Choosing the right web hosting service can be absolutely critical to your company’s continued success and business growth. Conversely, choosing the wrong company can lead to problems which threaten the existence of your business, or cause serious financial discomfort. For instance, a company which doesn’t provide an appropriate level of security for its clients could be hacked, leaving clients exposed to data theft. A hosting company which is unreliable may cause excessive downtime for clients, and in the commercial world downtime represents loss of revenue. With all this in mind, here are some tips which can help you choose the right web hosting company for your business.
Check out the reviews
You can find out a great deal about the reputation and reliability of many web hosting services simply by reading online reviews from existing and past clients. You will also be able to find out about any persistent issues commonly referred to by customers. Sometimes you’ll even see company responses to customer complaints, and these will also tell you a great deal about the company you’re checking out.
Pick the right kind of host
Before you can choose the right kind of web host, you’ll have to know exactly what you need in terms of hosting options. For example, you will require a lot more features from a web host if your own site is one which will have live streaming, and offer visitors the opportunity to upload their videos. If you expect to have tremendous visitor traffic, you’ll want to make sure that your site is not hosted on a shared server, and you should instead seek a dedicated server.
Find the right package
Don’t get fooled by the low cost of shared hosting, because along with that economical cost, you’re also likely to experience less responsive service. That can be a big problem for you if visitors to your website begin abandoning because of slow response time. It would be far better for you to have some kind of dedicated setup if you expect to have heavy traffic on your site, and when it’s important to provide your users with a high quality user experience.
Get enough bandwidth
Even as a new website, you should make sure you have more bandwidth than you actually need in the beginning, because you will almost certainly grow over time, and need that extra bandwidth very soon. It would be best to avoid signing any contract which locks you into a specified bandwidth, because more than likely you will be charged additional fees when the time comes for you to request greater bandwidth.
Don’t jump on the lowest price
When you’re starting out as a small business, it’s best to avoid choosing a web hosting company which simply presents you with the lowest offer. While it might make economic sense, you may also find that you get poor customer service, unacceptable downtimes, and slow service that does more harm to your business than a higher budget hit would. Evaluate pricing in terms of what you’re getting for the money.