Top Tips to Choose the Best Web Hosting Services

Top Tips to Choose the Best Web Hosting Services

Today, websites have become indispensable for most businesses. For a great-performing website, it is imperative to have a reliable web host. Picking the right hosting provider is important because it determines your website’s performance and security—ultimately reflecting your business and brand value. However, choosing a web hosting service can be confusing and difficult as there are many options to choose from, so it is crucial to know what you need before deciding on which one to go with.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss the top tips to choose the best web hosting service. But before moving onto the tips, let’s take a quick look at what web hosting is and what are the different types of web hosting.

What is Web Hosting?

A web host is a business that enables businesses and individuals to post a website or web page onto the Internet by providing them with the required technologies and services. Websites are typically hosted or stored on special computers known as servers. Whenever an internet user wants to view your website, all they need to do is type your web address or domain into their browser, and their system will then connect with your server, and your web pages will be accessible to them via a browser.

Furthermore, most web hosting companies require you to own your domain in order to host with them. However, if you don’t have a domain, your web host will help you get one.

Types of Website Hosting

There are basically four types of website hosting options available for you to choose from, depending upon your needs. They are:

Shared Hosting: In this hosting type of web hosting, all website files are stored on one physical server, which is shared by multiple website owners. If one of the websites uses up more than their allotted resources, your website can be at risk for slow loading times, errors, and even downtime. Apart from this, shared hosting is a good option for beginners, those with small websites, or if you are on a limited budget.

VPS (Virtual Private Server) Hosting: In VPS hosting, all website files are stored on a virtual server which is divided amongst a limited number of site owners. Even if a user on the server uses up more than their allotted resources, your website remains unaffected. This hosting type is perfect for eCommerce websites or sites that are expected to grow in the near future but are not in their growth spurt yet.

Cloud Hosting: Cloud hosting works quite similar to VPS hosting, but this hosting type has seemingly endless resources. However, rather than splitting resources amongst users as their needs grow, a cloud server is one giant server that everyone feeds off. This hosting type is perfect for those having highly trafficked websites that constantly need more resources so that they can continue to scale up.

Dedicated Hosting: In this hosting type, you rent one physical server and store all of your website’s data on it without having to worry about anyone else using it. Here you have complete control over the server’s hardware and are in charge of fixing any issues that may pop up. This hosting type is quite expensive as compared to others, and it is best to consider this option if you have very large, well-established, and highly trafficked websites.

Before finalizing a web hosting provider, you need to decide what type of hosting you need for your website.

Now, let’s move onto the tips for choosing a web host.

Tips for Choosing a Web Hosting Service

Here are the tips that will help you choose the best hosting provider for your needs:

Uptime

One of the most crucial factors that you must look out for is the average uptime, i.e., the average amount of time your website stays up within a given period of time. This average uptime is important because it can significantly affect how much traffic your website gets. If your website faces too much downtime, it will certainly be very difficult to get much traffic as your visitors won’t be able to access your website. Thus, a few hours of downtime can lead to losing a considerable amount of potential sales/interactions. Therefore it is important to look out for a hosting provider that offers at least 99% of uptime if not 100%!

Customer Support

Any time your website has some problem, you need to fix it quickly without any delay. You cannot wait until the business hours of your web hosting service provider to get the right support for your issue. For instance, you’re up late at night working on your website changes, the last thing you would want is to hit an issue where you need customer support to resolve, and then you realize that you’ll have to wait until the morning to get it fixed. So make sure your web hosting provider offers top-notch 24X7 customer support. Brownie points if they offer support via multiple channels like phone, live chat, and/or email to get in touch with them.  

Price

Web hosting is a necessary expense if you want to have a website, but that does not mean it has to be expensive. When deciding on the right hosting plan for your website, you must keep in mind that web hosting is not a one-time cost; it is a subscription-based billing model. So make sure that you’re comfortable with the cost of the plan before moving forward. While many new website owners can be just fine with the cheapest type of hosting plan, some may find it well worth spending extra for additional features and higher bandwidth. So make sure the value of the plan matches the price you’ll be paying.

Bandwidth and Storage

Ideally, the best hosting provider is the one that offers unlimited bandwidth. Website hosting bandwidth is basically the amount of data that a site can deliver to its visitors over a certain period of time. So, the higher the bandwidth is, the better it will be.

Similarly, the more storage space you get, the better it is. Where storage is a self-explanatory term that determines the amount of website content you can store, this website content typically includes text, images, code, databases, and even emails.

SSL Certificate

SSL is a security certificate that creates an encrypted connection and establishes trust. It adds a padlock icon before your URL and puts that added “S” in HTTPS. 

This certificate secures your website transactions by encrypting any information/data going through it. This is important, especially for e-commerce websites. Make sure to look for a web hosting provider that offers free SSL with hosting plans. 

Money-back Options

Reliable web hosting providers usually offer a hosting plan with a money-back guarantee for a set period. So, when you are choosing a web hosting provider, check if they have a hassle-free money-back option. This will enable you to try their services and see if they match your business’ requirements and the quality of services they’re vouching for in their offer. If you find their service not worth the money you’ve paid, at least it’ll be easy to get your money back.

Security

Security is paramount for any website. Make sure to choose a web hosting provider that offers security features like security monitoring, DDoS protection, SSL, RAID, as well as secure data centres. A hosting service that comes with great security means both your website and your customer’s data will be safe.

Backups

A site backup is a copy of your website that prevents you from losing all your website progress and information/data if something unfortunate occurs and keeps your website up & running. A web host should ideally offer regular backups or should make it easy for you to do it yourself.

Final Word

You must always take your time to weigh all the options before finalizing a web hosting provider. Being more mindful while making a choice can save a lot of time and trouble! While there are many more factors when it comes to choosing a web hosting service, the tips we’ve listed above will help you in finding the right hosting provider for your business and your website.

If you are still unsure, contact BigRock’s team of experts. They’ll help you in choosing the best hosting plan for your needs.

WRITTEN BY:

A team of web enthusiasts who are keen on learning and developing websites, and all things related to the web.

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