Web hosting provides a home for any website on the internet. We know building a website for your business or your personal brand; religious institution or local charity can be exciting, but before that website can be launched it needs to be hosted somewhere on the web, and this is where web hosting service providers come in.
You might be new to web technology and have no clue about the things you have to look out for when choosing a web hosting option. This article will guide you.
What is Web Hosting?
Every website is made up of images, media, apps, and other files that take up memory. These files have to be stored in a physical server somewhere for your website to be accessible to everyone on the internet. Web hosts own many servers that have the power to provide consistent, reliable service for several websites. Without web hosting your website can’t be seen on the internet. When you sign up for a hosting plan, what you are doing is renting space on their servers. But it doesn’t end there. A good web host isn’t just selling space, they’re also maintaining their technology to ensure it runs smoothly, efficiently, and securely—so that your website functions without problems.
Things to Look for in a Web Host
Speed
Internet users today want things to happen quickly. When they are being taken to your website, they want it to open at the fastest time possible, so it’s important to choose a hosting company that is committed to the speed and performance of their servers.
- For instance, servers with SSD hard drives are faster than HDDs, so look out for companies with SSD servers.
- Also, hosting companies with a CDN (Content Delivery Network) or those that have servers in multiple continents are a good choice. They will enable your site load at the fastest possible time for anyone visiting your website from anywhere in the world.
- Check that the company has HTTP/2 support. You can learn more about HTTP/2 here
Typically, it’s hard to tell what the server infrastructure of a web host is without asking. You can phone or mail their customer service people to ask.
Customer Support
Creating or running a website can get tricky. Technical issues will arise that may make your website not function as it should. Fixing these issues can be daunting & laborious if you have no prior tech experience, or you have a close deadline to meet. When these issues arise, you will require immediate help in fixing them and a hosting provider should be available to support you at any time of the day. Yes, anytime. Ask yourself the following
- When is support available? Ideally, it should be 24/7.
- What channels are available? Phone? Chat? Tickets? Ticketing is always better for complex issues.
- How friendly is the support team?
- What’s the company’s response time for resolving issues? On chat and phone, how long do you have to wait to get an operator?
- What type of issues can be resolved through the support channels? Many hosts help with server-related issues only. Find out what issues are considered to be “beyond the hosting support”.
- Look for documentation and self-help—tutorials, a knowledge base on their website.
Reliability
Whenever a business website is unavailable, the business loses visitors & money. Every web hosting company has just one main job: keeping your website accessible online. These hosting companies have to do occasional server maintenance that will temporarily take your website offline.
One of the big differentiating factors in the reliability of web hosting providers is how they manage the issues that can take your website offline. The amount of time a web hosting company guarantees that your website will be available is generally called uptime, and reputable web hosting companies promise at least 99% uptime, some even go further by offering 99.9% uptime with a money-back guarantee.
Pricing
When you’re a small business or an individual with a limited budget, you might be tempted to choose the web hosting company offering the lowest price. The truth is providing fast, reliable & secure hosting costs money. The lowest price might just result in slower servers and frequent downtime for your website. As cliché as it sounds; just like with everything in life, you get what you pay for with web hosting. Paying a reasonable price is an investment in your website that will bring you peace of mind by limiting downtime significantly. Look for the best value for money, not necessarily the cheapest price, and don’t get carried away by misleading marketing by service providers.
Security
Hackers and security breaches are generally seen as the major drawback of internet technology. When hackers gain access to your site they install malware that infects the computers of your site visitors. If this problem persists long enough, Google will display a warning message of the threat your website poses when people visit, and that will be a bad look. It’s important for every website owner to prioritize security. There are a number of steps you can take to make your websites more secure on your own, but the best thing you can do is first choosing a web host that treats security as a priority.
A good web hosting company invests in strong firewalls, and includes SSL certificates as part of their plans, also offering security software or add-ons that can enhance your website security. Research the company’s reputation for security and ensure you’re choosing a host that can be trusted.
Conclusion
Today, there are a ton of web hosts, and in your process of launching a website, choosing one is an important decision you will have to make. The difference between a good-performing website and a bad one could simply be in their web hosting service providers.
Choosing the right provider will impact the performance of your website and it’s crucial to get it right from the onset to save you the stress of migrating to another host later.
If you’re ready to make your decision and get started with a web host now, consider one of OneNet’s plans. We offer a range of options, so there’s plenty of room to grow. We also provide 24/7 customer support. We have proven ourselves to be reliable web hosts in the industry, as evidenced by third party reviews on our home page.
Ready to build a website? Give our experts at OneNet a call today and we’ll suggest the best hosting plan for you and your needs.
