How to determine the best Web Hosting Provider for your website
How to determine the best Web Hosting Provider for your website
Every website requires a host. A website host is what gives your website a home and allows visitors to access it.
Website hosting comes in a wide range of price points and features. What you need, the types of website hosting available, and questions to ask a prospective web host will help you find a suitable best web hosting for your business.
The six main factors to consider when choosing a website hosting provider are:
- Speed
- Scalability
- Support
- Security
- Price
- Web Hosting Setup
Speed: Users expect a 2 second website load time. They will leave if it takes too long. Pages that load slowly can harm your search rankings and drive away customers. Having a web hosting provider with a fast server, enough memory and processing power to accommodate lightning fast page speed is crucial for every business.
Scalability: Examine your website's traffic and content. Do you expect increased traffic or additional content like photo or video galleries to necessitate additional resources? If so, it's better to find a web host that can grow with you than one that won't.
Support: Or would you rather use a web hosting company that can handle all of that for you? If you want your host to help, make sure they are available 24/7 in case of an outage or other issue.
Security: Your web hosting company should prioritize keeping your website safe. The hosting company should constantly monitor the servers for unusual activity or unauthorized intrusions. Your web host should also support SSL certificates, which encrypt data sent between your server and the user's browser. SSL is now required for all websites that sell products or accept payments.
Price: Website hosting can range from a few dollars per month to thousands, or even be “free.” You get what you pay for. As an add-on to a larger service package, “free” hosting is usually offered in exchange for ads on your site. Cheap web hosting usually means limited flexibility and resource access, which can lead to performance issues. Know your web hosting needs so you don't get a "good deal" that doesn't fit.
Web Hosting Setup: Shared hosting is usually the cheapest option, but there are significant drawbacks. Shared hosting puts your website on a server with other websites. The performance of your site may be affected if another website on your server experiences a large spike in visitor traffic. Pages may load slower or the site may become inaccessible, giving potential visitors an error message when they try to access it. Shared hosting also has security issues.
A virtual private server (VPS) is a simulated dedicated server that runs alongside other VPS sites on a single server. Because each VPS site has its own dedicated portion of a server, performance is not affected by traffic changes on other sites, and security risks are reduced. VPS hosting gives you more resources and control over the hosting environment.
Your website is hosted on a dedicated server, which means you have complete control over how the server is used. A company with a strong IT team may opt for an on-site dedicated server. In those cases, the company is solely responsible for managing the server, including troubleshooting issues, updating security, and installing firewalls.
Also known as Managed Dedicated Hosting, this option involves renting a full dedicated server from a web hosting provider who manages all server maintenance and security.
They use a public cloud like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure, which combines hundreds of physical servers. Because cloud hosting isn't limited to a single server, you can easily expand your space without switching hosting providers or reconfiguring your system. Cloud-based hosting also increases website uptime because no single server is affected. If one cloud server fails, the others pick up the slack, ensuring no service interruption.
With or without a dedicated server, ask prospective web hosting providers these 7 questions:
- Am I bound by a contract? If so, what terms? Some web hosting companies allow you to leave at any time. Others lock you into a low-cost contract that skyrockets when it's time to renew. Know what you're signing up for.
- Do you provide support? If you have a problem with your website, you need to be able to contact someone immediately. Ask prospective web hosting companies if they provide 24/7 support, how you can reach them (phone, email, live chat, support ticket), and how long it takes to respond.
- Does the hosting plan include security? A good web host will have a strong firewall, up-to-date antivirus software, constant monitoring, automatic updates and patches, and malware detection and removal.
- Do you regularly backup? To recover data from your site, you need a hosting provider who can help you. Look for a web host that offers daily secure backups and can help you restore your site from backup files if necessary.
- How is your uptime? Obviously, you want as little downtime as possible. The uptime rating or score of a web hosting provider indicates the server's reliability. Look for 99.5 percent uptime.
- Can I upgrade my hosting plan? Unless you're certain your website traffic will remain stable, research your options in case you need a more robust web hosting plan.
- What are the hosting restrictions? Before you sign up with a web host, you should know what you can and cannot do. Inquire about the provider's hosting plan's domain, file transfer, and resource limits.
