When running an online store, picking the right hosting service suitable for e-commerce is a bigger deal than you might think. A lot of businesses suffer because of sluggish loading speeds, poor security, and servers that are just not managed properly.
With the plethora of hosting options, it’s no surprise that many business owners find it difficult to pick the best fit for their e-commerce needs. It is hard for them to understand what sets a top-notch e-commerce hosting provider apart.
To help you out, we’ve jotted down some key qualities you should always keep an eye out for when hunting for a hosting provider.
It’ll reduce your research time since you will know how to filter hosting providers and find the best hosting for your e-commerce website.
But first, for those who don’t know, let’s look at the concept of E-commerce hosting.
What is E-commerce Hosting?
E-commerce hosting refers to the specialised hosting services designed to support and enable online e-commerce businesses.
This type of hosting is tailored to meet the unique requirements and demands of e-commerce websites, which often involve high traffic, secure transactions, and reliable performance.
Types of E-commerce Hosting
Before considering web hosting for e-commerce websites, understanding the types of e-commerce hosting is crucial. Explore these options and compare them to your specific business needs.
1.Shared Hosting:
This is a type of web hosting service where multiple websites are hosted on a single server and share its resources, such as disk space, bandwidth, and processing power. In a shared hosting environment, each website has its own separate directory and space on the server, but they all use the same server resources.
Shared hosting is the best e-commerce hosting for small businesses or businesses with relatively low traffic and resource requirements. As a website grows and requires more resources or customisation options, users might consider upgrading to other hosting options.
Pros: Affordable and easy to set up.
Cons: Limited resources and potential performance issues if other sites on the server experience high traffic.
2.Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting:
In a VPS environment, virtualisation technology divides a physical server into multiple virtual servers. Each virtual server operates independently, providing users with a private and isolated hosting environment.
Simply put, VPS hosting combines elements of both shared hosting and dedicated hosting, where each server is divided for different clients, but unlike shared hosting, the resources are not shared, providing a safer environment and consistent performance.
VPS hosting is suitable for businesses or individuals with growing websites, e-commerce platforms, and applications that require more control, customisation, and resources.
Pros: More control and better performance than shared hosting.
Cons: Costlier than shared hosting, technical knowledge required for management.
3.Dedicated Server Hosting:
As the name suggests, with this web hosting service, you will get an entire physical server dedicated to your needs. Dedicated hosting provides exclusive access to all the server resources for a single user’s website or applications, unlike shared hosting, where multiple websites share the same server resources.
Dedicated hosting is the best hosting for e-commerce websites as it is easier to manage high traffic and security requirements. It provides a robust and reliable hosting solution and complete control over the server environment.
Pros: Full server control and high performance.
Cons: Expensive and requires technical expertise for management.
4.Cloud Hosting:
Unlike traditional hosting solutions that rely on a single physical server, cloud hosting distributes the load and resources across a network of servers, often referred to as a cloud.
So, instead of relying on a single server, it uses a network of interconnected servers. These servers work together to provide the resources to host websites and applications. Also, users only pay for the resources they consume, allowing for cost efficiency and flexibility.
Cloud hosting is suitable for a wide range of applications, from small websites to large-scale enterprise solutions.
Pros: Scalable, reliable, pay-as-you-go pricing.
Cons: Cost may vary based on usage and may require some technical knowledge.
5.SaaS
SaaS (software-as-a-service) is a type of cloud hosting where your website software and hosting come together in one package. Choosing a SaaS host means you can focus on growing your business without dealing with IT issues. Your host takes care of managing data, applications, servers, and more. All you need is an internet connection to use the software, which includes hosting and apps that integrate with financial and reporting tools.
Pros: Ease, cost-effective, scalable, maintenance-free.
Cons: Dependency on the provider, potential security concerns, internet reliance, ongoing subscription costs, and control limitations.
Things To Consider While Taking Web Hosting
Every hosting service suitable for e-commerce should possess some essential features. When seeking a fitting host for your online store, prioritize the following.
