We live in the age of the internet. Sooner or later you will find yourself in a situation where you will need to consider building your online presence. That is when you will need to consider a web hosting service.
There are companies that try to lure you in by promising features like unlimited resources, 24/7 technical support, almost 100% uptime, etc. But beyond all the technical jargon, there is still an informed decision you need to make.
So here are 10 things you should check before considering purchasing a hosting service:
Pricing
There are a large number of service providers that provide similar services at different prices.
Of course, there are always many different factors that determine these variations in services, but you should still consider looking at several different options before choosing one.
If you are hosting a simple web page and don’t expect a lot of traffic or bandwidth at the same time; it is always wiser to go with the cheapest of the services available. If you are looking to host a more complicated website, consider other providers as well.
Technical support
Part of the service you should check out about your website host is the technical support they provide. This is usually a big deal, imagine if your website goes down during peak traffic hours and you have no idea why or how to quickly fix the problem.
Of course, you can always turn to guides for support, but nothing is as reassuring as a real person you can talk to and ask for help. Most services promise this. So you need to make sure you’re not being scammed with this.
There are a few factors you need to check. For example, are they available by phone? Is the conversation in Hebrew?
At Host Center, you can receive extensive technical assistance, including on WordPress systems, through a quick telephone response and via WhatsApp.
hardware
For most of us, this part may not make much of a difference since we are looking to host small web pages with low to medium traffic and predictable bandwidth. However, as the complexity of your web project increases and you need to do much more than simply display pages, you will need to start considering hardware.
Processors, GPUs, RAM, and storage type (Solid State Drive vs. SATA) are just a few considerations. How much traffic do you expect? How much processing power does your site require? For example, the average WordPress site requires a minimum of 700MB of RAM to run well. These are the things you need to consider beforehand.
Email service
This is another feature you should consider. What email services does the provider promise? Regardless of what you’ve heard/read about social media replacing the purpose of email on the internet, trust me, email is still a big part of your online presence.
You need to make sure that the email service you get with your hosting comes with important features like spam control, time travel feature, etc. For example, many providers offer unlimited email forwarding and auto-responder service. It’s always a good idea to ask the provider in advance.
Control panel
The control panel is the user interface that you use to control/manage your website. This is another feature that your website hosting provider offers and you should make sure you get the best control panels.
A situation can arise where the control panel is too complicated and you will have to call the hosting company every time you need to make a small change, which can be a huge inconvenience for you.
So, make sure your service provider uses cPanel, Plesk, or similar services. At the very least, make sure the control panel isn’t something you can’t figure out.
Shared vs. private server
Another thing to consider is what type of hosting you’re looking for? If you’re looking to host a simple web page for display, you’ll probably be fine with a shared hosting service. They’re cheaper and usually easier to manage and deal with.
Essentially, a shared hosting service is like sharing a server with several other website owners, much like sharing a personal computer. But if you’re looking to host a more powerful and faster website, private hosting on a VPS server is what you need.
They may be a little difficult to work with and more expensive, but these are the constraints for more professional storage.
Scalability
This is another important thing to consider when thinking about your business. If you are hosting a growing business, you can expect your online presence to grow with it. And a growing online presence requires upgrading your service. This includes everything from your hardware to your technical support.
In any case, some services like Amazon Web Services provide auto-scalability, meaning your system automatically upgrades if your current system can’t handle the incoming traffic/bandwidth. In any case, you need to be sure what kind of scalability service your provider offers.
Backup
This is a very important part of the service your host should provide. Imagine what would happen if all your web articles, posts, and other data were deleted due to some glitch. Most service providers try to make their services and products as reliable as possible, but no one plans for or can anticipate glitches.
For example, you might accidentally delete content yourself. In any case, most good web hosting providers offer a backup service. You should make sure yours offers one too. Ask your potential provider about their disaster recovery plan. At HostCenter, we back up all websites on secure external servers.
Domain name storage
This is kind of a bonus but it’s a great feature to have. Find out if your provider can host some or all of your other domain names. For most of us, this might not seem like a big deal, but it can mean a lot if you’re running a business.
Most businesses tend to buy a lot of domain names, usually ones with misspellings, alternate names, etc. of their current name. With this service, you can have all of these under one control panel. This is a huge advantage in terms of brand management. It’s also a great way to ensure you never lose any traffic.
Exit strategy
Last but not least. You may be happy with your current provider, but over time you may change your mind. You may want to host your website elsewhere and in such a scenario you need to be able to do so with minimal inconvenience. You should choose hosting providers that offer free site migration when switching from another host.
It is recommended to read the initial agreements including the fine print properly, and make sure your website hosting provider offers a viable exit strategy. Trust me, it is more important than you think.
Imagine what could happen to your business if your website went down for days just because your current provider wanted to make it difficult for you to leave.
The article was translated by Yahav Bengiat,
and written by Navin Paiudial.
