Website hosting is a service that enables individuals or organizations to create a site and make it accessible through the World Wide Web information space. Companies that provide this service are called web hosts, and they sell or lease space on their servers which saves all the data needed by your domain.
Here are a few tips on how to choose the right hosting company:
1. Identify Your Needs
Different web hosting service providers have individual strengths and weaknesses. It’s crucial that you determine what your priorities are for your site. You can then use these criteria to filter through the choices and find one that suits your needs perfectly.
Some factors you should consider are:
- Type of Website – You need to be sure if you want to use WordPress as a platform for your blog or create a static HTML site.
- Number of Websites – Identifying the number of domains you want to make can be a factor in the price of the web hosting service. Some providers allow you to generate multiple sites from a single account.
- Traffic Volume – As much as possible, be realistic about the number of people you’re aiming to attract to your website. Nonetheless, you’ll need to check a host’s scalability if you plan to grow your traffic in the next few months or years.
- Technical Requirements – Coding languages like HTML and CSS are popular because they don’t have special requirements for hosting. On the other hand, if you’re using PHP, you will need to look for a host that can cater to that particular format.
- Extra Features – Email hosting and security certification are a few additional features that you may want for your site. Find hosts that offer them at a reasonable price. If you’re planning to build an e-commerce store, potential providers must have the capability to protect payment information and support shopping cart software.
- Monthly Budget – Your monthly budget plays a significant role in filtering out hosts and packages that are outside your range. There’s lots of providers that are affordable without compromising quality.
2. Understand Hosting Components
Now you’ve identified the type of website you’ll be making, and what kind of support you’ll need for it, you must have a basic knowledge of the resources that these providers can give you. Storage, RAM, bandwidth, domains, email, security, and reliability are technical features that you should know about.
An in-depth look at these technical features:
- Storage – As mentioned above, web hosts sell or lease space on their servers to store all of your website’s data such as text, images, videos, and audio files. Several providers offer unlimited storage, but the most important thing to remember is to find one that uses SSDs or solid-state drives which are much faster and more reliable.
- RAM – Similar to personal computers and laptops, the higher random access memory or RAM storage your server has, the better your website can process stored data. Site speed has a significant impact in encouraging your buyer’s to complete transactions on your e-commerce store.
- Bandwidth – Bandwidth pertains to the maximum rate of data transfer that your server can provide. The higher allocation you get from your host for this factor, the more people can access your site at the same time without fear of crashing.
- Domains and Email – You have the option to choose a different company to register your domain or the address of your website on the Internet. However, some providers offer free domain hosting for the first year so why not take advantage of that deal. Additionally, email hosting is valuable for businesses.
- Security – Find providers that guarantee protection with the use of firewalls, monitoring services, and automatic back-ups for your files.
- Reliability – A web host’s reliability refers to its operational stability or uptime. The Internet never sleeps and neither should your website. You must be confident that your site will always be accessible by your subscribers with the provider that you choose.
3. Consider the Renewal Price
While you may have gotten a sweet monthly offer for signing up with a web host, you must remember that you’ll be renewing your contract with them and the price probably won’t be the same as your first year. Always read the fine print before you commit to a provider. This way, you don’t back yourself into a corner come renewal time where the only option is to pay a higher monthly hosting fee or find another company to store your data.
Conclusion
Dedicating a budget to web hosting improves your site’s performance and leads to a significant boost in user experience, which is a primary factor in attracting and retaining customers or readers for your blog. Having a domain-associated email address also makes you look more professional and evokes the impression that you’re serious about your venture.
