Recently I was researching for another article when I came across several sites recommending BlueHost for the best UK hosting. I’ve known about BlueHost’s services for several years, and they have always received extremely positive reviews.
However, I was unaware that BlueHost offered UK hosting. This got me digging a little further to see if Is Bluehost a good choice for UK websites.
Does it Matter If your Site Is Hosted Within the UK?
I created this site back in 2006 to help users find UK web hosting services. Large USA based companies dominated the market. So it made it difficult for users to find reliable UK web hosting.
Web hosting and technology was also very different back then. You couldn’t rely on services such as content delivery networks (CDNs). So web hosting services were often slower for the UK (and other countries).
So what about now? – If you are not making use of a CDN, then your website will be slower if you host your website with a hosting provider overseas simply because the information has to travel further to get to the user.
Benefits for SEO – There was a Google video posted (some 11 odd years) ago on the Google’s Webmaster Youtube channel where a user-submitted a question asked what impact the server location has on your search results. The answer was server location has a massive effect on how Google ranks your site compared to a server located in another country.
You should note this is not the only ranking factor, by any means, but it is an indication to search engines where your likely audience is. Google has come out saying since this video saying that:
“Server location (through the IP address of the server) is frequently near your users. However, some websites use distributed content delivery networks (CDNs) or are hosted in a country with better server infrastructure. So, we try not to rely on the server location alone.”
Meaning that you should be choosing a server location as close to your target audience where possible or by using a CDN if you cannot.
Benefits for user experience – The closer your website is to your visitors, the faster your site will load for them. Every time the user requests a page, it has to be retrieved from the server a server located in London should load quicker than a request from say Dallas, Texas for a user within the UK.
Does BlueHost Offer UK Servers?
Finding out where Bluehost locate their customers was not as straight forward as I thought. Bluehost does not display this on their website. However, after some further digging and testing of sites that I know are hosted by Bluehost, I managed to find BlueHost’s servers base their servers in Provo, Utah (USA). So technically, Bluehost does not offer UK based web hosting plans.
Having your website set up on a CDN will make your website load faster if the majority of your visitors are within the UK though.
Should I Host My Site With BlueHost?
Bluehost is an extremely reputable company that have been offering web hosting services for many years—so choosing them as a web hosting provider makes a sound choice. As with many decisions, it is down to personal requirements.
My recommendation will always be to choose a UK web hosting provider if your target audience is within the UK. It makes sense, especially for businesses or individuals based in the UK too. Why host your website overseas if there is no real requirement to do so.
Tip: You can Compare UK Web Hosting Providers with our web hosting comparison.
What are some Alternatives to BlueHost For the UK?
If you are looking for an alternative to Bluehost for the UK, then one of the following plans are equivalent in both features and price to BlueHost’s service.
| Provider | Server Location | Space | Bandwidth | Number Of Sites | Performance | Automated Backups | Price | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluehost | USA | 50GB | Unlimited | 1 | Standard | No | £2.83 | Info |
| Krystal | UK | 10GB | Unlimited | 10 | Standard | Yes | £4.99 | Info |
| Hostpapa UK | UK | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Standard | No | £1.95 | Info |
| UK2.Net | UK | Unlimited | Unlimited | 10 | Standard | No | £3.00 | Info |
| JustHostMe | UK | 50GB | Unlimted | Unlimited | High | Yes | £4.99 | Info |
Conclusion
As we already discussed, BlueHost offers an excellent service, so choosing them as a web hosting provider would make a sound choice for anyone.
Bluehost has lots of satisfied customers in the UK using their services alongside a CDN. However, this does come at an additional cost.
If you are looking for servers within the UK, then Bluehost doesn’t make a sound choice, in my opinion. Why host your site overseas with no apparent benefit in doing so.