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With a reputation for reliable customer support and the leading-edge tech innovations they bring to the hosting space, if SiteGround isn't among your potential hosts, your list is lacking. CEO Tenko Nikolov and Founder Ivo Tzenov gave us an inside look at the tech behind their customer-centric hosting innovations.
Advertiser Disclosure
“With an impressive breadth of overall hosting services offered, SiteGround is a leading innovator in the hosting space — from custom software solutions to premier customer support. They offer the full range of web hosting features, including a free Cloudflare CDN, cPanel with SSH access, and unlimited MySQL databases and bandwidth — not to mention their prize-worthy customer support.
We got a chance to sit down with both the CEO, Tenko Nikolov, and Founder of SiteGround, Ivo Tzenov, to discuss the technology behind some of their incredible innovations. They gave us the inside scoop on SiteGround's features, and took us through the solutions they've engineered to enhance the user experience.
What's SiteGround's strongest "pull" factor, you ask? Well, customer service has been their claim to fame, without a doubt. However, customers come to SiteGround for the support, only to be blown away by the custom solutions they've built to make the hosting experience as stress-free as possible.
SiteGround has engineered an in-house chat software that allows users to select and rate thoroughly vetted customer service agents with whom they've worked previously. They've written their own ticketing system as well, which is comprised of an algorithm designed to select appropriate technical support representatives for specific tasks.
They've taken their preference for in-house software solutions for customer support and applied it to their entire business. "All of our infrastructure and all of our code beds are done internally," Tenko said.
For their shared hosting service, they've conceived a one-of-a-kind server isolation system that prevents vulnerable servers from taking down entire networks. In place of VPS hosting, they've built their own cloud container platform, featuring thousands of containers and top-notch scalability and security. All SiteGround hosting service users benefit from their unique downtime prevention mechanism, which has helped SiteGround develop their reputation for uptime rates: 99.996% annually and 99.999% monthly.
In the cases of caching and backups, customers have access to SiteGround's in-house SuperCacher, with a flexible range of options to meet any and all page load needs at optimum speeds. Their custom backup software improves upon technology off the shelf, which often takes up to a day to run. Instead, SiteGround customers receive daily backups from a system that only takes about an hour.
SiteGround is, without a doubt, an esteemed leader in customer service within the hosting industry. They've emphasized that commitment to quality with the unique, custom solutions they've built. On the development side, they devote a tremendous amount of time to UX testing, epitomizing their commitment to the user experience.”
“Hosting with the perfect balance of technological innovation and superior customer support, SiteGround offers a range of affordable hosting services to meet your needs. In addition to the expected cheap web hosting perks — free website builder and unlimited bandwidth — they specialize in the custom-built tools they bring to the table for technical and customer support.
SiteGround has developed their own ticketing system and custom chat software, allowing you to chat with trusted and capable representatives with whom you've had success in the past. Their custom software takes in around 1,500 chats on any given day. Their ticketing system uses an algorithm to assign tasks to the most appropriately qualified team member out of their dozen-or-so web developers.Their website itself receives about one million visitors per month, with users coming for both their tutorials and knowledge base articles written and updated by their tech support team.
"Everybody says we have 24/7/365 support," Tenko said. Once a month, SiteGround tests the support of a list of hosts, themselves included, with dummy accounts. They measure response times, politeness, responsiveness, et cetera, and if a competitor is really doing something well, SiteGround's team takes note and acts on that to improve their own services. “Quality is #1 for us, not the revenue or the numbers," Tenko told us.
For hosting users, SiteGround's interface and API are simple and intuitive. They have free automation-migration from popular hosting sources, so you can just input SSH data directly from your site. SiteGround makes it affordable and easy to get your website up and running, and their support crew doesn't leave your side at any point.”
“Looking for limitless server resources that are easily accessible across the globe? Look no further than SiteGround's dedicated hosting. Featuring multiple datacenters based out of the US, Europe, and Asia, SiteGround's dedicated servers offer extreme accessibility, scalability, and security.
