In all my years of blogging, I have probably hosted my site, addition to clients’ sites, on over 10 different web hosts. And any idiot can tell you that not all web hosts are built the same.

You may remember my troubles with HostGator a couple of years ago. Due to HostGator’s slow speeds, horrible customer service, and less-than-acceptable uptimes, I decided to jump ship to Hawk Host. However, due to an unfortunate series of events, I was forced to change hosts again to MDDHosting, just 10 days after switching to Hawk Host.

And I was happy with MDDHosting. Good speeds, customer service, and minimal downtimes. I remained a loyal customer of MDDHosting’s Premium Hosting (which is ideal for those who have outgrown shared hosting environments but do not want or require a VPS yet).

Until Squidix came along.

I am not lying when I tell you that Squidix is the best web host I have ever worked with. I know that I need to disclose when a blog post is a sponsored one…but I can promise you that I would be saying this even if they had no idea I was writing this review.

Customer Service

The one thing that really sets Squidix apart from the rest is their impeccable customer service. I have never had to wait over an hour for an email response, even when most of my questions are not urgent. And each time, every question or issue was resolved immediately.

Even transferring all my files over the Squidix was a breeze…I just handed over my login credentials from my previous host, and they took care of everything for me in just a couple of hours! (BTW, this is included for free with all their hosting plans!)

Plans & Pricing

Not only that, you get more bang for your buck with Squidix. For comparison purposes, I’ve decided to put Squidix up against the two hosts I used to recommend the most before: MDDHosting and Stable Host. These two were consistently among the most recommended while doing my research for a new host 2 years ago, and they remain superior to many others.

So how does Squidix measure up? Here’s Squidix’s lowest shared hosting plan, compared to MDDHosting and Stable Host’s most comparable plans (which happens to be their mid-level shared hosting plans):

Squidix has a slight edge, no?

But it’s when you get into the next level of hosting that you start to clearly see a difference (the lowest semi-dedicated Squidix plan is put up against MDDHosting and Stable Host’s most comparable plans):

Here, Squidix beats my two former favorite hosts, especially in terms of price. The difference may not seem that large, but it really does add up over time!

Speed

Most webmasters are aware that speed is a crucial factor in choosing a web host. After all, a website’s loading time not only influences your visitors, it also impacts your SEO.

I have mentioned before that I have been with over 10 different web hosts over the years, and my previous host, MDDHosting, provided some of the speediest load times in my experience.

How does Squidix compared to MDDHosting? Well, I managed to test this blog’s page speed right before I switched to Squidix:

And, now, with Squidix?

Sure, the “after” test had a smaller page size, but one can clearly deduce from comparing the two test results that Squidix’s speeds are similar to, if not better, than that of MDDHosting.

(For those who may be wondering, yes, I have run the speed test using different servers in different locations. And yes, I have received similar results with all of them.)

Conclusion

It has been over a month since I’ve hosted this blog with Squidix, and I have been nothing short of happy with my new web host. Squidix ranks #1 among all of my top requirements of a good web hosting company: customer service, specs & pricing, and speed. And all the hiccups my site has experienced since the migration have been of my doing (i.e., faulty scripts). 

Would I be happy with Squidix even if I were not writing a review? Definitely.

Would I recommend Squidix to others? In a heartbeat.

Giveaway!

Are you interested in giving Squidix a try? Well, I have good news for you, Squidix has generously donated a year’s worth of their 25GB Semi Dedicated Hosting Plan for one Geek in Heels reader! Not only that, FIVE lucky winners will win a year’s worth of the 10GB Shared Hosting Plan!

To enter this giveaway, all you have to do is comment below, with your website URL and a short explanation for why you want to switch to Squidix.

This giveaway begins on Monday, March 16^th, 2015 12:00am EDT and will end on Tuesday, March 24^th, 2015 at 12:00am EDT. The winners will be notified by email, so please provide a valid email address in the comment form. (Emails will not be displayed or shared.)

Good luck, and thanks for entering!