Now that your kid is grown up enough that you can take him to the school. But, of course, being a caring parent you will not simply take his or her admission in a random kindergarten. You will first look for various options which are available around you. You will look for the timings, the experience of the teachers, infrastructure of the school, food services, distance from your house or office, pick up and drop service and, of course, the fees.
After scrutinizing everything, you will arrive at the final decision. So the whole point of saying all of this is when you are all set to start a website, you definitely need a web hosting provider which will give you the best of both the world. So how to choose a web host?
Do not worry at all, it is not a dire strait and you can do much better when it comes to the decision making process. All you need to do is just consider few factors and research well with your resources. So now just sit back, and read the rest of the blog to get a clarity of what you can do while choosing a web hosting.
1. Performance and speed
You changed your mobile phone because it was performing really slow. And now that you are an owner of a brand new iPhone 8, you realize the speed as fast is good. And you surely need a web hosting service that is as fast as your new phone. You need happy customers and for that, you would obviously want your website to load faster before the visitor gets irritated and closes the window.
And for this, you need to make sure that your WordPress website is loading fast. And for that, you can make use of plugins like Super Cache, Fastest Cache, and Autoptime. Because if your website is loading slow then it affects your SERP rankings. While you are choosing a web hosting provider for your website, it is directly proportional to the speed of your website and the SERP rankings.
2. Security and Reliability
Maintaining a website is a devil’s task for sure. Because the web world is literally so much tangled that you would not find the path if you lose it. So in that case, if your website is down, you are surely going to upset your visitors and customers. And when your website is down there are high chances of hacking attacks. And of your website is hacked with a malware then the Google displays a very embarrassing message on your web page.
You yourself are responsible for protecting your website. But also at same time, you need a hosting provider who is actively involved in keeping your software updated in order to avoid these mishaps. Also, additional steps should be taken to secure the website completely.
3. Checklist for a backup
A backup is always a necessity, be it a website or food. If you burn your pizza, you need to have another option to curb the hunger. Therefore, if anything happens to your website, you need to have a back up of everything. So in this case, you need to make a backup checklist that the hosting provider should have in its bucket for you.
Therefore ask the hosting provider whether they provide any backup or not, ideally, they should. The reliable hosting providers usually have the backup every 30 days. Ask them about their restoration processes. You have to understand the fact that when it comes to technical stuff, things are going to go wrong at some point. Your website will be down or your computer may crash. And this impact should be minimized by the hosting provider.
A hosting company should have a good monitoring system and to check it, you can read their blogs and talk to their sales representatives as well.
4. After sale service
You went to a shoe store and you liked a pair of shoes and you immediately bought it because it was having a good deal. But after going home, you realized that it is torned from a corner. So you go shopping again to get it to repair or replace. But the store is refusing to provide you with any kind of services. Similarly, if you are purchasing a service from a web hosting provider, you would expect a good customer support and after sale service.
if you are working on your website at night and you are stuck somewhere in the process, then you would expect help from your hosting provider. Look for a provider who is having a customer support 24×7. Ask for what kind of support channels are available with them. This includes chats, calls, live support, raising a ticket etc. Also, ask for which of these support channels are active all the time. Look for the response time of the provider when it comes to fixing the issues.
5. Space provided by them
If you have a business, you ought to expand it in the future. And when it comes to the website, it does not use a space more than 10 to 15 megabytes. But when you have a long-term plan of expansion, it would be wise if you are having some extra space at your end. Therefore, for that, you need to buy that extra space from your hosting provider.
also, make sure that a sufficient enough bandwidth. There are many hosting providers who have a restriction on bandwidth. Suppose, you are offering any e-books or whitepapers or any software, then these large files should not create a problem if you are having a good bandwidth so that your customers can download data they want.
So now all you have to do is choose a hosting provider who offers unlimited bandwidth and disk space. This will give you an uninterrupted experience along with a good amount of traffic.
6. Pricing
Now choosing a good hosting provider depends on the type of your business as well. It is not always sensible to think that if you are choosing an expensive hosting provider you are all set. But at times, the providers who have a low price provide a seamless experience. So if you are having an e-commerce website, then it is okay if you go for a bit higher price tag.
But if you are having a small or medium sized business, think logically and go for an affordable hosting plan. You need to find out what your website needs and based on that decide which hosting provider you want to approach. Also, you need to look for the customer reviews in order to get a more clear idea.
7. Features
Even when you are buying a laptop you look for every type of feature that can come in the price that you are paying. You should look for the features that include 100% uptime, easy to use control panel, webmail access, premium support, AWStats systems to name a few. And for that, you will need to talk to the sales representatives of the company. You will find the features on the website, but a sales representative will help you in knowing more of it.
8. Say no to long-term contracts
You should always avoid signing the long-term contracts that these hosting companies offer. This is because, if you are into a long-term contract, you would miss many perks that are available in the market. What if you find a better hosting provider after 6 months of signing a contract, then you are stuck. So go for a short-term contract. Look for hosting providers who offer short-term contracts and can set you free without any hassle.
9. The reputation of the provider
It is very important to understand what reputation a vendor holds in the market. And you will surely opt for the one who has a good face value. Therefore, in this case, you can go through the customer reviews and get in touch with them personally for more clarity. If a hosting provider is in the business for quite a long time, it has surely built a good reputation in the market. Do not go for the number of years that the hosting company has been working. Instead look for the numbers like the number of clients, domains, websites etc.
10. Administration should be web-based
If you are going to a reputable web hosting company then it definitely has web-based administration and operations. This includes things like cPanel and you can manage everything with the help of the internet. Even if you are not good at the technical end, you can operate it without any problem.
So if you are looking for a fast, reliable, affordable and reputable hosting provider, do consider the above checklist before making any decision. It is just like to are taking up the admission of your child in a school. Make sure of everything and all the best!
Need a good web hosting provider, contact us at YOCOHOST, we are always ready to serve you!