The Right Way to Select a Web Hosting Service
Carrying out a little research before choosing the wrong web hosting provider can save you from a lot of trouble and tension. You may not understand the importance of teaming up with the right web hosting service. It is actually collaboration. By choosing the wrong provider, you’ll end up struggling to stand downtime, get support, or even worse. So, if you are planning to choose a hosting package, have a look at the following points during your research phase and select it in the right way.
Contents
The Right Way to Select a Web Hosting Service
1. Kind of hosting provided
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do you have enough technical knowledge or skills?
- Do you want greater control over your site and server(s)?
- Do you want your own infrastructure?
- Would you let the hosting company be in charge of maintenance?
Whether it is a shared, dedicated, VPS, or fully managed hosting, consider their benefits and downsides. Decide what you want from it and don’t be reluctant in asking for advice.
2. Customer Support
Anything that happens to your server or site, from technical errors to DNS attacks, needs a quick solution. To be able to remedy the situation in no time, you need quality support. So, while choosing the service, you need to confirm the following points:
- What are the available support channels, including live chat, email, telephone, and forums?
- Is the support staff US-based or overseas?
Confirm that the support you want takes plan on different channels. Sometimes, you may not be able to attend a phone call, so make sure your chosen provider has email or other modes of communication.
A web hosting service provider with a US-based customer support staff understands the nuances of working with your time zone and customers. A personal touch is really powerful and useful when it comes to customer service and the success of problem-solving.
3. Features
Functionality and features are crucial for any site. If your business expands as time passes by, does the company has the features and capacity to handle that growth? Keeping this in mind, you need to consider the following points:
- What features are offered?
- How much bandwidth and storage are offered?
- How many domains can be hosted on a single account?
- Does the host use cPanel for 1-click installations of any software?
The provider you choose should help you in moving from the existing plan to the next one or the bandwidth or storage capacity for meeting your site or business needs. Most often, scalability is ignored (both upgrade and downgrade). Scalability is a significant feature as sometimes you choose a plan that is big for your site. Then, you’ll need a provider who will move you to the right plan.
4. Locations of Servers
Before you choose a hosting plan, ask the following questions:
- Do you gather personal data on your site?
- Does the location of the data centers hold importance to you?
- Is your company compliance led?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you may want to check the location of your servers. Some providers even let you select the location of your data center. The advantage you get is performance and speed. Factors like long scripts and WordPress themes have an impact on how fast a website can load. They affect the overall site performance and load times too.
5. Areas of specialization
- What certain areas do they specialize in?
Undoubtedly, WordPress walls all over the internet. Many providers offer hosting plans and packages dedicated to WordPress. You should consider WordPress hosting plans if your site’s content management system is WordPress.
6. Security
Likely, as per the nature of your business, you may have higher standards to meet in terms of security. Confirm if this company can meet these expectations. Or, you should look for some other hosting companies. Also, security has to be an important factor in your decision even if you may not have to meet regulated standards. You should find out if your hosting company has appropriate measures in place for your site and server protection. Because you would be accountable in the end if anything goes wrong.
7. Price & Online Feedback
While choosing a provider, confirm the following things:
- How much this company charge? Compare the prices to the other hosts on your list.
- Is price an important factor or can you pay a bit more for a full service?
Lastly, search for the general feedback written for that provider. While feedback from other users may be according to different requirements than yours, general negative feedback from them can be helpful.
Research the web hosting service provider you plan to choose and the services they offer. The feedback some previous users have provided may indicate as to whether you should trust the company with your site or not.
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