If you’re looking for a web host to support your website, it is one thing knowing that you want a god host and it is another thing knowing what actually makes a good web host. Is it the price? Is it the reputation? The first one that comes up in your search engine? The truth is, there are many different factors that go into deciding how good a web host is overall. Finding out a bit more about what these factors are will help you to determine the right solution for your online strategy.
Performance – You wouldn’t buy a car if you knew it wasn’t going to perform well, right? The performance of a web host has a huge impact on your website’s ability to attract customers. If your website has annoyingly slow page loading speeds, or is constantly offline then this will have a huge impact on your lead generation. Visitors to your site will quickly get fed up waiting to get onto your website so performance should be a big priority when choosing a web host.
Customer Service – The importance of customer service should never be underestimated. When it comes to the time that you require customer service, the level of service you get will make a big difference. If you are unfortunate enough to experience technical issues with your website set up then you may regret opting for a host that doesn’t offer great customer service. Good customer service involves more than just the expertise that you have available, it also requires good availability so it is worth checking how easy it is to contact support at different times of the day.
Features – In addition to good levels of performance, the features that each web host offers can vary greatly. Whether unlimited disk storage is available, whether you are entitled to a free domain name, how many domains you can host and many other variables come into play. Security is also a very crucial aspect of any web host and some have better security features than others.
Hosting Packages Available – If you are looking for a basic website without any frills then your hosting needs will be different to that of a global business selling their goods online so you won’t need the same type of hosting service. Equally, if a shared hosting package does the job for you then you don’t need to pay huge sums of money for a dedicated host. There are a number of different types of hosting options from free hosting packages to VPS and cloud hosting. To decide what the best hosting provider is for you, you need to think about your requirements for now and in the future. Are you a small business looking to expand? You will need a host that will support growth and increased demands on your website. Maybe you are an established business that needs optimum levels of security? Dedicated hosting may therefore be the better solution.
Cost – Hosting costs vary from free to highly expensive. Again, it all comes down to what is right for you. Free hosting suits people who have absolutely no budget but some businesses need a whole lot more from their web hosts and will therefore need to pay more for that. Using comparison tables, you should be able to find a deal that offers the best price for the features that you need.
Always remember to take a look at customer reviews as well, as they should help you to find a host that consistently performs well.
