Hi guys, some of you might remember that back in December, I said I was changing hosts. I also promised you an update to let you know how my site transfer went and if I’d recommend. Originally, I signed up for one month so I could test the waters and make sure I wanted to commit to a longer period (more on that in a minute). My month officially started December 29th, so I’ve had around 5 weeks. And after one month with Lyrical Host, do I recommend?
The links in this post are Lyrical Host affiliate links and there is an affiliate discount code included too.
If you don’t want to read the full post (please do), I’m going to summarise here and say yes. If you’re looking for a new host, I think they’re great. But I’m going to break this down further because my transfer wasn’t 100% smooth. You can use code ‘GLOW10’ for 10% off, if you’re not planning on reading further…
Plans & Prices
Before I tell you about my experience, I should probably tell you what they offer. Their plans are called Tiny, Mighty and Boss, with Tiny starting at £9.99 and Boss going up to £23.99. I have the Tiny plan, which allows for up to 20,000 visitors a month, gives 20GB web space (my site is currently around 6GB for reference) and includes SSL. For everything else included, you can find out more here.
For that plan, you have the choice of paying £9.99 every month with no lump sum charges, £49.99 for 6 months paid upfront or £99.99 for the full year, also paid upfront. All of those prices include VAT, unlike Siteground. Or $11.99, $59.99 or $119.99, for those of you in the US. Those prices are for life, so there’s no shocking increase when it’s time to renew. My Siteground renewal this year would have been around £135 (up from £37 last year), so these plans are still cheaper.
As I said, I only signed up for the rolling monthly deal to begin with, but I’ve since switched to the 6 month option.
But you said it wasn’t smooth?
There was a bit of a hiccup with my site transfer, but where I live was to blame. My site migration had been booked for a Saturday afternoon, I was told it could take 24-48 hours but it usually takes 3-5. That all sounded great, my site was copied over and on Sunday morning I shared Sunday’s post on Bexa’s Blog Swap thread.
Then, a lot of you told me my post wasn’t there and I was extremely confused. It was there, front and back. I asked my mum to check it, I asked a friend to check it. We could all see it. The issue was that we were all in 10-15 miles of each other. I contacted customer service and apparently, you lucky lot were all seeing the new Lyrical Host version of my site and I was still seeing my old Siteground version because the servers in my area were taking longer to update (small town problems).
I wasn’t allowed to make any changes and I had no idea what you guys could see, it was all a bit stressful. Before I went to bed on Sunday night, I could see the new version of my site using 3G on my phone but the old version was still showing up when I was connected to WiFi. It must have updated at some point during the night because all was well when I woke up on Monday morning. And, yes, I meant 3G, I don’t get 4G in my house. Sometimes I can’t even get 3G.
Too much hassle?
Not at all. The Lyrical customer service team are THE BEST by a mile. Throughout all of that, and a couple of issues transferring my self hosted email**, they were amazing. I never waited longer than around 15 minutes for a reply to a question, even if it had been hours since the chat was last updated. They were always there with suggestions if something wasn’t working. Even when I was worried about not being able to make any changes or see my site, they always made me feel like they were genuinely trying to help and never added to my stress at all.
Customer Service
Despite the not so smooth transfer, I’d recommend them as a company for their excellent customer service alone. I know people say that a lot, and a lot of the time you roll your eyes a little because, really, how often do you need customer service for most things? But you really never know what might happen or when you’ll need some help. And this is the internet, anyone can see it. If something goes wrong, the entire planet can potentially see that you have a problem, you want to be able to have faith in the people fixing it.
I hope this post helped anyone either thinking about changing hosts or becoming self hosted. As I said, their customer service is amazing and the only issues I had were due to my location, not the actual hosting. Several jokes were made that weekend about living so far out that even the internet is behind, didn’t quite see the funny side at the time…
For more information about Lyrical Host and their plans, click here. If you’re thinking about signing up, you can use the code ‘GLOW10’ for 10% off your plan too! I hope I haven’t missed anything out, if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask.
Until next time,
Sophie
**for some reason my emails weren’t sending when I used Outlook but they were sending from my phone and I didn’t realise at first because Outlook was receiving emails as normal. It turned out to be an Outlook problem, not a hosting issue. I think I may have emailed several people twice that week because I wasn’t sure what had actually sent….ooops.
I found this post super interesting and informative! I considered going self hosted at the start of this year but had absolutely no idea where to start in order to do so. I’ve heard of a couple of companies already but Lyrical Host is one that I’m not so familiar with. It was nice to get a bit more info about them. Thanks so much for sharing this!
