… starting from the point where the story stopped.
Worrying about the removal of Softaculous – my go-to, and what is more free, backup solution for my WordPress website – I expressed my concerns to Reneta and Hristo via a comment (in their blog post announcing the new interfaces). Here is Hristo answer: I would recommend upgrading to Grow Big where you can create instant backups
.
As I said in the previous post, I didn’t pick up Hristo’s recommendation brush-off. However, about a week later, the “New Client Area & Site Tools” coming soon notification (in my SiteGround User Area) was replaced with two promotional messages.
Upgrade Your StartUp Plan
At first, I could not believe it. Seriously! Quick reminder1: after explaining that I am using Softaculous to create on-demand backups (not free on StartUp) as well as monthly extra backups (i.e. in addition to [their] daily backups) to keep locally
, I asked for another way to keep doing this with the new Site Tools. I was expecting one of Hristo’s canned answers2: you can do it that way
, you can’t do that at all
, or we’ll make it work, but it’s not working at the moment
. Instead, as a substitute to my free backup solution (i.e. with Softaculous), Hristo recommended me to upgrade to their GrowBig plan – a $19.95/mo. alternative! A week later, I received this promotional message. What a coincidence!
Now, when I signed up with SiteGround, I wished I had chosen a longer period for my hosting package (e.g. 36 months) in order to benefit fully from the special signup price ($3.95/mo. instead of $11.95/mo.). A similar opportunity (not as enticing as the signup deal, though) presented again at renewal; yet, I ignored the 30% saving offer not to interfere with the automatic renewal (for educational purpose). Things always come in threes, as the saying goes…
Clearly, 50% off was definitively something worth considering. Admittedly, this would be only for a limited period, but still… For three years, I could benefit the features of the GrowBig plan for a price actually lower than my current StartUp plan. I was starting to do the math, while clicking on the LEARN MORE button… I didn’t had to pick my calculator, though. The offer was coming with a major limitation: only until the normal renewal time – once this term is over, regular GrowBig renewal price of [$19.95/mo.] applies
.
In my case, this offer was therefore coming down to a 5-month deal only.
I would have hesitated for three years, but seriously, 5 months!
Get a New Plan
For a brief instant, I was puzzled by the second offer: 77% OFF, what a deal! That can’t be true. Actually, this limited-time offer was not that different compared to the typical “special price” when you sign up with SiteGround. Do the math or check the table below:
| StartUp | GrowBig | GoGeek | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular price | $11.95/mo. 9.95 €/mo. | $19.95/mo. 17.95 €/mo. | $34.95/mo. 29.95 €/mo. |
| 77% OFF (calculated) | $2.75/mo. 2.29 €/mo. | $4.59/mo. 4.13 €/mo. | $8.04/mo. 6.89 €/mo. |
| Special price | $3.95/mo. 3.95 €/mo. | $5.95/mo. 6.45 €/mo. | $11.95/mo. 11.95 €/mo. |
Anyway, I pass!
The email
“Do they read my mind?”
After checking (and rejecting) SiteGround promotional offers, I was still wondering if there was any link between my comment and their sudden appearance in my User Area. Two days later, I received an email with the same offers:
This Week Only: Special Hosting Discounts Coming Your Way
“Am I bugged?”
We are thrilled to announce that this week, you can take advantage of special hosting discounts when upgrading your plan or buying a new one.SiteGround
To be continued…
1 SiteGound StartUp plan comes with a free automatic daily backup service, and since recently, a free restore option as well (the latter was charged $19.95 per restore until recently). However, the possibility to create instant backups on demand is still limited to their higher tiers (e.g. GrowBig or GoGeek plans), or would cost me $29.95 per backup. For these reasons, among others, I looked for my own backup solution as related in Backup, Backup, Backup!. ^
2 Taken from Hristo’s reply to someone else’s comment: When I say you won’t miss anything, I mean that in Site Tools there is a way to do all the things you have been doing with cPanel so far, but in a different way. That being said, there is always a corner use case that may hit the rock, but we ask you to give us that corner case (tell us about it) so we can be specific and say ‘you can do it that way’ or ‘you can’t do that at all’ or ‘we’ll make it work, but it’s not working at the moment’
. ^