If you're interested in dedicated hosting, you're probably not new to the web hosting community, as hosting on dedicated servers is designed for site owners faced with extremely high traffic volumes (ie. not entry-level site owners or mom-and-pop shops looking to build a web presence). These customers are therefore in need of a server dedicated to providing blazing-fast page load speeds and mega-scale bandwidth for their very popular website, and their website alone.
With dedicated servers, the key points to consider before choosing a host are bandwidth limitations, speed and processor performance, as well as RAM and storage options. To ensure your account is secure, you'll also want to look into data protection, downtime prevention, and of course, network size and overall security.
SiteGround starts you off with Intel Xeon E3 or E5 processors, with a minimum of four CPU Cores and eight Threads. Depending on whether you choose the "Entry Server", "Power Server", or "Enterprise Server" Plans, you'll be given 4-16GB of DDR3 RAM, and 8-15MB of CPU Cache. Disk space ranges across the three plans, from 500GB of SATA II to four 500GB SATA IIIs with RAID 10 (all HDD). Best of all, all SiteGround dedicated hosting customers are alotted five terabytes of bandwidth.
On the hardware side of things, SiteGround uses the latest hardware, while keeping replacement parts on-site for every model used. Their Dedicated Server Operations Team puts a tremendous amount of resources into testing and tweaking hardware configurations for optimum server performance. To reward their loyal customers, hardware is regularly updated, with seamless transitions and zero downtime. Overall, SiteGround averages 99.999% uptime each month and 99.996% annually.
For software, SiteGround prides itself on using mostly in-house solutions and performing their own custom patches and bug fixes for products bought off the shelf, which are also always kept up-to-date. "We really obsess over doing everything ourselves, because we believe that’s the best way to do it,” Tenko said. Their customer service offerings, including their ticketing and chat systems, were developed in-house, and offer top-level support 24/7.
In terms of security, SiteGround was the first to implement a unique server isolation mechanism that protects servers from becoming compromised by a single, vulnerable account. They actively monitor and detect security exploits. The unique downtime prevention software they developed detects and resolves the majority of server issues instantaneously, while most hosts take up to 40 minutes to detect, triage, and react to security breeches.
For unmatched support, server resources, and technological innovation, you can't go wrong with choosing SiteGround as a dedicated server host. As Tenko put it best: “Quality is #1 for us, not the revenue or the numbers.””
“When it comes to VPS hosting, SiteGround does things a little differently. Instead of managing a typical virtual private server network, they have their very own cloud platform that they built from the ground-up. It's similar to VPS, with shell access included, but it's much more scalable, according to Tenko.
Their managed cloud hosting includes thousands of containers and is much faster than most products you'll find on the market. A single cloud instance can be provisioned, up, and running in seconds, according to Tenko. "Unlike most of the container cloud platforms out there, it's completely secure," he said.
Tenko also told us they've done around 70 kernel patches to ensure security for their cloud hosting innovation. “We’re really obsessed with performance and security," he said, "and we really obsess over doing everything ourselves, because we believe that’s the best way to do it.”
When asked about the motivation behind crafting an in-house cloud platform rather than using a container product off the shelf, Tenko said, "there are a lot of reasons, but the main one is flexibility." It may require more groundwork in the beginning, but being able to dictate changes to the technology means that SiteGround stands out, providing an enhanced, faster, more-scalable service. "People feel that they're getting something custom," he said.
The container platform that their cloud hosting is built upon isn't the only in-house technology they've got up their hosting sleeve. Instead of using third-party software, the SiteGround team writes almost all of their software themselves.
Among SiteGround's many custom solutions is their unique server isolation system. The technology shields servers from falling victim to the vulnerability of single, corrupted accounts. SiteGround was the first in their field to develop such a mechanism.
SiteGround also created their own backup system, which runs daily backups in about an hour, a downtime prevention mechanism that has yielded stellar uptime rates, and their SuperCacher, which offers four caching options for optimum load times.
Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, SiteGround developed the software to build their very own chat system and ticketing system, which enable them to provide the ultimate customer support. Ivo told us, "customers come for the customer service, but they stay because of the technology."
