Every day, a large number of online websites are being set up for various purposes. You are also looking forward to creating your own website for fun or to earning money online, right? If so, the initial process to get started is to get a web hosting service. A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting system that allows individuals and organizations to make their websites available through the World Wide Web. With a myriad of web hosting services available, without a careful comparison, it will be difficult to find a good service that is suited for your website growth. I’ll help you find a good service in five easy steps.
Determine the Requirements of Your Website
Not all web hosting services are created equal, there may not be a suitable hosting service for others to suit your tastes or needs. Think about the purpose of your website. Are you going to build a website just to share information with friends and families? Are you going to start an online business store? Do you need a Content Management System? What type of program script will be used on your website? Do you need to have an e-commerce tool so that you can transact online? The answers to these questions are extremely important as they will ultimately determine what type of web hosting service you will need. When you have decided on your specific demands then you can find the web hosting companies that best suit your requirement.
Consider the Features that Meet your Needs
Web hosting companies offer various hosting packages when talking about hosting features. Several aspects need attention, the following are a few to keep in mind:
1) Disk space and bandwidth
These are some of the features that you should never ignore while comparing different hosting services. Disk space refers to the amount of space that you are allowed to store your website files on the server. Bandwidth is allocated the amount of data transferred to the server per month. If you are not provided with enough disk space and bandwidth, it will be difficult for you to develop your website, and your website visitors will find that it wastes a lot of their time while trying to access your website. Fortunately, with the rapid development of the web hosting industry, most web hosting companies are now able to offer large amounts of disk space and bandwidth, however, you should double-check these features should your hosting account be suspended.
2) E-commerce tools
If you hope to sell products or services through your online website, it is essential for you to choose a provider that will provide you with eCommerce tools, such as an eCommerce shopping cart system, multiple email accounts, to build your website with SSL encryption provides. Look more professional and persuade your visitors to take action on your website.
3) Control Panel
The control panel is one of the most important aspects that you should keep in mind while buying a web hosting service. This is the administration area, where you can handle almost every task, from managing your website and servers. Within an easy-to-use interface, you can create your website, set up email accounts, download and upload files, and more. The most common and popular Control Panel is Cpanel. It will be really beneficial for you especially you have very little experience of web coding.
Check Hosting reliability and Company Reputation
If your website is down frequently then it will be difficult for you to attract visitors and keep high traffic. To avoid this, you are highly recommended to find a web host with great credibility. When talking about reliability, there are several factors to look at. The simplest and most important metric to evaluate is the uptime percentage. As of now, 99.9% is the industry standard so you should not settle yourself with any provider less than that percentage.
Know What Type of Technical Support Level you Will receive
When it comes to web hosting services, you should never take technical support lightly. There is no chance that you will ever encounter a problem. When this happens, you will need to turn to someone who has a good knowledge of server management knowledge to help you resolve the problem as quickly as possible. Therefore, access to technical stuff is very important. It is advisable to go to a company that can offer you a different way to approach their staff. You should be able to get round-the-clock guidance via toll-free phone, email, and live chat. A web host is something that makes or breaks your website, whereas technical support is something that can make or break a web host. Overall, the success of your website depends on the hosting service of your choice; You should never overlook the importance of customer support.
It is a Wise Practice to Read More Customer Feedback
You can get a lot out of reading customer reviews about a particular company. And it’s very easy to find web hosting reviews by joining a web hosting review website or participating in a web hosting forum.
Comparing Web Hosting Service Providers
When shopping for a web hosting service provider, you will inevitably have to compare their services. Not all web services are created equal. Will give some great services. And, when you put them side by side, you’ll find that the others are just plain bad investments. Thus, a comparative evaluation is necessary. Typical hosting products are packaged per year. So, you’ll be spending a year on hosting right away. Here are some tips on how to evaluate different services and to help you make your decision:
Know What You Need in a Web Host Before You Compare Hosting Services
You can’t go through the entire web hosting “scene” without knowing what you need. It will only confuse you with technical terminology, gigabyte memories, and the like. First, decide how much web space you need. Then, decide what features your website will have. When you start reviewing each service provider, you have to choose between the server platforms that are best for running this kind of script. Some scripting languages require a specific type of platform to run on. Thus, when you start comparing different web hosts, know the basics for your website, even if you are not a programming guy and all.
Talk to a Customer Support Representative
When you’re looking for a great service, it’s never too early to talk to customer support. It tests the hosting service provider’s attention to customer needs. Generally, sales inquiries are responded to quickly, either via chat, phone, or email. This is expected so don’t let it derail your evaluation when you make your decision. It would be better to talk to the technical support regarding the details of their hosting services. Draft some questions on issues that usually arise when you have hosting accounts. The speed and effectiveness of the response you get from tech support should be a good basis when you compare web hosts.
Tips on How to Compare Web Hosting Services
An important and time-consuming task all entrepreneurs must do is to compare web hosting services carefully before launching their website. The fruits of this effort can be very rewarding, because of the hassle and 24-7 reach it provides to your customers. Getting enough traffic can be a daunting endeavor and your hard work is far better spent promoting your business than fixing problems.
Creating an organized template before comparing web hosting services will prove to be extremely useful and help make your analysis much easier. Use spreadsheet software and jot down all the main features you are going to evaluate for each hosting service. The web hostnames will be mentioned above each column. Before you start comparing different web hosts, you should clearly state your requirements for each feature in the template.
Once you have completed this simple task, start searching for web hosting companies and study their offers. Start entering details for each fitting service based on your business needs. Narrow your scope to the top five to eight hosts because it will make your job a lot easier when you actually start comparing web hosting packages.
One way to narrow your list is to use two key Internet metrics when you compare web hosting companies, namely Google Page Rank and Alexa’s traffic score. These are both well-known and trusted metrics used by web entrepreneurs around the world. Google’s Page Rank shows how important a site is and should be determined for the main page of a website. The higher the score, the more visitors and incoming links the web host receives.
Alexa on the other hand ranks each website relative to all other websites and does so on a daily basis. When you compare web hosting companies using Alexa, aim for companies that have a smaller number. In other words, a web host with a ranking of one hundred indicates that it is the top 100 site in the world, and better a web host with a score of seven thousand.
The logic behind using these metrics is quite good and they prove to be really beneficial when you compare web hosting services. Simply put, it refers to the number of visitors and popularity with other website owners over a reasonable period of time. A web host that has had a high ranking in both metrics for quite some time is bound to be a reliable and secure choice. Along with the price and features, this way of comparing services is much easier and less risky.
