You may be confused when facing a lot of hosting companies, as they seem to offer a similar service – host your website, but differ in price and other conditions. Their differences are often hard to distinguish if you’re new to the hosting. Here are the top 13 factors that can help you to choose a web hosting service.
Table of Contents
1. Type of Hosting You Need
The first thing you need to know when choosing a web hosting service is what type of hosting your site needs. There are plenty of hosting services that offer affordable packages, but you’ll want to be sure that their plans meet your needs and provide enough space and bandwidth for your site.
There are three main types that are all very different from each other. You can choose one based on your budget or preference, but it’s important to pick one so you can narrow down the options.
Dedicated servers are the most expensive option, but they offer the most control and are perfect for high traffic or sensitive sites. Shared hosting is the cheapest option and is good for small to medium-sized sites that don’t need a lot of resources. VPS hosting is the middle ground, offering more resources than shared hosting but still being affordable.
2. Price
Another key factor you need to decide is how much money you want to spend. All of the hosting options, except for shared hosting, offer different plans that range in price. If you’re just starting out, shared hosting is a good option because it’s the cheapest. But as your site grows, you’ll need to upgrade to a more expensive plan.
3. Monthly Traffic
The monthly traffic of your website will determine the web hosting service you need. If you have a small website that will only receive a few hundred visits per month, then you can probably get away with a shared hosting plan. However, if your website receives a lot of traffic, then you will need to invest in a VPS or dedicated server. You can check the plans of the hosting service to see which would be suitable for you.
4. Storage Space
Another important factor to consider when choosing a web hosting service is how much storage space your website will require. If you have a lot of images and videos on your website, then you will need a plan that offers plenty of storage space. Conversely, if your website is mostly text-based, then you can get away with a plan that offers limited storage space.
5. Other Features
Each hosting company offers different features with its plans. For example, some companies offer unlimited storage space while others have limits. It’s important to figure out what features you need and want before you start comparing services. Some of the most common features include:
- Bandwidth
- Number of domains allowed
- Auto Backup every day (also important in case your website is down)
- …
Once you know what features you need, it’s a lot easier to compare different companies.
6. Loading Speed
The loading speed of a website hosted on the hosting server is also an important factor to evaluate web hosting quality. You want to make sure that your site loads as quickly as possible so that visitors don’t get impatient and leave. To check the loading speed of a potential web host, you can use a tool like Google’s PageSpeed Insights.
7. Support
When selecting a web host, customer support is very important, especially if you don’t have much technical experience or knowledge about hosting. When something goes wrong with your site, you’ll want to have somebody who can help you fix it quickly. Make sure to ask the web host about their support before signing up for a plan.
- What kind of technical support do they offer?
- What’s the average response time, and is it 24/7?
- If you have an issue with your site, how much will it cost you to get help from a technician?
- What kind of training do they offer their customers?
Hosting companies usually have a knowledge base, a forum, and/or a ticketing system. If you need help with your site, try to search the knowledge base first. If you can’t find an answer there or on the forum, then use the ticketing system. It’s free to open a ticket, but you may have to pay for assistance from a technician.
8. Easy to Use
You also need to consider the ease of use. This includes the control panel, website builder, and any other tools that the hosting company offers. Most companies offer a cPanel or Plesk control panel. This is where you manage your email, create databases, and update your website. The control panel’s ease of use is important but will vary depending on the customer’s technical skills.
Be sure to consider how easy a company makes it for customers. If you can easily make changes and add features, then the control panel is a good option. If not, then you might have to subscribe with a different host that offers a better customer experience.
9. Server Locations
To be more accurate, you’re buying a certain IP address of a hosting service when it comes to buying a hosting service. Ask yourself who your target audience is – are they all in one country, or spread across regions? Your choice will determine how close the server you choose should be to where most of your traffic originates from. For example, if your target market is users in the United States, you’ll want to choose a hosting service with servers located in the US.
10. Security
When choosing a web hosting service, be sure to ask about the security features they have in place. Your site’s security is of utmost importance, so you’ll want to ensure that your host has taken steps to protect your data. Ask about their backup procedures and firewalls, and be sure to read the company’s security policies.
11. Uptime & Customer Reviews
Another important factor to consider is the host’s uptime. You’ll want to choose a host that has a good track record of keeping their servers up and running. Ask about their uptime guarantee, a 99% or 100% uptime guarantee is ideal; anything less is not acceptable. Also, take a look at customer reviews. This will give you a better idea of what to expect from the company’s customer support, as well as the quality of their hosting infrastructure.
12. Payment methods
When looking for a web hosting service, be sure to check what payment methods they accept if you prefer in one way. PayPal is a popular online payment method, but some web hosting services only accept credit cards.
13. Do a Free Trial
When looking for a web hosting service, be sure to do a free trial. This will give you a chance to see if the hosting company’s services meet your needs and do what they claimed in the plan. Then you can cancel or subscribe to the plan as you need.
Final Thought
Now, you know how to choose a good hosting service. You need to consider the following factors to select the best web hosting service for you:
- Type of hosting you need
- Price
- Monthly traffic
- Storage space
- Other features (backup…)
- Loading speed
- Customer Support
- Easy to use
- Server locations
- Security
- Uptime customer reviews
- Payment methods
- Do a free trial
