Behind every successful business is a well-functioning website. But to put such a site online, you need a web host. This is a kind of storage service for all the data on your site, such as information and images. Web hosting deserves a lot of attention because you want your website to be always available and your data safe. And for starters, it is of course also a plus to find web hosting at an affordable price. So how do you find a quality web hosting service? Let us find out.
What is web hosting?
Just like the files on your PC, your website also needs to be stored somewhere. After all, when a visitor opens a page or a document, you want this person to have immediate access. Websites are therefore kept on dedicated servers that are always active. The PC or smartphone of the visitors to your website then connects to this server to view your site. If you’re having trouble accessing a website, very often the problem is with that server. So choosing the right host is very important.
A good web host will of course ensure that most problems are solved before you even notice. Web hosting is the work of specialized companies that have dedicated servers for the websites of companies and organizations.
How do you choose the right web hosting service?
Before you start looking for a web hosting service, you need to know exactly what you need. These are two questions you should ask yourself:
- What is the purpose of your website today? In other words: what do visitors come to your website to do? Do you just want to tell them about your business before they come to visit you or does your website play an essential role in running your business?
- Do you see your business expanding quickly? Maybe you want to offer a webshop soon or increase the online possibilities for your customers.
The answers to these questions will tell you, among other things, how much storage space you need, but also how much bandwidth is required, how much control you need to have over the server yourself, and of course how much web hosting should cost you . We’ll take a closer look at all these factors below.
1. Storage space
Web hosting sometimes offers unlimited storage space. As a starter, you usually have a limited budget, so it certainly pays to check whether you need all that. On the other hand, limited storage space also has its drawbacks, especially if you want to place a lot of photos and videos on your website. Or if you have plans to give your website a more extensive role in the future, just think of e-commerce … The latter is not possible with some web hosts, so you should definitely check that in advance.
2. Speed
It is important for your visitors that your website loads quickly enough. You may also want a site to open in the blink of an eye. The golden rule is that your website must be available on the screen of internet users within three seconds. After all, research has shown that the majority have already disappeared with the northern sun after this short period has passed.
Speed is also essential for your website’s performance on Google. The search engine will give a slow-running website a negative rating, which may cause you to drop in the search results. However, many people end up on your site by accident, because they search for an answer to a certain question via Google. So you should definitely make sure they stick around for a while. Speed is therefore an important factor when choosing a web host.
3. Security
Of course, you don’t want hackers to mess with your website under any circumstances. In that regard, most web hosting services are fine. These providers operate with advanced security and constantly monitor servers for suspicious activity. Many servers also feature SSL, an extra protective layer between the server and an internet browser. The data on the site is encrypted and therefore cyber criminals cannot access it.
4. Bandwidth
You are probably familiar with this term and it has to do with the quality and volume of traffic between your website and internet users. New and smaller businesses usually don’t have to worry about this. You often have enough with the bandwidth that is included in the cheapest offer. So it is again important to estimate what your site should be used for. If you have big plans online, you may need more bandwidth.
5. Technical Support
Most web hosting services offer you a package of services. This way you usually don’t have to worry about updates of hardware and software, maintenance of servers, sending out patches, or technical support. It is certainly worth checking in advance what a provider offers.
You can safely expect that your provider offers 24/7 support. After all, your website is a digital version of your business that never closes its doors. When your site is offline, your customers have no way to reach your business online. Some web hosting services promise your site uptime of 99.99999%. This means that problems are very rare and your site should be available again within five minutes. An uptime of 99% means that your site is offline for about 3.5 days on an annual basis, for example for maintenance.
6. Cost
The price tag has been discussed a few times throughout this blog. Most new business is satisfied with the cheaper options of a shared server. Sometimes it is even possible to find free web hosting, but keep in mind that you can experience disadvantages in other ways. For example, don’t expect problems to be solved quickly and your resources are usually very limited. You get what you pay for: more expensive web hosting offers more security, but you can still consider what you need exactly.