Great post Sophie. I’m originally from North East too so I feel your pain, we can be a bit behind the times! I hadn’t heard of lyrical host but will keep them in mind when my current plan runs out. Great customer service is key!
Hayley x
This is really helpful! I’m currently with siteground which I was previously recommend and *touch wood* had no complications with so far, everything seems to be working as should.. would like to get a few more visitors, but hey that’s a website host’s issue right..?
This was a really helpful post, I see lots of people talk about Siteground but then when I see their annual renewal fee it always shocks me! If I ever go self-hosted I’ll definitely look into lyrical host because they really do sound like a great company and like you said customer service is important when it comes to something like your blog having a problem, you wouldn’t want it to be down for days when you have posts scheduled so at least they’re there and fix it pretty quickly for you!
Jess // foundationsandfairytales.wordpress.com
xx
Some really useful advice here, thanks!
Sorry to hear it wasn’t such a smooth ride for you. I think this blog post will help a lot of other bloggers out, thanks for sharing!
With love, Alisha Valerie x | http://www.alishavalerie.com
This was such a helpful post! I’ve just had to renew my Siteground hosting which, as a student, was a huge expense for me. I’ll definitely be looking into other hosting services for my next year of blogging! X
https://www.femaleoriginal.com
Awesome post! 🙂 I have only just made my blog but this is something I’ve been thinking about for the future.
This was really informative and honest and I like that. I have made a note for future reference because they are also reasonably priced.
Thanks so much!
Fran x
Those prices are really good! My siteground hosting is set to renew in a couple of months but I’am not sure if I plan to move or not, still it’s nice to know I have some good options if I do!
Good impressions ♥️
Such a helpful post, I’m currently considering going self hosted and have learnt so much from this post 🙂
Kate
It is interesting to see how hosts work their packages differently. Glad you’re paying less now! When you change your nameservers, it takes a while for the DNS to propagate. I always play it safe by saying 48 hours so at least all of the DNS’ around the world is on the same page. But aside from that, glad everything worked out well for you! Thanks for sharing your experience :).
Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me
Ahh I’m currently with Siteground and am not looking forward to my renewal charges later this year haha! It really sucks that they up their prices so much as they could have so much business otherwise. My old host was 123reg and they were horrendous, their customer service took AGES to reply and my site would go down for at least a couple of minutes probably around 3 times a week, it was all a bit of a joke. I’ll definitely be looking into Lyricalhost when i need to renew!
Alice Xx
This was a great post! I see a lot of people get caught out by siteground hiking up their prices, I’ll keep this in mind if I go self hosted! x
I have heard transferring to a new host is always a bit of a roller coaster but it is great that the customer service was very responsive! A good customer service does change a lot!
I’m going self hosted next month and this post was so helpful, thanks for sharing!!! x
Anaïs |
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I have such a basic understanding of the internet and hosting that I feel like a company that’s got excellent customer service and could hold my hand through all the steps would be very useful. I also absolutely love that they don’t drastically increase their prices – when my hosting last updated it had nearly doubled which was a shock! I will definitely be checking Lyrical Host out when my current plan ends, thanks for the recommendation!
Beth x Adventure & Anxiety
This was a really informative post, I still haven’t gone slef hosted and I’m not sure if I’m going to, I need to read up a bit about it first but that’s really great that it worked out for you! Xx
Such a good post, Sophie! I’m with SiteGround at the moment but my hosting is due for renewal at the end of this month so I’m looking around as the prices are ridiculous. This post was so helpful, thank you!
Samantha | https://samanthajblogs.co.uk
This is such a great and informative post on Lyrical Host, as I haven’t heard of them before!
I think I will look into Lyrical Host the next time my renewal is due. Siteground have charged me loads compared to what I signed up for!
Glad the move over went well (over through the little hiccups!)
Thanks for sharing!
Aimsy xoxo
I recently had a notification to update my services with Siteground because they are expiring soon, and I was going to do it because I hate the thought of trying to transition over to a new hosting service, but I’ve just checked and they want almost £200 a year for the most basic package. This post has tempted me to not stand for that and demand more for less, and Lyrical host seems to offer everything I look for in a service (and more!). I’m definitely going to look more into this over the course of this evening, and I’ll be sure to use your code if/when I do make the switch. Thank you for opening my eyes and making me realise I don’t need to spend a fortune to own a blog.
Rebekah Gillian | https://rebekahgillian.co.uk/
This was a very informative post! I converted their prices to US dollars and they’re actually not bad. I love that they offer different plans to choose from. Glad you enjoyed your experience with them.