1.99% uptime
Ensure your online store is always fast and accessible with 99.99% uptime. Choose an e-commerce host with quick load times, avoiding slow performance. Avoid Shared Hosting for e-commerce due to potential downtime. Include a CDN for a fast website and opt for a plan with uptime monitoring to promptly address server issues.
2.Easy Scalability
Your e-commerce hosting plan must enable you to expand resources to handle this surge effortlessly. This includes the ability to scale CPU, RAM, storage, and any other essential resources.
During peak periods such as holidays, sales events, and promotions, there might be a substantial increase in website traffic, and in such situations, it is imperative to have hosting that can be easily scaled. This ensures that your customers do not encounter a detrimental shopping experience.
3.Enhanced Security
When running an online store, customers share personal and financial details to engage in transactions, and they trust you to safeguard this information. It’s crucial to prioritize the security of your e-commerce website. Given that online stores are attractive targets for hackers seeking bank details, credit card numbers, and personal information, it’s vital to ensure robust security measures. Your e-commerce hosting provider should offer advanced features such as firewalls, SSL certificates, malware detection, and monitoring to protect your business, customers, and reputation.
4.24/7 Support
Even if you choose the best e-commerce hosting provider and have all the necessary tools and plugins in place, chances are there will be times when your website may suffer from some issues. Your hosting provider must be easily reachable to help you in such times and offer the right resolution. Whether your website speed is affected, you need to scale resources to accommodate traffic, there’s been an attack, or you need any other help, your e-commerce hosting provider must offer 24/7 support to help you get back and continue doing business.
5.Automatic Backups
For online stores, keeping backups is essential. Changes in important settings can mess up your database, resulting in significant losses. If you don’t have the latest backup, fixing things can be really hard and time-consuming. With automatic backups, your e-commerce store data and files stay safe. To amp up your website security, make sure your e-commerce hosting plan includes automatic backups.
6.Bandwidth and File Storage
E-commerce websites consume a considerable amount of storage space, and they typically attract the highest volume of traffic among various types of websites. Choosing a hosting provider with ample resources is essential to avoid incurring substantial overage fees.
Regardless of the nature of your website, images play a vital role in its design. For e-commerce sites, in particular, the demand for storage is notably high. Each product upload necessitates multiple high-resolution images, and as your store grows, it be-comes easy to question the disappearance of your file space.
7.Payment Integration
Nowadays, people expect various and convenient payment options when shopping online. Whether it’s debit/credit cards, UPI, cash on delivery, or bank transfers, your hosting provider should support all the payment methods you need.
Choose an e-commerce hosting provider that lets you easily add the payment methods your customers prefer. Also, ensure that your hosting provider complies with PCI (Payment Card Industry) standards to keep user data safe and secure.
Choosing the best hosting for your e-commerce website is crucial for the long-term success of your business. It directly impacts website performance, reliability, security, and overall customer experience. Regularly reassess your hosting needs as your business grows to ensure that your hosting solution continues to meet the demands of your e-commerce operation.
Marketing Expert in Domain Hosting Industry
Vaibhav SrivastavaSenior Director – Marketing, NewFold Digital
Sharing my 2 cents on the common mistakes people make while choosing the right type of web hosting for their ecommerce website;1. Opt for shared hosting: Shared hosting is a cost-effective option, but it may not provide sufficient resources or performance for an ecommerce website, especially as your business Scales. So you should go for something which Scales as your Business grows and Website gets more traffic
2. Ignoring scalability: Hosting Solutions like VPS (Virtual Private Server) or dedicated hosting, can accommodate increased traffic and resource demands as your ecommerce website expands.
By avoiding these common mistakes and carefully evaluating your hosting needs, your ecommerce website will be setup for long-term success
ALSO READ: Top Tips to Choose the Best Web Hosting Services
BigRock’s reliable and secure web hosting for e-commerce websites can help support your business goals. Take a look at how you can excel with hosting plans from BigRock.
In case you have any doubts, queries or feedback for this article, please share them in the comments section below.
