Choosing

A Web Hosting Provider

Choosing a web hosting provider is a very important decision that you should not take lightly. You need to choose one after doing careful research of the available providers. However, not many people put a lot of thought when choosing a hosting provider. Your customers will not be able to see your site when you do not have a host. So, you have to make sure that you choose the web host that will give your customer the best experience.

Choosing a web host based on the price will not yield fruitful results. The wrong choice of a web host can lead your site to be hacked. Many web hosting providers exist in the market making it hard to choose the best one. Here are some tips that will come in handy when you are shopping for a web host company.

Reputation

Do your research to find out the hosting company market reputation. Look at the review guides to find out customer opinions on a particular hosting company. It is always better to be safe than sorry. It is advisable to look for a hosting that has experience and expertise to handle all your needs. If you are not sure, you can always ask for recommendations from family and friends on the web host they use

Infrastructure

Checking the infrastructure is a very important step when you are looking for a hosting company. Check if they have diverse carriers by looking at their network topology. You should also check the number of peers that they use. The more peers are the better. When thinking about infrastructure, you do not have to look at the physical location of the hosting provider.

Bandwidth

Even though a new website will not use a lot of bandwidth, you need to have some room for growth. The hosting company should not lock you on the amount of bandwidth. The hosting should not charge you extra when you decide to revise your hosting plan as your site grows. In case you receive a lot of traffic, you can go with 100tb dedicated servers.

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Hosting Needs

Your hosting needs will guide you in choosing the right hosting provider. You need to have an estimate of the traffic coming to your site. It will guide you in choosing the appropriate web hosting plan. You do not want to pay for the service you do not require.

Some of the needs that will help you in choosing a hosting company include:

Type of server

In case you are on a tight budget, you can opt for shared hosting. However, with this type of hosting you will be sharing the server with several websites. Your site will also not be loading as fast as you may want it. In case you do not mind spending on web hosting, you can go for a Netherlands 100tb dedicated servers. Dedicated servers offer you more freedom and control. You will be renting the physical server and you can only use it for your site alone. You no longer have to be worried about other sites taking up the resources and slowing down your site. However, you need to have a technical administrator who will handle the technical details.

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The cost is a crucial factor when making any business decision. However, it should not be the only thing to look for. Make sure that the hosting provider gives you value for your money. It is better to go with a quality company than one that has a cheap option. When you are just getting started, you may be tempted to go for a website hosting provider with the lowest price. Remember, the cheapest price will only result in plenty of downtimes and poor customer service.

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Always look for a reliable company. The company you choose should be available 24/7. When it comes to reliability, look for a web host that has an uptime score of 99.5%. It is advisable to stay away from the hosting providers with a score of 99% or lower. You want your site to be operational more often. When it comes to websites, even a few minutes of downtime every day can cost you a lot in revenue. Even though no server will be active all the time, the host should also have fast servers. If you are on a slow server, there is nothing you can do to making your site load faster. Most people will not spend time waiting for a site to load.

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Nowadays, the security of websites cannot be compromised. Hackers are always looking for loopholes and the website they can hack. You do not want your site to be the one that gets hacked. Choose a web hosting company that provides a secure sockets layer (SSL). The secure sockets layer ensures that your customer’s information remains safe. You need to have the secure socket layer on your site with safe transactions. If your site will be storing customer data like credit card number, then you need to check the security features. You can check if the host has malware detection and firewalls on their server. You can ask whether they monitor their server for any unusual activity. The host should also have frequent backups. A backup service will enable you to get your site working even after a crisis.  The hosting service should provide backups every 24 hours. 

Nowadays, the security of websites cannot be compromised. Hackers are always looking for loopholes and the website they can hack. You do not want your site to be the one that gets hacked. Choose a web hosting company that provides a secure sockets layer (SSL). The secure sockets layer ensures that your customer’s information remains safe. You need to have the secure socket layer on your site with safe transactions. If your site will be storing customer data like credit card number, then you need to check the security features. You can check if the host has malware detection and firewalls on their server. You can ask whether they monitor their server for any unusual activity. The host should also have frequent backups. A backup service will enable you to get your site working even after a crisis.  The hosting service should provide backups every 24 hours. 

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At times, your website may go offline or you may encounter a technical issue. It is at such times when you will need technical support. It is important to ensure that you choose a provider that offers support round the clock. They should have basic support like phone, email and live chat. If you find a web host with 24-hour phone support, then you should go with that one. There should be an easy way to reach the customer support. You can even do a test before you commit. Test each of the ways they offer on customer support. By doing so, you will find out if they meet your needs.

Software

The software is equally important when you are looking for a hosting company. The software that has been installed on the server can affect the level of service you receive. cPanel is the industry standard in hosting control panels. It is user-friendly and has a graphical user interface that allows you to manage your site. There are also other online tools that you should look for in a hosting such as e-commerce applications, content management system and website builder. A web host is like the storefront of your site. As such, you need to choose one that will showcase your site properly in the eyes of your customers. It should load quickly so that your customers do not have to wait for long to access your site. Do your research and you will get a web hosting provider that will deliver as per your requirements. Carefully weigh options before you choose the best company. Make sure that you get a high performance dedicated server that meets your needs.