Frequently asked questions

Start with what's already included before buying anything new. SuperCacher and Speed Optimizer ship with every SiteGround plan and handle server-level caching, image compression, and front-end optimization for you. Slow sites are usually the result of unoptimized images and too many active plugins, so that's where to look first.

Our WordPress performance guide lays out the order that works best: dynamic caching, then front-end optimization, then a fresh speed test before you consider adding a third-party plugin.

SuperCacher is the server-side caching engine, and Speed Optimizer is the WordPress plugin that puts a dashboard on top of it, along with front-end features like lazy loading and minification. Dynamic caching turns itself on for most plans automatically, so you're already benefiting from it whether or not you've opened the plugin.

Where hands-on configuration helps is WooCommerce stores and membership sites, where cart and checkout pages sometimes need to be excluded so every visitor doesn't end up seeing the same cached page. See SuperCacher for how to set exclusions.

An inode is a unit that counts every single file on your account: every image, every email, every cache file, every log entry. Shared hosting plans cap the total number, and the usual culprit isn't your website content at all, it's an accumulation of old backups, cache files, or a mailbox with years of unread messages.

Deleting unused plugins, clearing the media library of duplicate uploads, and emptying old email folders usually solves it. Our guide on reducing inode usage ranks the biggest offenders.

A content delivery network keeps copies of your images, CSS, and JavaScript on servers around the world, so someone browsing from another country pulls those files from a nearby location instead of your one origin server. You'll notice the difference most if your visitors are spread across several countries.

Turning on the SiteGround CDN takes a couple of clicks in Site Tools and doesn't touch your DNS or code. See managing your CDN to turn it on.

Hosting for WordPress runs on the same shared infrastructure as regular web hosting, but with WordPress pre-installed, automatic core and plugin updates handled for you, and tools like staging and one-click cloning already built into Site Tools. If your site runs on WordPress, there's really no downside to picking the WordPress-specific plan.

See WordPress hosting vs. web hosting for the full comparison.

WordPress shows this deliberately vague message whenever a PHP fatal error stops the site from loading, most often right after a plugin or theme update introduces a conflict. It won't tell you which plugin, but your PHP error log will.

If you have file access, use the file manager to rename your plugins folder, confirm the site loads again, then reactivate plugins one at a time until the error comes back and points you to the problem. Our file manager guide covers the exact steps.

Use the staging tool built into Site Tools instead of editing your live site directly. It builds a full copy of your site on a separate URL, so you can update plugins, try a new theme, or reshuffle a page without any risk to what visitors see right now.

Happy with the result? One deploy action pushes it live. See creating a staging copy to get started.

Yes. Cloning copies your files and database onto a new domain or subdomain within the same account, which comes in handy for a client demo, a seasonal variant, or just a sandbox that's separate from your staging environment.

See cloning WordPress for the step-by-step process.

Install the SiteGround Migrator plugin on your current site, connect it to your new account, and it handles the file and database transfer for you. That covers the vast majority of standard WordPress sites without any manual file wrangling on your part.

Got something larger or heavily customized? Our team can migrate it for you at no cost on eligible plans. Start with the WordPress Migrator or request a free migration.

No. Between the SiteGround Website Builder, WordPress with a page builder theme, and Coderick AI, there's a no-code path for essentially every type of small business site. Coding only becomes relevant if you want custom functionality that off-the-shelf tools don't cover, or if you're deliberately choosing to vibe code.

See what is a website builder for how the no-code options compare.

The Website Builder is simpler and drag-and-drop, built to get a small site live fast with fewer moving parts. WordPress takes a bit more setup but opens up a much bigger ecosystem of plugins and themes, which matters if you can see yourself adding ecommerce, memberships, or more complex features down the road.

Not sure which you'll need in a year? WordPress is the safer default, since it's easier to grow into than to migrate off a simpler platform later. Our guide to choosing a website builder walks through the decision.

For a single small business site with normal traffic, the entry-level shared plan covers it. The decision points that actually matter are how many websites you plan to host on one account, whether you're running WooCommerce (which benefits from more resources), and how much storage your media library will need.

See choosing a suitable hosting plan for a direct comparison.

Yes, through collaborator access in Site Tools. A collaborator can work on the site without seeing your billing information or being able to cancel the account, which matters if you're bringing in a freelance developer or designer you don't want holding full account access.

