Choosing a proper web hosting company isn’t easy: today you can find plenty of hosting providers and making a choice is fully on you and according to your needs. How to choose a proper hosting company?
The website you want to put on the internet should be hosted on a web server. That space that web server is providing can be owned or rented for use by clients from web hosting companies. Today you can find many web hosting providers and because of that finding the right hosting packages can be pretty confusing.
Web hosting packages can vary in pricing and features they offer, such as bandwidth available, data transfers, secured speed, number of domains, privacy and security settings, marketing tools, technical support, etc. That’s why you need to know what exactly your website needs because it can be crucial for making a smart choice for website planning.
Here are some basic features every good web hosting provider need to have:
1. Disk space
The web hosting account has some amount of disk space that can be rented on a server. Logically, one of your primary concerns will be how much data you can store. It can vary in order of your website needs – for most small and medium web sites, you can find packages with several gigabytes, and for large websites, it can be much more space.
You can always choose a package with additional disk space so you’ll be able to add more content, pictures, music, videos, or whatever that requires more disk space.
Don’t worry: databases are usually calculated separately from the disk space. Of course, different web hosting companies have different policies, so you can choose ones that provide exactly what you need.
2. Uptime
It’s unnecessary to mention how it’s important to provide your visitors to be able to get to your site fast and easy. If they can’t access your website in a few seconds – they’ll leave and probably never come back.
Uptime is one of the most important features of a good and reliable web hosting provider. Guaranteed uptime means a website guarantees your website to be up at least 99.9 percent of the time and available to visitors. Often, hosts will extend the truth a little (claiming 99.9% uptime, not counting almost everything that could go wrong), so make sure you understand exactly what their definition of uptime means.
You can google around and see what other users and reviewers have said about the host. According to reviews on Website Planet, Hostinger has the best uptime and also very affordable prices in all packages, so you can check it out. The guarantee should include network uptime, server uptime, web server, service uptime, 24/7 support in case something goes wrong, etc.
3. Domain name registration
The domain name is a unique name and address on the World Wide Web. When you create your domain name, make sure you buy it from an authorized domain registry and choose a company that will meet all your requirements, and also be the best choice for you. The domain registry of course must be affordable and reliable. Nowadays, you can register your perfect domain name while you purchase hosting service for your site.
Once you complete the domain registration, the domain name is purchased and available to use for a specified period, usually one year, and that time can be extended.
Choose web hosts that will provide you to retain the option to transfer the domain to another hosting company once you decide to change your host. Read carefully “Terms and Conditions” regarding maintaining the privacy policy.
4. Website backup
It doesn’t matter how much you try not to think about the worst scenarios, you must always know that web hosts are also sometimes vulnerable. Servers are still just big computers that sometimes can be hacked. Before you give trust to a hosting provider, see what backup options they offer and provide – you will want to backup both files and databases so be sure your hosting provider can do it, or figure out how you can do it by yourself.
5. Dedicated and shared IP address
An IP address (Internet Protocol address) is the numerical address of the website with the help of which it communicates with other computers on the internet. There is a difference between a dedicated IP address or a shared IP address.
Dedicated IP Address is the only one on the internet using a unique IP address number. The advantages of dedicated IP addresses are that the site can have better SEO and also better security and privacy.
Shared IP Address means that there could be plenty of websites sharing one server that share the same IP address. Shared IP addresses are easier for providers to manage and maintain and it’s cheaper for users. It also had a bad side: if other websites that you are sharing an IP address with are banned or blacklisted due to spamming or scamming, their actions affect other websites including yours. It can be fixed with a shared SSL certificate that provides a secure URL.
6. Technical support
A reliable web hosting provider must be online for you 24/7. Technical support should be available via email, ticket, phone, social media channels, or live chat, and tutorials with help can also be a lifesaver. Don’t choose a host until you know exactly what support they offer – you need to get a quick reply to support tickets in case of any issues and give your trust to a provider who can offer this.
Conclusion
Let’s get back to a beginning – choosing a proper web hosting company isn’t easy, but with some great tips, it can be easier because you’ll know what you need and what you need to get from an ideal hosting provider. Take your time, read the reviews, inform yourself, and make a research before you choose because a good hosting provider is half of a successful website.
