Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.
I had the pleasure to review SiteGround hosting, and I was amazed at how greatly organized they are in their member sign-up and order processing. I was also very well amazed when after signing up to SiteGround I didn't log onto their website due to the fact that I was busy so they sent me an email the day after reminding me that I hadn't touched the website with my new membership to them. I thought this was so cute and convenient! Had they not reminded me I actually would not have signed into their website until way later.
The good thing of starting up on SiteGround is that they offer tutorials for you to understand what to do right on the front page. I needed a bit of helping so I went snooping around to try to understand what to do.
After I clicked on some tutorials I had a base idea of what I was to do so I clicked on the upper right corner where it says "Get Your New Site Up And Running". Once here, the process to setting up was rather easy (so I thought) until I encountered the question of which software I was going to use.
Of course, I am barely a beginner on my first hosting site, and this question totally threw me off guard. Naturally, I picked the last offer which was obviously "I don't know yet." This can be a major setback to SiteGround if there are many other beginners flocking to SiteGround and face this question that may discourage them to continue.
Next, SiteGround sent me to Step 2 and there was a major problem there. SiteGround asked me to sign up for Wordpress to continue on with the many features it offers. Let's back it up a bit... I'm currently using a Blogger platform and have been using it for a while, a Wordpress account and a blog on that site was not necessary at all. After many attempts to skip this step or take that option away, I searched for help.
Props to SiteGround for making the search for help readily available and easy to find, a plus on beginner's eyes. After trying many questions and keyword placement and rearrangements on the search bar and still not finding anything, I went forth with trying Live Help.
The person I got to help didn't really understand what I was trying to say and claimed that he had fixed it (the fact that I didn't want to use Wordpress, so if I could skip that or something) but answered all the other questions I had, the main one being, do I HAVE to use Wordpress? He said no and said he fixed it and that it should appear in some time after.
(There's information on the person that is helping you, a sort of employee profile visible to the customer that wants to see it. That, I think, is a very good idea as some people want to know who is the person helping us and if what they tell us is based off on them having experience and can be trusted.)
I waited three days to be sure I wasn't going to check on SiteGround to quickly to see if the problem was still there and to give time to the kind lad that had helped me take away whatever he said he was going to take away.
BAD NEWS: I go back in into SiteGround and the problem is still there, after waiting three days to make sure there was a change. I thought, "Well, what the heck... Let me sign up for Wordpress and see what SiteGround is all about and has to offer." I sign up and choose a theme for Wordpress to be faced with an error. An error that says that my account for Wordpress couldn't be done and there were some errors that were sent to the headquarters of SiteGround to try to fix it... After so many problems, I gave up. There is too many problems in only the beginning process, one wonders how it'd be further down the road.
Cons of SiteGround: They have a very good program on the website that functions very well to what a customer is searching for, especially for Tutorials. There's a vast array of tutorials and help to whomever needs it and that is a very good thing. Their customer live help is also very good, with the trainees helping a customer answering right away and showing excellent manners and answering one's questions as much as they can. Their e-mails to a person are also not evasive, they don't spam up a customer's inbox unless it is necessary and is in good cause. They have some features that are very beginner friendly (even though the majority isn't) but still, props to that.
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
