised to see that the commentaries for that heavily recommended hosting platform evidenced a substantial number of dissatisfied users.

Of course, that got me to thinking. The bloggers that were advising their followers to sign up with BlueHost were doing so through their affiliate link to the site. That means the blogger was receiving a recurring commission from BlueHost every time a newbie used their link to sign up with the web hoster. I then realized I had not completed my homework when I asked Jim to sign me up with them.

However, he said he would transfer me to BlueHost if I really wanted to go that route, but that he would not be able to service my account any longer. Horrors! Abort, abort, abort, I told myself, and dropped the idea.

SiteGround In My Sites?

I immediately got back onto the TrustPilot reviews site and pulled up another online hosting platform that I had seen listed as a top 5 recommendation on several other site-review websites. The name was SiteGround.

The ratings were a smidgen shy of excellent. I then pulled up the host website itself and went over the features of various plans and services. WP Beginner, a blogger newbie informational service, showed that SiteGround was a top recommendation on their radar. They also showed that SiteGround offered a free SSL encryption to your existing domain (https vs. http).

For those customers who were not happy with individual issues regarding their use of SiteGround for hosting their websites, TrustPilot posts replies from SiteGround. The representatives give an explanation for what caused the issue and their upfront disclosures that are set forth to each new customer to help them make informed decisions before signing up.

In the meantime, Jim was pushing for another site called HostWinds. The trouble with them surfaced immediately. They were down all night when other website transfers were taking place. Also, TrustPilot raised a big red flag on their review of HostWinds when it displayed an apologetic commentary stating that feedback for the HW Platform showed multiple instances of Fake Reviews!

As a result of my research, I got back to Jim and stated that my first choice was going to be SiteGround. I expressed the major concerns I had with HostWinds and referenced my findings with the information I alluded to above. He finally got back to me with his decision on where to transfer me once and for all : It was SiteGround!

He informed me that he was moving my site to SiteGround along with other clients of his. He chose the GoGeek WordPress Plan which allows for an unlimited number of websites, 30 GB (gigabytes) of web space, and 100,000 visitors monthly. On top of the free encryption service, the plan offers WordPress Super Cacher that promises to speed up my blog significantly.

When tuning up my site during the transfer, Jim disabled the other Cache Plugins on my administrator. This way they would not conflict with the WordPress Super Cacher that would now handle my website performance.

Wrapping Up

The transfer to SiteGround was started on a Thursday and the GoGeek WordPress Plan program was ordered by Jim to be set up and running by the following Monday. On Monday, I posted 4 blogs that had been nesting in Draft Mode on the old GoDaddy platform. I updated the plugins, included the relevant commentaries, and made a few home page changes on my WordPress site through the new SiteGround hosting platform.

There were a few glitches at first, but everything began working smoothly shortly thereafter. I also installed a plugin for backing up my site which I will discuss in another blog.

How well it works remains to be seen. I will post an update on functionality, speed, and down times when I have had time to evaluate everything. Until then!

I am requesting that my readers click on the links provided and download a sample read of each book and give a review on Amazon. You will have free access to the first four chapters of each book. My hope is that you will like the story lines enough to obtain either an eBook version or a paperback copy that you can put on your bookshelf as a masterpiece when you are done. FATE STALKS A HERO I: RESURGENCE, FATE STALKS A HERO II:THE FIJI FULCRUM, and THE SAGA OF HERACLES PENOIT. I will be giving excerpts on these works in upcoming blogs to familiarize you the reader with exciting details about the contents of each one. Thank you!
 

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