Websites play a crucial role in building the online presence and marketing your business on the internet. Websites are not just meant for the big companies. Over 1.5 billion websites are there on the world wide web today. There are over 1.5 billion websites on the World Wide Web at the moment.
Today, it is important for even the small businesses to have their own website as it establishes the credibility. Purchasing the domain name from the domain registrars and getting a reliable web hosting are the two key steps for building a website. Majority of the people are often in a dilemma on choosing the right host for their blogs or websites.
There are dozens of web hosting companies that claim the astonishing features and unbelievable discounts. It’s really tough to choose one and a wrong decision may have a negative impact on the online presence of your business.
Though there are multitude or reviews on the internet, in the end, it is all confusing and overwhelming.
In this article, we’ll guide you to choose a perfect web hosting package for your internet venture. We’ll share some of the important factors you need to consider while shopping for a web hosting service.
Before choosing a web host, it is recommended to understand your requirements. You need to have an idea of what kind of website you are envisioning. It is a niche blog or small business website or an e-commerce store? What’s the traffic you are expecting? What’s your budget? Where do you see your website in the next 6 months? You need to ponder upon questions like this to get an idea of your requirements.
Let’s explore the factors you need to check while selecting a web hosting provider for your internet venture.
● Speed
The speed of your website improves your sales as well as your search engine rankings. A slow website turns off your potential customers. Speed is one of the crucial things you need to check while picking up a hosting service. There are many speed charts online conducted by hosting bloggers and experts. Go with the one which delivers top speeds consistently.
● Security
Security is the key thing you need to examine especially if you are planning for a website where the users share their personal details or payment information. Some hosting companies also provide special security add-ons to provide better security and avoid spam for their customers.
No matter, how great discount the web hosting company offers, if they have a bad reputation with security, then it is not recommended to sign up with their hosting.
● User Interface
Calling your web hosting support line for everything is a time taking process. A cPanel with good interface helps you in managing your website without much hassle. A simple and intuitive interface makes it easy for you to set up your email, WordPress installation, add a sub-domain and many more.
Plesk and cPanel are considered the best and easy to use interfaces. Check whether your hosting provider provides any of these interfaces.
● Customer Support
Customer support is often overlooked. You need your web hosting company to provide a timely customer support when there’s something wrong with your website. A good customer support fixes the issues as soon as possible to get your site back online. Do a quick search on the reputation of your probable web hosting company’s customer support.
Are they providing quality customer support via different channels – phone, email, chat etc? Are they providing it 365/24/7? Do they have a dedicated customer support staff or they outsource it?
● Price
Though price shouldn’t be the deciding thing, it is important to note what you are getting for the price you pay. A $5 per month hosting package from hosting company that provides kickass customer support and unmetered bandwidth and storage is definitely better than $2 per month that do not provide these features. Take note of the prices and compare the features to take a better decision.
Most of the mainstream hosting companies announce great discounts. Search for the coupon code before your checkout to grab a better deal.
● Add-ons
Every web hosting companies offers a different kind of add-ons. Enquire about the special features that are being offered by different hosting companies. A free domain, free SSL, website migration service, data centres at multiple locations, SEO plugins, security software are some of the additional features that are pretty useful.
Wrapping up…
Choosing the web hosting service won’t be that difficult if you understand your requirements. It is recommended to opt for unmetered bandwidth and storage as many of the web hosts are providing them at nominal prices. The performance of your website largely depends on the efficiency of web hosting.
It’s better to spend some time and pick the right host rather than regretting your choice later. I would recommend HostGator, Bluehost or GoDaddy for reliable and affordable hosting. I hope this guide has helped you in choosing the appropriate web host for your business.