Eena / chrisandeena.com
Glad that you had an almost seamless transition over to Lyrical and that you’re happy with your site/the customer service received. That’s crazy that you were seeing different things on wifi versus 3G though I thought my service was bad at times! For what it’s worth, I’ve always thought that your site has looked great!
http://www.missblogsabit.com
This post is going to help so many other bloggers who are interested in Lyrical! Well done lovely x
It’s fab that there’s more UK bases hosts these days and ones with good service too xx
Gemma Etc. ❤️
Lovely post! I myself have been researching and finding out more about different hosting sites as well! Thank you for your informative blog!
I’ve not heard too much about Lyrical Host so this was really interesting. I’ve been with Siteground for about half a year now and have heard horror stories about the prices dramatically rising so it’s great that I can now keep these guys in mind for when I need to renew. I totally feel the small town problems- I’m lucky if I even get ‘E’ internet at home haha! The excellent customer service you got is definitely reassuring!
Soph – https://sophhearts.com/ x
What a great post, very informative!
xx- Nina
http://www.stylingwithnina.com/2019/02/what-to-wear-with-faux-fur-vest.html
OMG, Sophie, you have NO IDEA how relieved I am to read this post. I’ve been having major problems with my current host, culminating in downtime for my site for most of today (it’s back up now). I’ve just arranged to migrate to Lyrical Host and, fingers crossed, it should happen tonight. I’ve heard masses of good things about them and your post has just been the icing on the cake. Thank you so much for sharing this and I’m so glad you’re happy with them 🙂
Lisa | http://www.lisasnotebook.com
This was really informative for anyone thinking of going down the same route! I’m so glad to hear that the customer service was great too! 🙂
Jenny
http://www.jennyinneverland.com
This sounds like a great host. Thank you for sharing your review.
P.S.: Yikes, all the hassle during transfer must have been draining :s
This is really interesting to read, thanks for sharing your experience Sophie! I am still with Siteground as I left it too late to shop around for a better deal so just let it automatically renew. Like you say, Siteground’s yearly rate is quite high so next time I’m planning on being more organised and getting a better deal. Lyrical Host sounds like a great option, having a good customer service team makes all the difference. I’m glad everything worked out well in the end, I think I’ll look into this one in the future as the prices are much more reasonable 🙂 <3 xx
Bexa | http://www.hellobexa.com
That is very awesome. Nice post 🙂 And yeah, I grew up far out and connections was always bad at my phone. (of course, I’m so old I didn’t get a phone until late in my teens hehe)
Really interesting post! And the new site looks nice! I wonder how they compare to some of the others out there, mine is just on WordPress at the moment
Thanks for such a helpful post Sophie! I will have to renew my plan this year and I was dreading sorting it all out so I fell a lot better knowing Lyrical are helpful and a cheaper option! What I would be most worried about is them messing everything up which ends in me loosing my blog but by the sounds of it I can trust Lyrical xx
Ah I remember reading your post when you made the switch! It sounds like it’s been pretty smooth, bar that one hiccup but the good customer service definitely seems to make up for it!
Chloe xx
http://www.chloechats.com
I’m so glad it was wort hall of the hassle. It’s great to hear that Lyrical host customer service are so good – it’s hard to find someone to talk to these days, let alone get help with a problem. A really helpful post, thank you xxx
I’ve never heard of lyrical host before but the support service sounds good. I’m using SiteGround now and the experience has been great so far so if by chance I might want to change my host I’ll consider using Lyrical Host.
nurulrasya.com
Such an interesting blog post! I found it so helpful, they sound like a great host. Thanks for sharing hun! x
http://new-lune.com
Glad it was worth it all and you’re happy with it now. I’ve never heard of this host before. Thanks for all the thoughts and information about it too 🙂 x
Thank you for sharing your honest opinion of switching to Lyrical Host. I’ve been in contact with Jenni recently about switching servers as I’m a little nervous. By current hosts are absolutely rubbish so I need to switch over soon. I’ll be sure to use your affiliate link when I do 🙂
Rio
So glad I stumbled across this post – my hosting with Site Ground is renewing soon, and the renewal price is horrific considering it was so good last year 🙁 I’ve been umm-ing and ahh-ing over who to go with but Lyrical sound like a solid choice, especially since they don’t hike their prices each time!
Thanks for posting your honest opinion – Lyrical Host have gone to the top of my list of considerations.
Lottie | http://www.thirteenbeautysecrets.com
Thank you for your honesty Sophie! Glad to k ow everything worked out and it wasn’t a major problem to transfer your content over. I never heard of this site before but I’m going to take it in consideration because I’m looking to self-host my free WordPress site. Adding this to my list.
Natonya | https://justnatonya.wordpress.com