5 Best Hosting for Fitness Websites

The popularity of fitness websites and workout blogs has skyrocketed thanks to people’s increasing interest in getting and staying in shape. If you’re a fitness guru looking to share your knowledge with millions of people ready for a lifestyle overhaul, launching a fitness blog or website is one of the most effective ways to reach health enthusiasts worldwide.

But before you can do all that, you’ll need to consider a few things like:

• finding a suitable website hosting;
• choosing the right platform to engage with your audience;
• and identifying the marketing tools you can use to build your audience.

Building Your Fitness Website

Web hosting is an important building block needed to launch any website, and the type of website you want to launch will determine the type of platform and even the type of web hosting you’ll need.

As a fitness coach, you might want to share videos with workout exercises and infographics with dieting advice and workout plans. Or you may want to monetize your website, have a blog, allow users to sign up for newsletters, post testimonials or post product reviews, allow your followers to post questions or allow them to engage with each other in a forum, for example.

To achieve all these, you’ll need a self-hosted platform that can meet any of your specific requirements. In this respect, we recommend that you go with WordPress, which is the undisputed queen of website platforms that offer the most in terms of control, flexibility, and functionality.

As opposed to hosted platforms (e.g. Wix), with WordPress you can choose your own hosting, monetize your site however you want, and fully control everything it can do.

Finding Hosting for Your Fitness Website

Here is our top list of web hosting providers for fitness websites:

	Hosting Company	Starting Price
1		$1.99 / mo	Start Here »
2		$2.75 / mo	Start Here »
3		$2.95 / mo	Start Here »
4		$3.95 / mo	Start Here »
5		$2.99 / mo	Start Here »

When it comes to hosting, we recommend starting out with a shared hosting plan that you can upgrade later, if needed. It may be difficult to gauge from the get-go how much resources your site will need, so start small and upgrade later.

Shared hosting is the most affordable and beginner-friendly hosting and many hosts offer shared hosting plans optimized for WordPress sites. Some of these feature 1-click WordPress installation, expert WordPress support, speed optimization, WordPress website builder, etc.

Managed WordPress hosting will also take care of server maintenance tasks as well, allowing you to focus exclusively on creating content and marketing your site.

As for our recommendations for best WordPress hosting for fitness websites, here are the best hosting companies you should definitely check out:

1. iPage

iPage has one of the lowest introductory prices across all their hosting categories, but their most affordable plan is their Starter plan, which is an unlimited shared hosting plan that includes free domain registration, website builder tool, PayPal integration, 24/7 network monitoring and online support, free marketing tools and 1-click WordPress install.

If you want a plan more geared towards WordPress, iPage offers WordPress hosting through their WP Starter and WP Essential plans. These are also shared hosting plans with unlimited storage and bandwidth, and a free domain registration, but they do come with the added advantage of a customized control panel, pre-installed themes and plugins, and the WP Essential plan also includes WordPress expert support, automatic malware removal, and SiteLock security suite.

Virtual private servers and dedicated servers are also among the hosting plans offered by iPage, which could become relevant for you if your fitness blog or website gets more traffic and outgrows the shared hosting plan.

iPage’s web hosting and domain registration services are also completed by several online marketing services like search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising.

Another important advantage of signing up with iPage is having access to 24/7 online support via live chat, email, or phone.

2. HostGator

Next in our review of best hosts for fitness websites is HostGator, a budget host with affordable and user-friendly hosting plans. The company offers all types of hosting, but for the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on their shared and WordPress plans.

The shared plan category offers three hosting packages that all feature unmetered bandwidth, 99.9% uptime guarantee, a 45-day money-back, cPanel, website builder, instant shopping cart and open-source script installation, free ad credits, and weekly automatic off-site backups.

In the WordPress optimized category, you’ll find three plans, all built on cloud technology that offers faster load times for your website. HostGator WordPress plans come configured with multiple caching layers and a built-in content delivery network, all with the purpose of increasing performance and reliability.

Other features include auto-backup with one-click restores to safeguard your data, one-click scalability to handle sudden traffic spikes, Google AdWords credit, automatic malware removal and 100% free website migration if you’re thinking of transferring your site from another host.