With each custom innovation SiteGround has engineered, customers have reported being pleasantly surprised by how much the technology simplifies their hosting experience. SiteGround's cloud hosting service is no different. They offer all the hit features they're known for, plus the added scalability and security that surpasses most VPS hosting providers. If you're ready to move beyond shared hosting, and want to do so with a king of customer service and tech solutions, look no further than SiteGround's cloud hosting.”
“Want a hassle-free, WordPress-compatible hosting service? SiteGround has thought of everything you need to get your site up and running. Starting with the essentials, users get free email accounts, site transfer, Cloudflare CDN, and cPanel license. Then they make it simple for you to start rolling out content by offering easy, single-click installs for popular CMSs, including WordPress.
With SiteGround's WordPress hosting, you'll find features you would normally only have access to with managed (more cost, less control, compared to shared) WordPress hosting services. "Our WordPress product has several distinct characteristics that make it attractive to the end user," Ivo told us.
Users experience a seamless site transition with transferring conducted by SiteGround's WordPress experts, with a free template and template installation included as well. Sites experience no downtime during the transition, but that's no surprise given that SiteGround is reputed for an incredible 99.999% monthly uptime rate (99.996% annually!).
SiteGround's unique downtime prevention software monitors servers' statuses in real-time and resolves over 90 percent of server issues instantly and automatically. With most competitors, it can take an average of 5-20 minutes to detect, plus up to 20 minutes to react to and resolve issues.
SiteGround's WordPress hosting also features autoupdates to the core and plugins, with WordPress caching built-in as well. Users can easily stage and deploy changes to their site, with SiteGround's single-click staging, and Git is available for version control. "Our customer feedback on these features has been extremely positive," Ivo said.
SiteGround's technical support and reliability is uncanny. In addition to downtime prevention, they've developed a server isolation system that prevents vulnerable servers from devastating entire networks; SiteGround was the first to innovate in such a way in the shared hosting space.
When their team of about 26 developers, designers, and DevOps gurus isn't writing and building premier solutions from scratch, or coming up with new tutorials and knowledge base articles for the SiteGround site, they're talking to customers directly.
On the customer support side of things, SiteGround hits the ball out of the park. Two innovations contribute to their unbeatable customer service: their ticketing/help desk and chat system. Both of these user-focused software solutions were custom-built in-house.
The ticketing system they designed uses an algorithm to select appropriate tech ops team members for specified jobs. Users can submit support ticket requests under an array of categories and can expect a reply in 10 minutes or less (usually less). The algorithm calculates based on skill level and specialty, assigning the most appropriately qualified developer to each job in the queue.
The custom chat system harnesses the relationships built in previous chat scenarios by allowing users to select team members they've previously worked with, rather than waiting on the next available agent. Customers can also preview profiles and rate representatives based on their experiences.
Tenko and Ivo took us through an impromptu demo of the chat system, revealing both the ease of use of the product and the genuine helpfulness and responsiveness of their Support Team members, who had no idea who they were chatting with at the time.
From in-house solutions on the technical side to warm and unwavering support from a customer service angle, SiteGround has crafted a complete package for any hosting need. For WordPress-specific hosting, they offer popular perks that you wouldn't necessarily get with other shared hosting providers. Get started with all of the awesome freebies, enjoy their helpful and polite team, and prepare to be blown away by SiteGround's commitment to building hosting solutions intended to make your web experience easier than ever.”
“Do you know you need to build a website, but don't know where to begin? Well, SiteGround will start you off with unlimited email accounts, site traffic, and database storage options — all for free. Those are just some of the essential starting perks.
From the beginning, you'll also experience unrivaled customer service, whether you're transferring a domain or want a relatively hands-off experience starting your very first site. Even web savants will love the support they receive from SiteGround.
SiteGround hosting includes easy installations for your choice of CMS, including WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Magento. Their WordPress experts will even migrate your site for you — a seamless transition with zero downtime — or first-timers can benefit from their in-house setup wizard.
Once you're up and running, if you run into any trouble, their custom ticketing and chat systems' software has been engineered and implemented to provide you with pleasant and tech-savvy customer support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
SiteGround offers tons of additional freebies and add-ons to make building your website with WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, or Magento intuitive and stress-free.
