Considerations for Choosing a Good Web Hosting Provider

Choosing a web hosting service for your business is not as easy as some people might make it seem and it is not as difficult as they do either. There are some things you need to put into consideration before you make a decision and at the end of the day, you should make a decision that best favours your business and not what others might be doing or going for. You need to thoroughly consider the pros and cons before making a final purchase, the hosting provider publishes your page online and without that you will have zero visibility. Alongside getting visibility, there are some other benefits of using a web hosting provider. Choosing a good web hosting provider like Openhost boils down to the cost, bandwidth, and storage before but now it is a different ball game entirely; there are multiple features being included. Different hosts cater to hosting needs of different types of sites and asides the many additional features there are some basic services they all share. And here are some of them

Server Reliability

A good web host ensures your site and data are accessible at all times if your web host is has a weak server or poor network connections your site will be offline a lot of the time reducing the number of clients that would have visited your page which also translates into bad business performance. The frequency of your website going offline can also lead to low rankings on search engines which also reduces your visibility. A lot of web hosting providers claim to have a 99% uptime which means your website will only be down for about 43 minutes in a month. Be certain that this is true before you make any investments.

Security

The world runs on data and you have to make sure that you keep the data of your clients safe, make sure to choose a trusted and secured host that has SSL certificates. Malicious attacks have become so rampant it is important to choose a solution that protects your website from cyber-attacks. Make sure to opt for a host that performs regular anti-virus and anti-malware scanning and keeps their machines updated regularly. Your host should provide tight security on user access control and should only allow authorized people to access the administrative features of the website.

Customer Service

As a business owner you are most likely invested in the business part of the website and the technical aspect is something you have no knowledge of. Your clients will face one or more problems when interacting with your site and your swiftness to react can say a lot about your business. It is important you choose a web hosting provider that provides technical support all round the clock. A lot of these hosts boast of providing 24/7 support but in reality, it is not true, you need to look for reviews and be sure of what you are getting into. Also, make sure that your host has an in0house customer support department and they offer chat support.

Site Backups

It does not matter if your site is a brochure site or an e-commerce site, cyber-attacks are no longer limited to only e-commerce sites or only the big sites, big or small, your site is prone to malicious attacks. In a case of a ransomware attack where your web data is held hostage until a certain amount of money is paid, your web host needs to be prepared by ensuring that they do a regular backup of your data on their server. Such attacks damage the files of websites beyond redemption and if you do not have a backup your company will be at loss.

Costs

Going for a free or cheap plan is never really a good choice especially in the long run as it will not be able to accommodate the growth of your business. Make sure to check the renewal charges of these providers before making a decision on pricing, to attract people most of these hosts offer juicy offer and it is only until you need to renew you notice a spike. A lot of the necessary features you need will cost a ton and you should not fall for hosts that provide the entire package at a ridiculously low amount.

The factors listed above take the present into consideration but you should also think of the future. Your business is going to expand at some point and the plan you subscribe to might not be able to handle the traffic that comes with the growth so it is important to choose a plan that is capable of accommodating said growth.