Like shopping for any product, web hosting plans also require thorough scrutiny before the final purchase. With web providers being a dime a dozen, it can be especially hard for the business owner to zero in on a good hosting plan. Today’s article takes you through the top 10 qualities that you should look out for when you purchase hosting plans.
Speed
Internet is all about speed. The 3 seconds rule states that your potential visitor will lose interest and move on to other websites if your site loads any slower!
Storage
Storage is probably the easiest hosting feature to understand. Many shared hosting providers offer unlimited storage as part of the plan. While that might not be technically correct, most personal or small business site owners won’t come close to reaching the limits.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth tells how quickly visitors can access your site’s information, higher the bandwidth, higher the number of people who can view your site at the same time. Most hosting plans offer customers much more bandwidth than they’ll use in a given month.
Domains
Domain registration and web hosting are two different services. Your domain name can be registered and hosted with a different company than the one hosting your website. Some web providers include free domain hosting as part of the hosting plan for the first year of newly registered addresses.
Uptime Rates and Reliability
In the business world, time is money. Every minute your site is down can mean hundreds of missed sales opportunities and damaged brand reputation. Most hosts guarantee a certain amount of uptime that typically range from 100% to as low as 99%, although the ultra-common 99.9% uptime threshold is good enough for most users.
Secure Location
Web hosts that are local will likely be faster, more reliable and easier to contact than those that are not close by. It’s a good idea to at least have the web server in the same country as most of your visitors.
Round the clock Tech Support
A website is constantly up and running 24/7/365, so your business is on display for the entire Internet to view. This also calls for customer support that is round the clock. Try out their support channels (online chat, email, etc) and see how well they respond to your issues.
Site Backup
A web host is equally vulnerable to data loss. Find out what backup options your host provides. If they do not offer backup, figure out how you’ll be able to do it yourself.
Data Security
This is a quintessential part of any hosting plan. A reliable web host will have a quality cybersecurity system and be well prepared should there be a breach.
Prices
Prices usually are a big deciding factor when shopping for a new web host. But be equally cautious of web hosting services that are free or offer very low prices. You could be sacrificing support and performance.
Keep these guidelines in mind when shopping for a website hosting company so you can build and grow your online presence knowing you have a trusted partner at your side.
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