Other WordPress website-building perks you'll enjoy with SiteGround include staging options to easily test and deploy changes to your site. Their SuperCacher offers four different caching options, including those for static and dynamic content, for optimized page loading. You can also opt to have Git pre-installed, so you'll always have version control and revision history.
SiteGround also conducts daily site backups, using their own in-house system that can run backups in about an hour, compared to rival technologies that can take up to half a day to operate. For "GrowBig" and "GoGeek" Plan customers, up to 30 copies of these backups are available.
Tenko told us that customers "come for the customer service, but they stay for the technology." Whether you're a hosting newb or a site-building savant, you can trust SiteGround to provide you with a hosting and website-building combo that's simple to manage and pleasant to troubleshoot.”
SiteGround's easy-to-navigate interface is stocked with tons of free, easy, single-click installs, as well as plenty of upgrades and add-ons. The all-inclusive UI with cPanel is simple-to-learn and houses flexible options for users of all skill and comfort levels, to help them get started.
Plus, SiteGround's in-house experts are there to help 24/7/365. Whether you're looking for expert assistance with WordPress setup or some tips for marketing your site, their tech support team has assembled a series of tutorials, guides, and step-by-step resources to make launching a website with SiteGround hassle-free.
SiteGround's commitment to customer service is made clear by the technology they've built to support their users. Easily submit new issues regarding billing, development, site transfer, installations, and more using their Support ticketing system they've developed in-house, or click to chat with a representative using their custom chat system.
SiteGround offers a range of hosting plans to meet your shared hosting needs (as well as those for dedicated and Cloud hosting). All of their shared hosting plans come with the "essentials:" website transfer service, app installations, email accounts, plus unlimited traffic and MySQL databases, with 24/7 support and a 30-day money-back guarantee. You'll also receive free daily backups, as well as cPanel, Cloudflare CDN, and of course, SiteGround's outstanding uptime (99.996% yearly, 99.999% monthly).
Storage allotted is 10GB, 20GB, or 30GB, and sites can handle approximately 10,000, 25,000, or 100,000 visits per month, depending on your plan. Their "StartUp" Plan is perfect for kick-starting a single site, while the "GrowBig" and "GoGeek" Plans allow you to build multiple sites with priority tech support, 1-year SSL certificate, and their SuperCacher for optimum speed. "GoGeek" users also receive "Geeky Advanced Features," which include fewer accounts per server, advanced hardware, free PCI compliance, and pre-installed Git and staging.
All of these plans come packed with the best features for the some of the best prices you'll find. To save at checkout, you might want to try DealCrunch.com for a SiteGround coupon or promo code. But even without such a discount, we consider SiteGround's pricing to be a great value for what you get.
SiteGround prides itself on innovating with ideas previously considered implausible. For example, in the early days of shared hosting, the drawbacks to running on shared servers were typically weakened security and hindered performance. "Isolation between shared hosting accounts was considered impossible," Tenko told us. "People told us we couldn't do it, and we did." SiteGround was the first to implement a unique mechanism that isolates server accounts, so that vulnerable accounts can't be the demise of entire networks.
SiteGround also offers free daily backups to their customers. In the past, the backup systems available took up to half a day to generate results. They created their own backup system, which takes about an hour to run, at no additional cost to users of any of their packaged plans. "GoGeek" users can also receive up to 30 copies of these backups.
Wondering how SiteGround stacks up againt other web hosting services? See our host-vs-host reviews below and compare them side by side.
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SiteGround is the winner
9 out of 10 times.
Alexandra Leslie
Hosting Expert:
A hosting hero when it comes to customer service and tech solutions, SiteGround is a dominate leader in web hosting, across the board. Tenko and Ivo offer hands-on support to their team when it comes to the development side of ensuring quality as a top priority. Their attention to detail is reflected in the rigorous UX testing, 24/7/365 customer support with custom-built software, and of course, their supreme uptime. Whether you're looking for shared, dedicated, first-time, or cloud hosting, SiteGround is prepared to meet your needs with top-tier features and an incredibly responsive and polite approach.
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Overall Rating 5.0 / 5.0★★★★★ |