If you are looking to create a website for your business, you’re probably wondering How to choose the right web hosting provider.
There are a lot of hosting providers available. But choosing the best is not very hard. This article will help you pick the right web hosting provider for your website.
The four main considerations for choosing a hosting provider are data security, performance scalability, and customer support.
Let’s dive in!
First of all, it is important to know the different types of hosting servers available in the market.
Servers offered by web hosting services are generally categorized into Shared hosting, Dedicated hosting and VPS hosting.
The question is: What kind of hosting do you need?
Shared Hosting
Cheaper, easy to maintain, and limited server control.
In shared hosting solutions, your website is hosted on a server along with several other websites – you share server space, resources, bandwidth, and cost as well.
Read our blog post on What is Shared Hosting? to learn more about it.
Figure out LDC’s Windows shared hosting plans.
Tip: Shared hosting is suitable for small businesses that are starting their new website.
VPS Hosting
More server control and power; costs more than shared hosting.
VPS hosting refers to a physical server that is divided into multiple virtual servers that each store files and data of one website.
To put things simply, multiple websites will be hosted on the same server, yet they won’t share server resources.
Tip: A great option for medium-sized fast-growing businesses.
Dedicated Hosting
High server power and control; Highest cost and skills are required.
This is a physical server with dedicated resources to only one user at a time – your content is placed on a completely separate server. You will be able to have full control over hardware, storage space, operating system, etc.
Tip: This is suitable for high-volume traffic e-commerce websites and blogs.
Now that you have a better understanding of which hosting type caters to your needs, there are many criteria to consider when choosing your web hosting service partner.
Let’s discuss some of the most important factors to put into consideration.
1. Data Security
Data and server security are important factors to consider when choosing the right web hosting service – given the increasing concern of data breaches and cyber threats.
Backups
Look out for a web host that has a comprehensive backup and recovery system. Hosting providers should be able to carry out periodical and automated backups to ensure data recovery when a catastrophic system failure occurs – which will help minimize potential downtime.
Firewall
Hosting servers should offer firewall protection to control, safeguard and monitor data traffic for any unauthorized intrusions or cyber-attacks.
SSL certificates
Web hosting companies should also provide security tools such as SSL certificates.
SSL certificates encrypt sensitive information – such as credit card details and personal information- in transit between your server and the user’s browsers to ensure that all data remains private.
SSL secure web pages have a green padlock displayed near the address bar for users to see. This provides strong visual assurance of safety to your website visitors.
Thus, SSL certificates are essential to demonstrate that your website is secure and able to withstand any hackers, cybercriminals, or fraudsters.
To learn more about SSL certificates, read this article on Everything you need to know about SSL certificates.
2. Performance
Server performance influences bounce rates, conversion rates, and the perceived trustworthiness of your website.
Performance can be expressed in terms of load time and uptime.
Load time
Today’s website users are always on the go and impatient, they are looking for quick answers and immediate results. Therefore, they expect and demand speed when it comes to the internet and websites.
1 in 4 visitors would abandon a website that takes more than 4 seconds to load.
This means that if the slow loading speed is driving users away, it is also driving your sales away.
The one-second difference in loading time can greatly affect a website’s performance.
Amazon did tests that showed they would lose $1.6 Billion a year if they slowed down just one second.
On the other hand,
Retail sites saw a 9.2% increase in average order value when load time was decreased by one-tenth of a second.
Uptime
Different Web Hosting services have different uptime guarantees – which is a pledge that your website will be available and operational with no issues for a certain amount of time.
In other words, it guarantees that your website remains accessible to your users and customers around the world.
Website uptime is the opposite of downtime. Downtime refers to the undesirable outcomes resulting from the unavailability or inaccessibility of a website online.
Every website on the internet exists for a purpose. Thus, if a website experiences regular downtime, then this purpose is defeated – as visitors won’t be able to access the website; resulting in not enough traffic.
Consequently, this can result in the loss of potential customers and revenue as well.
In case of downtime, users will simply move on to your competitor. If your competitor offers a more reliable experience, then you might never see these users again.
You’ll want to choose a hosting provider with a server uptime of at least 99.9%.
3. Scalability
When choosing a hosting partner, make sure the hosting plan offers the scalability you might need down the road. As your target audience grows, you’ll need the resiliency to handle sudden bursts of high traffic volumes.
4. Customer Support
A solid customer support system is the biggest key differentiator when it comes to web hosting services.
In case your website encounters any technical issues, getting immediate support goes a long way in minimizing downtime and resuming business operations promptly. Customer support can be offered either
Not to mention, most hosting packages that are available online are likely to be managed.
There are hosting companies that provide managed hosting services such as hardware and software set up, maintenance, hardware replacement, patching, monitoring, and updating.
This is to say, with managed hosting, service providers take charge of the daily management of operating systems, hardware, and applications.
This is ideal for non-technical users who have limited experience with web hosting technologies.
In conclusion
Choosing the right hosting provider is an important foundation to ensure the success of your business.
There are several options to choose from when it comes to web hosting, yet it all comes down to choosing a hosting plan that suits your needs.
Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the differences between the web hosting services available and determine which one offers the best solution that meets your objective.
Learn more about LDC’s Windows shared hosting service.