If you are planning to start a new website, then it is important that you focus on choosing the best web host service. A hosting service should cater to your business needs. This will ensure that you have the right tools to build your website and your site is functioning optimally at all times.
However, the process of choosing the best web host service or company is always tricky. Different hosting companies offer different features. Their prices also vary and as such, you need to do proper research. Take into account all the features, add-ons and your budget. This will help you choose the best hosting your website.
Here is a Quick Guide to Choosing a Web Host Service
1. Consider the Type of Hosting
Do you prefer hosting the site on Linux or Windows platform? Do you intend to create more than one site? Web hosting services offer different plans for different sites, so you can consider the added costs. You need to consider the web traffic stats. How much traffic are you expecting and the additional resources for traffic by the hosting services?
If your website has a good amount of traffic, the hosting companies will recommend a higher plan. Consider all the technical resources and features of the site. For PHP, there is a different hosting language, so select that plan accordingly. Choose your email bandwidth. Do you require unlimited space for emails or an added SSL certificate? Decide on all these factors and make a list of all the features. This will help you make a well-informed choice.
2. Know About Hosting Scalability
If you are creating a small website or a blog, then Shared web hosting is a great option. This hosting plan is cheaper compared to customize hosting. But, Shared web hosting, generally, comes with limited bandwidth and resources. With it, you also can’t expand the database and server. But, you can always upgrade your plan to a higher package. So, shared hosting is a good option for start-ups and small businesses.
However, if you are creating a large website, for eg, an eCommerce site, then it’s a good idea to opt for a VPS or a Dedicated hosting plan. They offer you unlimited bandwidth, good email storage and other flexible resources. Thus, before you choose a hosting company, check whether they offer easy scalability of hosting plans as that’ll make a big difference.
3. Security and Backup Features Are Important
Every website is vulnerable to malicious attacks and hacking today. In fact, with time, website security is under constant threat. When you choose a web host service, consider security features. This is all the more important if your website is finance related, as you have to store customer’s sensitive data. A host that runs malware detection or has a firewall can offer you good security.
It’s also important to choose an SSL certificate feature in hosting that makes sure your site is well encrypted. Look for IP block feature as that’ll detect hack attacks on your site. Choose a hosting plan that offers you 24/7 backup or a daily backup at least. A backup can come in handy, in the event of hacking or if there is an issue with your site. A backup can help you to restore your site to the original version.
4. Choose Good Consistency Options
When you choose a web hosting company, you need to consider its reliability and speed. The uptime score plays an important part in hosting. So, you need to select a hosting company that guarantees you at least 99% of active server time. This will also help to increase the uptime.
Speed is also important for your site traffic and exposure. If the server is slow, it’ll affect the credibility of your site, as it makes your site sluggish. Thus, consider these important web hosting factors when choosing a web hosting service provider.
5. Lookout for Customer Support
Good customer support is a must while choosing a web host service. Whenever you are stuck somewhere, you can always ask for a solution. Look for all the support options that are available for web hosting. Email and phone are good options for customer support. But, the live chat feature is the best. Through live chat, you can contact the support team any time.
Some web hosting services offer customer support 24/7, which means you can rely on them if you have any problem accessing your website. Along with customer support, pay heed to reviews of the web hosting company. A good rating always helps you in choosing the best. Feedback and reviews can give you a good insight into the web hosting company.
6. Choose According To Your Convenience
Web hosting services are available with many features. You need to make a checklist of special features on offer. You need to choose depending on the flexibility of your budget and space that you require. Like mentioned above, proper research is required before you select a hosting plan.
To sum up,
Choose a web host service depending on the type of the site you are creating. For business, it’s important to select a hosting plan with unlimited bandwidth. A web-hosting plan should not give you limited coverage, there has to be scope for changes. Best value is what you should look for in a plan. Dedicated server and VPS hosting also play an integral part in hosting.
The best plan should offer you flexibility, should be good in budget and customer support. Dedicated plans are best for large business websites. But, if you are creating a blog or a website for a small business, then choose Shared servers. There is always scope for scalability with any plan you choose.