Besides these two hosting types, HostGator has a good selection of managed and semi-managed dedicated servers as well as VPS and reseller plans.

3. InMotion Hosting

InMotion is one of the most competent and highly rated web hosts with packages designed to meet the needs of freelancers, agencies, and enterprises. Although they may seem geared only towards professionals and business, their entry-level shared hosting and WordPress hosting plans are suitable for all skill levels.

If you compare InMotion’s shared plans with the shared plans of the other hosting companies discussed here, you’ll see a price increase, which is due to the SSD drives offered by InMotion, which offer better performance and reliability compared to HDD drives. All InMotion plans feature SSD drives.

The shared plans offered by InMotion have some excellent features like free data backups, free domain registration, free BoldGrid website builder, cPanel control panel, malware protection, SSH access, application roll-back, WordPress pre-installation, 24/7 support, 90-day money-back guarantee and many other features that could come in useful for any type of website.

As for WordPress optimized hosting plans, you have the option to choose from as many as six different WordPress plans. All plans come with preinstalled themes and plugins, free domain, drag and drop site builder, full design and hosting support, eCommerce and security tools, and a 90-day money-back guarantee.

Although on the pricier side, InMotion’s services are designed for those who want the latest technologies coupled with ultimate performance, and security.

4. BlueHost

BlueHost is another hosting company that you could consider for your fitness website. They come highly recommended thanks to WordPress’s continuous endorsement since 2005.

They too offer an entry-level WordPress shared hosting plan with free domain, free site builder, 1-click WordPress install, free SSL certificate and 24/7 support, but they also feature WordPress optimized hosting plans built on VPS serves. These plans are suitable for sites with a higher traffic volume.

Besides a significant increase in server resources, these VPS plans also include automatic backups, enhanced cPanel, free SSL certificate, advanced CDN and SiteLock security tools. You can install scripts, plugins and other simple tools via the MOJO marketplace, and even add extra resources with a single click. If your fitness site outgrows the shared hosting account you start out with, you can easily upgrade to one of BlueHost’s premium WordPress packages.

Dedicated servers and reseller hosting packages are also among the hosting services offered by BlueHost.

The great thing about BlueHost is that their in-house support is specialized in WordPress hosting, so it’s easy to get expert support whenever you need it. The support team can be reached via live chat, ticketing system, or mail.

5. GoDaddy

GoDaddy is a web hosting giant offering an impressive selection of online services including domain name registration, web security, online marketing, and several web hosting plans that cover most hosting needs.

If you’re thinking of hosting with GoDaddy and you’re a complete novice, GoDaddy has created a roadmap to building a website that will guide you through every step of creating a website.

Their shared hosting plans offer a free domain name with annual plans, 1-click installation of more than 125 open-source software, 24/7 security monitoring and DDoS protection, cPanel, 24/7 US-based support, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee.

GoDaddy WordPress hosting plans range from entry-level plans designed for beginners to plans created for designers and developers. These plans are built for WordPress performance thanks to load balanced servers, SSDs, and easy scaling.

All plans regardless of skill level include pre-built sites and drag & drop editor, automatic WordPress core software and security updates, free themes and plugins, free daily backups with 1-click restore, 99.9% uptime promise, and a free domain name.

Support at GoDaddy is offered via phone 24/7 or live chat during work hours.

Marketing Tips for Your Fitness Blog or Website

If you’re a fitness expert, you probably already have a clientele made up by those who frequent your local gym, but if you want a larger audience you need to identify further ways to market yourself. Here are some marketing avenues you can try to increase your audience:

• Create a YouTube channel where you share workout videos, workout techniques and dietary advice;
• Create a social media presence on platforms like Instagram or Facebook allowing people to follow you on these platforms;
• Allow people to sign up for your newsletters and updates to your blog;
• Create content that your audience can engage with or download (e.g. workout challenge infographics, workout progress apps, meal planning tips, etc.).

Now that you know what platform to choose for your website, what marketing tools you can use to promote yourself, and which hosting companies offer the best hosting for fitness websites, you can successfully launch a website.