What To Consider When Choosing Your Web Hosting Provider

Website hosting is the most important foundation of every website, it may seem less important as a “back-end” feature, than what is happening on the “front-end”, but it certainly is not. The hosting you choose will directly influence your website’s performance online. If you’ve chosen incorrectly, it won’t matter that you have an incredibly optimised, user-friendly website because it simply won’t function properly.

Here are the top things to consider for your Web Hosting:

1. Server Reliability

You want your website to be live and fully functional all the time because any downtime will mean damage to your reputation, less leads, and less sales. Also, did you know search engines are not fond of weak servers? This means your ranking may be affected as well.

Investigate:- What guarantees are offered with regards to up-time?- Where are servers located?- What hardware and software are the providers making use of?

2. Speed

Another thing Google doesn’t like is any site that takes too long to load, because its algorithms have been set to mimic what consumers don’t appreciate. If a site takes more than 2 seconds to load, bounce rates go up by 103%. 

Investigate:- What kind of servers are used and how do they compare when it comes to loading speeds?- Where is the company based?

3. Features and Freebies

While freebies may be alluring, focus on the features that matter the most first.

Investigate:- Does the hoster provide 1-Click Easy Installs?- How much storage and email addresses are included?- What kind of security measures are in place?

4. Scalability

You’ve got big plans for your business, so ensure you are hosting with a company that can accommodate your growth.

Investigate:- What kind of packages are offered?- Is there room for scalability?- How do the various package upgrades compare in price?

5. Security

Cybercrime is a massive problem around the globe. In South Africa it is estimated that we have the third-highest number of attacks globally, resulting in a R2.2-billion loss per year. As the foundation of your website, your hosting should help to protect your website and data from vulnerabilities.

Investigate:- What kind of security measures are in place?

6. Customer Service & Support

Website hosting isn’t a once-off purchase, it is a monthly subscription and therefore customer service and support is crucial when trying to find the best website hosting companies for your website.

Investigate:- What kind of support is provided?- What are other customers saying about the company online?

7. User Interface

The User Interface used by the hosting company is incredibly important, especially if you want to add and make edits to your email accounts, hosting and website yourself.

Investigate:- What is the User Interface being used?- What are the benefits and limitations of the Interface?

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