See adding a collaborator and the difference between client and collaborator roles before you send an invite.

You don't need to transfer the domain itself; you just need to point it here. Update the domain's nameservers (or a single A record, if you want to keep DNS elsewhere) to reach SiteGround's servers, then add the domain in Site Tools as your site's primary domain.

See pointing your domain to SiteGround for the exact records to change.

Nameservers are changed at your domain registrar (wherever the domain is registered), while individual DNS records (A, CNAME, MX, TXT) are managed in Site Tools under the DNS Zone Editor, assuming the domain already points to SiteGround's nameservers. Mixing those two up is the most common reason a DNS change "doesn't work": you edited records in a zone the domain isn't actually using.

The full walkthrough for adding, editing, and removing each record type is in managing DNS records.

The rate you paid at signup was the discounted first-term price. Renewals bill at the standard rate for your plan and term, which is shown on the pricing page and at checkout, so it's the introductory discount ending rather than a price hike targeting your account specifically.

If the jump genuinely caught you off guard, our support and retention teams can often offer a renewal discount or a longer-term rate that brings it back down, so it's worth asking before you cancel outright. Our complete guide to website hosting costs breaks down how introductory and renewal pricing works across the industry, not just at SiteGround.

Shared hosting carries a lower rate for the first term, and the price returns to the standard renewal rate after that. It's how most of the hosting industry prices plans, not something unique to SiteGround, and the renewal rate is shown at checkout, so it's worth a glance before you buy.

See current shared hosting rates for exact numbers by term length.

Expert Care is SiteGround's premium support add-on: a dedicated team handles hands-on work like malware cleanup, performance tuning, and site management that goes beyond what standard support covers. It's worth it if you don't have the time or technical background to handle those tasks yourself, or you're running a site where downtime costs real money.

See the Expert Care services catalog to see exactly what's included before subscribing.

On entry price, Hostinger and Bluehost are genuinely cheaper, and there's no point pretending otherwise. Where SiteGround earns the difference is what's bundled in: server-level caching and the Speed Optimizer tooling, daily backups, the Site Scanner, and support that consistently rates among the best in the industry. Budget hosts typically sell several of those as paid add-ons, so the honest comparison is total cost for what you actually use, not the headline rate.

If you're moving from one of them, the switch is more painless than you'd expect: our team handles the transfer for you. See migrating from Bluehost or migrating from Hostinger for how it works.

Transferring a domain to SiteGround moves the registration here without touching your site or email, as long as you unlock the domain and get an EPP (authorization) code from your current registrar first. Most transfers include a one-year registration extension as part of the fee, so you're not paying twice for overlapping time.

See domain transfer fees and what an EPP code is before you start the process.

That depends on what your website is worth to you, and it's the right question to ask. If your site is a hobby project, a budget host at half the renewal price is a defensible choice. If it's a business, the math changes: an hour of downtime, a malware incident handled slowly, or a support queue measured in days tends to cost more than the annual price difference.

What you're paying for at renewal is the bundled stack (managed updates, backups, caching, security scanning, fast support) rather than just server space. Compare what's included line by line in choosing a suitable hosting plan before deciding either way.

Because compared to entry-level budget hosting, it is more expensive, and the gap widened as SiteGround moved upmarket over the years. The renewal rates fund things that don't show up on a pricing table: overprovisioned servers instead of oversold ones, humans answering support chats in under a minute, and features included in every plan that budget hosts sell as paid add-ons.

The daily backup service is a good example of the difference: automatic daily copies of your site are kept for up to 30 days, included, where cheaper hosts often charge separately for backups or keep only one. Whether the overall trade is worth it depends on your site, and the current numbers are always at the current shared hosting rate.

Cancel within 30 days of purchase and the hosting fee comes back in full. Past that window, refunds are usually prorated or unavailable depending on how much of the term you've already used, and domain registrations are non-refundable at any point, since that cost is paid to the registry the moment you buy.

See refund eligibility for the specifics on your situation.

Hosting and domain registration are billed and canceled separately, even when you bought them together. Canceling the hosting plan stops hosting; it won't touch the domain unless you cancel that too. Want to keep the domain but drop the hosting? Cancel only the hosting item.

See canceling your hosting for the exact steps and what happens to your site's files afterward.