The 2018 Business Choice Awards for web hosting recognized industry leaders like Bluehost, HostGator, and SiteGround for their reliability, customer support, and value. Winners were selected through user surveys evaluating uptime, speed, and scalability. These providers stood out for offering feature-rich plans, 24/7 technical assistance, and competitive pricing structures tailored for small businesses and enterprises alike.
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How Were the 2018 Business Choice Award Winners Selected?
The winners were determined through a combination of customer satisfaction surveys, performance metrics analysis, and editorial reviews. Participants rated providers on uptime guarantees, server response times, and troubleshooting efficiency. Criteria also included cost transparency, contract flexibility, and bonus features like free domain registration or SSL certificates.
The evaluation process incorporated weighted scoring across four quadrants: technical performance (40%), customer experience (35%), business value (15%), and innovation (10%). Over 22,000 hours of real-world usage data were analyzed through proprietary monitoring tools. Judges conducted blind tests of support response times across different time zones, with HostGator achieving 93% first-contact resolution rates. The survey pool included 1,200+ IT decision-makers from companies generating $1M-$50M in annual revenue.
| Evaluation Criteria | Weight | Top Performer |
|---|---|---|
| Uptime Reliability | 25% | SiteGround (99.991%) |
| Support Response Time | 20% | Bluehost (1m 47s) |
| Feature Completeness | 18% | InMotion Hosting |
What Security Innovations Did Recognized Hosts Implement?
Advanced DDoS protection layers and AI-driven intrusion detection systems became hallmark features. SiteGround pioneered automated daily backups with 30-day retention policies, while DreamHost rolled out free Let’s Encrypt SSL across all plans. Multi-factor authentication and Web Application Firewalls (WAF) transitioned from premium to standard offerings.
Hosts implemented real-time threat intelligence sharing networks in 2018, with A2 Hosting launching cross-server attack pattern recognition. GreenGeeks introduced biometric data center access controls, reducing physical security breaches by 82%. The table below shows security feature adoption rates among award winners:
| Security Feature | % of Winners Offering | Implementation Depth |
|---|---|---|
| Automated Backups | 100% | Daily + On-Demand |
| Web Application Firewall | 89% | Custom Rulesets |
| DDoS Protection | 95% | 10Gbps+ Mitigation |
Why Did Customer Support Quality Influence the Awards?
24/7 live chat support with under-2-minute response times became a critical differentiator. Hosts like A2 Hosting earned recognition for offering phone support in 15+ languages and maintaining detailed knowledge bases. Ticket resolution efficiency and proactive outage communication protocols significantly impacted final rankings.
How Have Pricing Models Evolved Among Award Winners?
Winners demonstrated transparent tiered pricing without hidden renewal cost spikes. Providers introduced “scale-as-you-grow” plans with RAM/CPU allocation flexibility. Notable trends included lifetime SSL certificate inclusions and unlimited bandwidth becoming standard even on entry-level shared hosting packages by 2018.
Which Emerging Technologies Shaped the 2018 Winners?
Adoption of HTTP/2 protocols and PHP 7.x optimizations became standard. GreenGeeks led in eco-friendly hosting through 300% renewable energy matching. Cloudways gained attention for simplified cloud infrastructure management, while WP Engine specialized in WordPress-specific caching configurations.
How Did International Server Networks Affect Rankings?
Providers with 10+ global data centers like Hostinger reduced latency through georouting DNS. Bluehost expanded to India/Singapore regions, improving Asian market load speeds by 62%. Latency benchmarks under 150ms for transatlantic connections became a key award consideration factor.
What Long-Term Impacts Did the Awards Create?
Winners experienced 40-75% traffic growth post-award announcements. The recognition accelerated enterprise adoption rates, with 38% of awarded companies securing government contracts within 18 months. Industry-wide, the awards pushed 89% of providers to eliminate setup fees and introduce money-back guarantees.
“The 2018 awards marked a turning point where user experience metrics outweighed pure technical specs in hosting evaluations. Providers that invested in real-time chat translation and predictive resource scaling dominated the rankings.” – Web Infrastructure Analyst
“Post-award analysis revealed a 212% ROI increase for hosts that combined free site migrations with onboarding checklists. This demonstrated the market’s shift toward holistic service value over isolated feature comparisons.” – Cloud Technology Strategist
FAQ
- Q: Did any new providers win in 2018?
- A: Yes, Cloudways and ScalaHosting made their debut as category winners, disrupting traditional market leaders through specialized cloud management interfaces.
- Q: Were WordPress-specific hosts recognized separately?
- A: While not a dedicated category, WP Engine and Flywheel received special commendations for managed WordPress hosting excellence within the broader awards framework.
- Q: How many companies participated in the survey?
- A: Over 8,500 verified business users contributed ratings across 22 hosting-related performance indicators during the 6-month evaluation period.