A strong website is necessary for businesses to survive in the digital era. In a nutshell, a web host is a digital space provider for you to showcase your business. One way to look at this is to understand web hosting is to understand that it is like a brick-and-mortar store, just in the digital space.
For your business to work well and scale up, you will need to find a good web host to showcase your business. Whether you plan on running an ecommerce store or a blog, a good web host will make all the difference. If you’re looking for the perfect web hosting service for your business, there are 7 things to consider. Let’s get into those:
1. Understand Your Website’s Needs
Before looking for a web hosting service, ensure that you know what you want. Make it a point to list the basic things you require. The list of requirements comes with the knowledge of the purpose of your website and business model. Before choosing a web hosting service, remember to check the service provider’s features. Furthermore, if you’re a beginner always go for affordable web hosting.
2. Cost
First things first, do not choose a free web hosting service. It may seem like a good option, but it will not offer you many features, and the chances are that it will not give a good output. So, instead, look for a web hosting service with a fee that seems affordable to you. Sure enough, you’ll find many hosting services with varying fee structures. However, spend some time considering the cost and which one best fits your current budget.
3. Server Reliability and Uptime
Whether you’re looking for web hosting, remember to check the uptime and reliability of the servers. The average time for your website’s time to be up and running is crucial as it will affect the amount of traffic your site receives. Your site won’t get many visitors if they cannot access it during their go to it. A single hour of downtime indicates that your company is already losing many potential sales. That’s why you’d want your average uptime to be at 100 percent or as close to it as is possible. When selecting your web hosting service make sure to keep an eye on this and focus on ones that have uptimes that are higher than 99%. Even if you’re looking for cheap web hosting to fit your budget, always make it a point to choose a hosting service with 99% uptime and server reliability.
4. Website Security
When you look for affordable web hosting, make sure you check the security aspect of the web host service provider. Security is a crucial factor. Without this, your website is not safe for you or your audience. With many hackers out there, a non-secure web host’s service is easy to not only hack but steal information. Furthermore, choose a web hosting service with an SSL certificate.
5. Research the Renewal Price
While looking for web hosting, it is easy to forget about the renewal prices. You need to keep in mind that renewal prices can be higher than the initial subscription, and then it could throw your budget plan off completely. Some providers offer an affordable price for an initial subscription but may charge higher fees for the subsequent subscription, so you should check.
6. Backups
When you find your cheapest hosting service provider, make sure that you check the backups option. A website must have backups for its website data, including the published material and coding data for its operation. It is important because there’s a chance that you may lose your data without any warning. To avoid such a mishap, make sure you choose a web hosting service that makes the process of backup easy.
7. Reliable Customer Support
We can’t stress how important customer support is. A web hosting service with a patchy support system should not be on the top of your list. It may seem like a minute detail and is easy to overlook. But the point is web host services can have an n-number of challenges. And when you face a challenge, there are chances you’ll need the support of the hosting service’s customer team. Without a good support team, you may be at a loss for what to do.
So, choose a service provider with a support team. Also, make sure that the support team’s turnaround time is quick! A delayed response team will make you lose business.
Key Takeaways
With that said, affordable hosting is easy to find. There are plenty of service providers that offer reliable services at budget-friendly prices. The only thing to remember is to understand what factors you’re looking for in a web hosting service provider. When looking for a service provider, check the pointers mentioned above. This will help you find a web hosting service that does not let you down!
Shailendra Jha is the founder of Domainadda, an online platform for domain registration and web hosting. He’s an expert in bulk SMS, DLT, email, and WhatsApp marketing, and servers. He shares his knowledge through his blog and news articles while delivering high-quality services to his customers.