Choosing a hosting provider can be a daunting task for those who are not so knowledgeable about the subject. Therefore, we have listed ten aspects that you should consider when choosing a web hosting for your website, blog or online store. In addition to knowing what companies offer, it’s also important to keep in mind what you need. The more clarity about what is needed for your website, the easier it will be to identify an ideal plan and provider.
How to Choose the Best Web Hosting
- Know the available plans
Generally web hosting providers offer plans, with features that meet different needs. While some plans are focused on a single site, the focus of others is to serve multiple sites and domains and there are also options aimed at virtual stores. So, get to know each of the plans and the benefits offered. One of them should fit well with what you need.
- Search plans for specific applications
If your site was developed in WordPress, it might be a good alternative to choose an exclusive web hosting for this application. You can gain more speed in loading and with that get an above-average performance, because your files will be on a server only for sites developed in WordPress, for example.
- Discover additional features
As mentioned in the first topic, each hosting plan has a feature and that includes the offer of additional features. So, when choosing your web hosting, compare the features that are part of each plan, you can gain from access to a tool to create websites to the free SSL Certificate. Not to mention the advantages of email accounts such as: automatic responses, anti-Spam, redirects, etc.
You can also check out additional services that can be used on your web hosting, such as: malware detectors or online backup tools.
- Ask about the management
The chosen hosting provider will give you access to a control panel to manage the contracted services. However, before that, it is important to know if the management is done by an intuitive, practical and easy-to-use tool. So, when you are evaluating the web hosting options, ask about cPanel, how the functions are presented and which language.
- Ask about availability
Maybe you haven’t heard of uptime, which is the uptime of a server. In other words, the higher the uptime, the greater the availability of your website to be accessed by users. Now that you know, be aware of hosting services with a low uptime rate, as this means that downtime is high and your site can be down for a long time.
- Review security
Security is a determining factor when choosing hosting, after all, all information on your site will be stored there. So find out what measures your potential web hosting provider takes to ensure the security of your files and data. Also ask about the backup routine, protection against hotlinks and access blocks to directories.
- Evaluate cost-effectiveness
You will likely compare prices for hiring a hosting provider. Our recommendation is that you go further and compare the cost against the benefits. It is possible that the values are similar, so the advantages offered will become a differential. The topics we are presenting here are initial criteria that will help you evaluate a web hosting, but don’t forget to ask everything that the provider can offer you.
- Check the form of hiring
Ease of hiring is another element you should consider. After all, the simpler the hiring the better. Ideally, you can choose the plan of your choice, add it to your shopping cart and, if you wish, include additional services, such as domain registration or others. The online payment method also makes contracting much easier, as you just choose whether to pay by credit card, PayPal or bank slip, for example. Remember that it is important to read the Terms of Service and know the conditions of use, to ensure that you do not have unforeseen circumstances. After all, in addition to knowing details about what you are hiring, you also get to know your rights.
- Seek support information
We are in the age of user experience, which makes it even more important to seek out information about your potential hosting provider’s service channels. Check if the company has online sales consultants to help you choose the best solution and eliminate your doubts. Search for more information about online customer service, if guidance can be made via chat, forms or ticket opening.
It is also important that the chosen company has a Knowledge Base, where all the tutorials and tips on how to use the services are centralized. In addition, having an Ombudsman channel to receive suggestions, criticisms, compliments or complaints is essential. Gathering all this information can be decisive in choosing the best web hosting provider.
- Clarify migration questions
For those who already have a hosting provider, but are not satisfied with the service they received, the solution is to take advantage of these tips to choose a new web hosting service. In addition to the points we have already highlighted, it is also relevant to know more about the terms of migration, whether there is compatibility.