5 things to look for when choosing web hosting provider

Every business should have web hosting for it’s website because this gives the process a smooth operation, flexibility to traffic and transactions. Choosing a really good web hosting provider is a problematic solution.

This person has to know the technology, news and other factors related with hosting. In this article, we will describe how to choose a really affordable hosting provider, whether it’s simple shared hosting, VPS hosting or reseller hosting that you’re looking for.

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The first thing you should pay attention to is the hosting provider’s reputation in the industry. It might seem like a less obvious thing at first, but when you think about it, it makes all the sense. A good hosting provider doesn’t need flashy words to tell a user about how good their hosting packages are, people will tell others themselves.

The best option is to look for reviews on third party websites or established critic websites. Have they been rewarded for their efforts by these critics and can an average customer back their claims about having great plans?

Even a quick Google search should confirm that the provider is legit with the promises that they make. This the first step to consider a hosting plan from them.

Availability

Uptime is important for any website, but it’s especially crucial for an ecommerce business where the competition doesn’t wait. If a person looks for something that you’re selling and it’s not there, they’ll buy from your competitors. As such, your site’s uptime is everything, otherwise, you’ll simply be losing business.

In our opinion, uptime should be the most important factor to consider when choosing a hosting provider. While every provider will have certain maintenance hours for their servers. You should look for an option that allows your website the maximum availability that would be important for your business.

99% uptime is a benchmark that separates the elite providers from the „just good“ ones. Providers understand how important this feature is. So there shouldn’t be much problems in finding one that offers great availability for cheap.

Flexibility of service

If you’re just starting your online business you’ll probably want a plan that’s well-rounded, isn’t expensive and the amount of resources you’ll need won’t be that high. However, eventually you will begin to grow and expand in terms of both content, and regular visitors. A provider should be able to scale your plan easily, without compromising your website.

Typically owners go for shared hosting options for their websites to start, since they’re ok in terms of resources, and are relatively cheap. However, eventually they’ll be looking for a VPS, cloud hosting or even a dedicated server if a website grows exponentially.

A good hosting provider will allow you to upgrade your plan without much hassle, so that again should be one of the factors to look at when thinking about your plans. Remember, in business, thinking about the future is crucial, so in terms of hosting, this shouldn’t be an exception.

Real-time help

Taking care of a website can be a daunting task, from all the developments, to various fixes, adjustments and maintenance. This is especially true, if you’re trying to do a lot of the things yourself to get the website up and running.

This is where the hosting provider comes in. If you find yourself stuck and in need of assistance, their team should be able to provide the necessary help in all website hosting related issues. The last thing you want to do is come to realize that every time something is wrong, you have to wait until the morning to get a response from the provider.

24/7 support is becoming pretty much an industry standard, since more and more providers understand the importance of a good support team. Since otherwise clients will just run to another provider which can indeed help them.

So, consider the support options as a thing for deciding on your hosting plans as well.

Benefits and value

Last but not least, there’s the price. A good hosting plan doesn’t necessarily mean a hefty price. In fact a standard shared hosting plan suitable for small business websites should be typically from 1-3 dollars per month.

However, even for such a low cost per month you should expect to have the full benefits from a decent hosting provider. It doesn’t matter whether you pay 5 or 50 dollars per month. Every client should matter to the provider and be treated with equal respect.

Of course, keep in mind that the price for your hosting plan should be something that you can be comfortable in paying with. Be sure to check out what even a dollar per month can get you with your hosting plan.

Since most providers try to attract new customers with their super cheap options, you shouldn’t find it difficult to compare what each of them offers to you as a client. Paying more doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the better option, so keep that in mind.

End

Today we’ve discussed how to find the most affordable web hosting package for your business. It’s best to say that you should carefully evaluate what each provider offers for you, even for their cheapest plan. Even if you’re paying a dollar per month, your business website shouldn’t suffer and be restrained by an incompetent provider.

Written with the help of hostens.com – cheap and reliable hosting for businesses.