Nowadays, every business needs a website in order to thrive in the online market. Without a website, there’s little to no chance of competing against other companies let alone succeeding as an online business.
This is especially true today when consumers are almost constantly online. That said, consumers search for everything that interests them online. They can compare any products or services at one moment and switch to browsing for anything they need.
Without a website, there’s no way for you to reach out to these consumers. However, at the heart of every website lies a hosting provider that makes sure everything is up and running as it should.
That’s why it’s of vital importance to choose the right hosting provider when creating a website for your business. With that in mind, here is a secret to choosing the best hosting provider for your business.
Factors to consider before researching a hosting provider
Before you go searching for the best hosting service, you must determine your needs and also consider the needs of your visitors, as well as future customers.
As you may already know by now, modern consumers have very high expectations when it comes to browsing websites.
If you can’t meet those expectations you website visitors will most likely bounce before they even consider converting. That being said, here are some factors to consider before opting-in for a hosting service.
- Website speed and page loading time – Consumers do not tolerate sluggish websites. Even a single second delay in page loading time can result in a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction, an 11% decrease in page views and 7% decrease in conversion rate. If you expect a lot of website traffic, make sure your hosting provider can guarantee optimal website speed even under heavy load.
- High-quality content – Every consumer expects content that’s relevant, informative and educational when they land on your website. You must be able to provide your audience with such content, which is why you may consider features like cPanel hosting that gives more control of how you manage your website content.
- Security – Consumers who purchase products or services directly on your website expect that their data and sensitive information will be properly secured. They also expect for your website to have proper security measures that will protect them from malicious software and cyber criminals. Therefore, make sure that your hosting provider implements proper security measures as part of their hosting service.
Choosing the right hosting plan
An important aspect of choosing the best hosting provider is going over their available hosting plans. Which plan you might opt for will depend on your business needs.
For example, you might choose a shared hosting plan early on as it is the cheapest option but as your website begins to grow and attract more traffic, you may want to switch to a dedicated hosting plan. Here are a few hosting plans for you to consider.
Shared hosting
As the name suggests, shared hosting means that multiple websites share the resources of a single server. This may be the cheapest approach but it’s also the least reliable one. Don’t expect fast page loading time or optimal uptime when choosing shared hosting.
Dedicated hosting
Dedicated hosting means that your website has a server and all its resources for itself. You’re not sharing any hardware or computing power with anyone. This is a more stable and reliable option for business websites but it’s also quite expensive.
Virtual Private Hosting (VPS)
A hybrid between shared and dedicated hosting, VPS uses a single server to share resources among multiple users but dedicates a virtual private server for each user. This means you still get your own server but with limited resources and for a relatively affordable price.
Cloud hosting
Arguably the best hosting plan you can choose for your website, Cloud hosting is also the most expensive one. Not only do you get your own server and resources but you can also scale up and down as necessary.
All you need to do is subscribe or unsubscribe for additional computing power and storage. You also get access to services like SaaS (Software as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service) and IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), among others, of course.
What to look for in a hosting provider
There’s a plethora of hosting providers out there and all of them offer something unique. Choosing the best one that will suit your needs the most may prove to be challenging. However, with a bit of research, you’ll eventually find what you’re looking for.
The key is not to rush your decision until you find an ideal hosting service. In order to help you out a bit, here are a few things you should keep an eye out for when researching hosting providers.
- Make sure the hosting provider has proper infrastructure to support your website.
- Be wary of any hidden fees, especially for switching between hosting plans.
- Ensure that the hosting provider can guarantee at least 99.99% uptime for your website.
- Make sure that the hosting provider has proper backup and restore features.
- Keep an eye on the customer service and support.
- Ensure there are proper cybersecurity measures in place.
- Check if the hosting provider can ensure your domain name and TLD (Top-level Domain).
- Check if the provider supports the use of a CDN (Content Delivery Network).
- Check if there’s an email hosting service.
Most of these factors are crucial for your website and they ensure that your website functionality and performance are up to the latest standards. If you want your website to perform optimally you can’t settle for anything less than the best.
Closing Words
Choosing the best hosting provider for your business website is a time-consuming task that requires a lot of research and effort. With so many options available to you, you must ensure that you choose the best service possible. Anything less than the best and your website won’t be able to meet the ever-growing consumer expectations and demands.
See Also: How to Set Up a Shopping Cart Website