Switching from Godaddy to Bluehost

Why I left Godaddy

DISCLAIMER: Please note: this blog post contains links to the Bluehost website. As a Bluehost affiliate, I receive a commission for every signup through my affiliate links.

First of all, let me explain why I left Godaddy, which is an old and solid domain registrar and hosting provider I enjoyed working with for a very long time. I used Godaddy for about 15 years and overall I was quite satisfied with the service. Nevertheless, in 2020 I decided to look for another hosting service mainly because of the lack of free Let’s Encrypt SSL. Other reasons included an outdated user interface, frequent system glitches, 431 errors, etc.

As far as SSL is concerned Godaddy used to offer a variety of options. One of them included a heavily discounted SSL, but then the annual renewal would still be quite costly. Of course, connecting an affordable third-party SSL is always an option with Godaddy, but this is an extra hassle you wouldn’t want to deal with if you have an alternative that includes free Let’s Encrypt SSL. (Please note: This is an affiliate link. As a Bluehost affiliate, I receive a commission for every signup through my affiliate links)

Why I picked Bluehost

I analyzed a number of alternative hosting solutions (most of which offer free Let’s Encrypt SSL): Bluehost, Host Papa, Hostgator, Ionos, Inmotion Hosting, SiteGround, WHC. Out of all these solutions I picked Bluehost. (Please note: This is an affiliate link. As a Bluehost affiliate, I receive a commission for every signup through my affiliate links)

Pros and Cons of Bluehost

Pros

  1. Reasonable prices and generous discounts.
  2. Free Let’s Encrypt SSL.
  3. An optimal shared hosting “Plus” plan that includes unlimited websites, unlimited SSD storage, and unmetered bandwidth.
  4. Great performance (for most users).
  5. Free Cloudflare CDN option (with some limitations).
  6. Helpful and (mostly) knowledgeable support.
  7. Free unlimited email accounts and email forwarding.
  8. Neat and easy to understand admin interface.
  9. Overall system reliability.

Cons

  1. No monthly billing, just annual.
  2. No .CA domain zone, which requires Canadian customers to use another domain registrar and point out their .CA domains to Bluehost.

How to use your .CA domain with Bluehost

Unless you use .CA domains, the domain transfer process is pretty standard and straightforward. At the same time, because Bluehost does not offer .CA domains, which means that you cannot move your .CA domains from Godaddy to Bluehost, you will have to keep your Godaddy account and point .CA domains to Bluehost.

  1. Login to your Godaddy account.
  2. Head to My Products.
  3. Pick the domain you wish to edit and click DNS.
  4. Scroll down to the Nameservers section and click Change.
  5. Replace original records with Bluehost values and save.
    – ns1.bluehost.com
    – ns2.bluehost.com

Setting up a website with Bluehost

Coming soon…

Setting up an email with Bluehost

Although Bluehost frantically pushes paid email options such as G Suite and Microsoft 365, it is still possible to set up a free email account with unlimited storage. Here’s how to do this:

  1. Open the Bluehost admin panel.
  2. Head to the Advanced section.
  3. Scroll down to the Email section and click on Email Accounts.
  4. Click +CREATE.
  5. In the dropdown menu select the domain you wish to use.
  6. Come up with and enter your new username. For example “info”.
  7. Enter or auto-generate your new password. (Make sure to follow the password rules.)
  8. Set your desired storage space.
  9. Hit +CREATE.

That is all. Now you can use your brand new email address via Bluehost admin panel. Moreover, you can also use a free Gmail account to send and receive professional emails.

Using a Gmail account to send and receive branded emails

It is very easy to set up a free Gmail account to send and receive professional-looking emails. All you need is to have your email address such as username@yourdomain.com ready and change two settings in your Gmail options.

  1. Login to your Gmail
  2. Go to Settings > Accounts and Import
  3. Scroll down to Check mail from other accounts
  4. Click on Add a mail account
  5. Enter your email address username@yourdomain.com
  6. The only option you should see will be Import emails from my other account (POP3). Hit Next.
  7. Then enter the following settings:
    Username: username@yourdomain.com
    Password: Enter your email password you set in Bluehost
    POP Server: It should be already entered as mail.yourdomain.com
    Leave a copy of retrieved message on the server – Yes
    Always use a secure connection (SSL) when retrieving mail – Yes
    Change the port number to 995.
  8. Confirm
  9. Gmail will ask you if you wish to also send mail as username@yourdomain.com. You can continue the setup or go to Settings > Accounts and Import > Send mail as > Add another email address
  10. Enter the sender name (you may already see it entered)
  11. Treat as an alias – Yes
  12. Then enter the following settings:
    SMTP Server: It should be already entered as mail.yourdomain.com
    Username: username@yourdomain.com
    Password: Enter your email password you set in Bluehost
    Choose Secured connection using SSL
    Choose Port 465
  13. Gmail will send a confirmation code to username@yourdomain.com. At this point, you should already see it in your Gmail inbox. If you do not see it, you can:
    – Wait 5-10 min
    – Check your email on the Bluehost server by going to Advanced > Email Accounts > username@yourdomain.com > Check Email
    – Go to Gmail Settings > Accounts and Import. Then scroll down to Check mail from other accounts. Then locate username@yourdomain.com and click on Check mail now.

That’s all!