7 Considerations to Finding the Best Hosting Service for Your Website
When choosing the best hosting service for your website, you need to take a few things into consideration. Read more to learn what these important factors are.
When someone starts a small business nowadays, one of the first things on their mind is how to find the best hosting service for their website. Estimates show more than 1.18 billion websites on the internet – a number constantly changing every day.
If you’ve been looking into the best web hosting service for your business, we’re here to help. Here are seven key things to keep in mind while deciding on your web hosting provider.
1. Location of Server
One of the most important things to keep in mind is the location of your server. Servers have a physical presence, even the ones that are kept solely online. That means that you’ll want to make sure that your server is as close to your audience as possible.
The farther away a computer is from a server they’re accessing, the worse the connection will inevitably be. You have likely had websites or programs that ask you to pick a server between geographical locations, commonly continents. Picking a Pacific server from Europe can lead to worse connections than just picking one from Europe.
Make sure that you’re using a web hosting service that can provide a good connection to your audience. Failure to do so will likely end up hurting the audience’s experience, which they’ll associate with your business.
2. Specialisation
The majority of web hosting providers will work on a generalist basis. As the name implies, a generalist site gives ample hosting for any type of website.
Others may provide a level of specialisation you would want for your business. This might include focusing on cloud hosting or on using popular platforms like WordPress.
If your business has a specialisation that you’d like to focus on, consider looking for a server that compliments those needs. If not – or if a specialised server doesn’t fit your budget – going for a generalist server is perfectly fine.
3. Web Security
Cybersecurity is one of the most pressing matters of the information age. Studies show that, on average, a hacker attacks every 39 seconds. According to the University of North Georgia, a third of the population feels the effects of cybercrime.
As a small business, this is especially prevalent, given that 43% of cyber attacks target small businesses. With such numbers, it’s easy to see why the security of your new host is important.
Look into the history of the site and any major cyberattacks they’ve undergone. It’s important to know how they respond and if your information is safe with them. The security of your business is the security of your audience, making this one of the most important of all possible features!
4. General Feedback
Another vital thing to look into is the feedback of customers that have been in the same situation as you. How does the website hosting service you’re looking at treat the people it hosts?
Look into the reviews and discussions that others have left in regards to the host you’re looking into. In doing so, you should search out forums and online discussions on other websites. By looking through third-party hosting to discover these conversations, you ensure there’s little to no bias.
Understanding the experiences of others can help you know how reliable the host truly is. Such a step can prevent massive headaches down the line as you learn what companies are pleasant to do business with. You’ll learn the positive and negative from working with them, and both are crucial to take into your decision.
The best web hosting service is reliable and doesn’t use underhanded tactics. See if the hosting service has strong customer support, working servers, strong uptime, and a good response when things go wrong. Think of what the most important things for your company will be and make sure that your web host shares them!
5. Budgets
Of course, none of this matters if a web hosting provider is out of the current budget. Because of this, one of the first things that you’ll need to do is look into how much the web hosting will cost.
Servers with more features or better security may end up costing more, but this is often worth the price. More features mean there are more ways to serve and grow your audience, and security is one of the most vital things you can have.
Still, that doesn’t mean that you can afford them, so you may have to cut corners elsewhere. Smaller servers, servers with fewer features, and other such things may need to be cut out. Just make sure not to cut out anything vital, like server security or servers that actually stay online.
6. Type of Server
Another important thing to consider is what type of server you’ll be using. There are three main types – shared hosting, virtual private server(VPS) hosting, and dedicated hosting.
Shared hosting is often the cheapest and provides a great choice for smaller websites. Using this style means your server won’t be solely your own, but it’s more than adequate for a small business.
Virtual private servers are a middle-ground between shared hosting and dedicated servers. These provide greater control for users, giving a server split into smaller servers by virtual machines.
Finally, dedicated servers are useful for high-performance, high-volume sites. They’re typically the most expensive and are completely dedicated to the user that occupies them.
7. Server Support
The final feature to keep in mind is the support the web hosting provider gives. It’s common for technical issues to arise – can your web hosting provider meet such problems?
Responsive support is extremely helpful, especially during a cyberattack. Look into the support options and consider giving them a try by contacting the support call line or text chats. That way you can see how knowledgeable and responsive they really are before dedicating yourself.
Best Hosting Service
When looking for the best hosting service, consider the needs of your company and what will help you grow. Keep your budget in mind and what features are most necessary, and make sure not to skip out on good support and service!
If you have more questions about website hosting, feel free to contact us for more information.
