So you have started to build a website. Now you have an important decision to make. You have to pick a web hosting company. But what is hosting exactly? And how do you choose the best host for your needs?
Think of hosting as your website’s home. Without web hosting, your website wouldn’t be online and available to users around the world. Hosting companies, like Webline-Services, provide space on their servers for customers to store websites, thereby making them accessible through the internet 24/7.
If you do a Google search for hosting providers you will receive hundreds of different results, how do you choose? How do you know you’re picking the right one? Here are a few factors to take into consideration.
Price
This is where most people start when they’re deciding on a hosting provider. But while it’s a good place to start, it shouldn’t be the deciding factor. Take a look at the fundamental needs of your site and compare hosting options that satisfy those needs first. Otherwise you will likely end up spending more in the long run in terms of money, time, and even frustration.
Reliability and speed of access
Unfortunately not all web hosts are created equal. Many hosts will make similar claims, but there are often big differences “under the hood” that translates into significantly different hosting experiences. And as most websites these days feature a lot of content, it’s more important than ever to find hosting providers with the hardware to back up their claims. First off, find a hosting provider that builds and operates their own hardware, such as Webline-Services. Second, not only should the web host be reliable and fast, it should guarantee its uptime (the time when it is functional). Look for a minimum uptime of 99{fbec33fc5f2aafdeb19ecb4383fd764f31e3f76a940086f681b29f1cdf128405}. At Webline-Services our uptime guarantee is of 99.9{fbec33fc5f2aafdeb19ecb4383fd764f31e3f76a940086f681b29f1cdf128405}. This is important so as to ensure your website is always up and running when visitors come.
Data Transfer (Traffic/Bandwidth)
Data transfer (sometimes loosely referred to as “traffic” or “bandwidth”) is the amount of bytes transferred from your site to visitors when they browse your site.
Don’t believe web host that advertises “unlimited bandwidth”. The host has to pay for the bandwidth, and if you consume a lot of it, they will not silently bear your costs. Many high bandwidth websites have found this out the hard way when they suddenly receive a steep bill for having “exceeded” the “unlimited bandwidth”. Always look for details on how much traffic the package allows.
Another thing to consider is that while bandwidth provided is something you should always check, do not be swayed by promises of incredibly huge amounts of bandwidth. Chances are that your website will never be able to use that amount because it will hit other limits, namely resource limits.
To give you a rough idea of the typical traffic requirements of a website, most new sites that don’t provide video or music on their site use less than 3 GB of bandwidth per month. Your traffic requirements will grow over time, as your site becomes more well-known, so you will need to also check their policy when you exceed your data transfer limit.
Disk space
For the same reason as bandwidth, watch out also for those “unlimited disk space” schemes. Many new sites (that don’t host videos or music) need less than 20 MB of web space, so even if you are provided with a host that tempts you with “unlimited space”, be aware that you are unlikely to use that space, so don’t let the extra space be too big a factor in your consideration when comparing with other web hosts.
Support
This is a big one. Technical assistance is always needed from your web host, at least from time to time. When you start working over your web site questions will arise: How to get started? How to upload files? How to create an email account? etc.
Sometimes you will need those questions answered as soon as possible, or even immediately. That is why your web host must provide 24×7 tech support assistance. Your technical questions should be answered within 1-2 hours max. The most efficient companies use ticketing systems, where you deliver all technical details needed to have your question answered within an hour or less.
See what contact options are available when you need help (i.e. phone number, email, chat, etc.) Also consider when they are available. At Webline-Services our technical support team is available 24/7. We have staff working on weekends and public holidays. You can call our phone line, email support directly, chat with them and open a support ticket directly from your client area. We like to stress the use of the client area because it leaves a written record in your account that a request was made. We can track who responded and whether it was in a timely manner and we figure, if at some point you experience the same issue again, you can go back and check how it was solved before. We like to empower our clients as well.
Interface (Control Panel)
Make sure your hosting provider has an interface that is easy to understand and use. This is called various names by different hosts, but essentially, they all allow you to manage different aspects of your web account yourself. Typically, and at the very minimum, it should allow you to do things like add, delete, and manage your email addresses, and change passwords for your account.
Features
Finally, consider what makes your top hosting choices special. Do they offer extra features if you decided to host with them. Are their tools up to date and easy to use? Do they offer upgrades and add-ons in-house to make it easy to expand your hosting account when you need to?
These are just some of the important factors to consider when selecting your web host. There are many more out there and we’ll continue to add more useful information in our blog. Let us know if you have any additional questions in the comments below. Your question might be featured as our next post.
Want to learn more or to see if Webline-Services is a fit for you? Give us a call at 620-412-2299. We’re happy to answer any questions you might have.
