Tips For Choosing The Right Web Hosting Service Provider

Like every other business, you also need to have online visibility. Your social media account can create a buzz among people; but if you want growth and are serious about what you do, then build a website too. For developing it, you, however, need to focus on many things, such as design, functionality, SEO compatibility, user experience, load time, and web hosting company. Your web designer can guide you on everything, including the hosting services. Since web hosting can play a critical role in the visibility of your website on the internet, do some research from your end also before taking any decision.

As such, every web host has some unique features and requirements. You have to find one that can match with your objectives. For help, you can refer to the points mentioned below.

How to find out a perfect web host?

Chalk out what you need in a hosting service

You have to have clarity about your requirements first. For example, consider the type of website you want to make (WordPress site or something else), the script of your website, the volume of traffic, what software you need, and so on. Plan everything that you desire your website to have. It should feature things you want to offer as well as what you may require in the future. It will help you analyze the kind of resources your website need. For a small or medium website, you may not need a VPS host. A VPS host or dedicated server has more relevance for an e-Commerce site or large business, which requires higher traffic and reliability.

Nevertheless, pay attention to all the options and see which one can do justice to your website to finalize. If it’s your first time, then you can start with a small step by choosing a shared hosting account. Easy maintenance and cheap pricing are the main benefits here. Additionally, you don’t have to worry about server and database security.

When your business scales up, you can quickly upgrade your hosting account for better management and handling.

Server performance

Look for a host that provides you reliable servers and network connections 24X7. Your website needs to operate smoothly without any interruption because people from different time zones would visit it. Hence, stability is utmost necessary. If it can ensure you 99.95% uptime, go with it. Don’t settle for less even if it promises you 99%. For information on this, you can read hosting reviews. Or, you can use a server monitoring tool for tracking purpose. You can get these tools for free or for a limited trial period.

Multiple domains hosting

Due to the availability of cheap domains, you can buy more than one. A survey claims that 80% of the participants own at least five domains, and over 20%, at least 50. For accommodating all the domains, you need more hosting space. Usually, a cost-effective hosting service provider allows you to keep up to 25 domains in one account. But you would need to cross-check it with them because this can vary from vendor to vendor.

Renewal or signup cost

You can get very affordable signup deals for a hosting service. But be ready to face expensive renewal charges. If you don't want to get trapped, then avoid any offer that gives you high discounts on signup. The only way to escape costly renewals is by changing the hosting service at an interval of two years or so. That can seem little inconvenient, though. Anyway, if you have to pay anything less than a 100% increase, then it can be okay. Before you buy, pore through the terms of service once.

Server types

As mentioned earlier, shared servers are the cheapest. It can work well for a website that receives less than 5,000 visitors monthly. However, when the number grows, you may want to shift to a better server to deal with the limitation on FTP or SFTP file uploads, shell access, and database access. You may also need help with load time.

The next choice is a Virtual Private Server (VPS). You can get better performance here as VPS websites have their server sides. The security risks are lower, and then, you don't have to worry about load time. Increase in traffic on other sites will not have any impact on your website due to the dedicated server portion. You have more resources as well as more control in this environment.

Cloud servers can be even better than VPS or shared because they allow you seamless scalability. They are as potent as hundreds of physical servers because they run on a massive public cloud, such as Microsoft Azure. Enhanced uptime, performance upgrade for a price, more resources, and higher control make cloud hosting extremely tempting.

Another option you have is the dedicated hosting platform where you get access to a physical server for your website. You can control it the way you want. The challenges relating to load time and shared resources get vanished. Because hosting charges tend to be hefty, you should consider it only when your website has volume and strong presence.

Hosting features

While speed, support, scalability, and security should matter, you must also find out whether a hosting service offers you a one-click installer, FTP / SFTP access, .htaccess file access, and other necessary features.  A one-click installer can help you launch your web application quickly. FTP/SFTP access is crucial for better file management. And .htaccess file gives you editing power. If you are an e-commerce company, then having an IP address, SSL certification, secure shopping cart inclusion, and such other supports are mandatory.

In essence, there is a whole lot of things that you have to take into consideration when choosing a hosting server. From live chat or telephone support to backups to subscription period, you would have to make sure all of these are there. This one task may consume a substantial amount of your time. If you don't wish to get into this hassle or want to make an informed choice, you can look for help from digital marketing agency Online Impact 360.