4 Things to Consider Before Choosing a Web Hosting Company

Choosing a web hosting company has to come as a result of an informed decision in order to prevent dozens of inconveniences that could be fatal for your business. The main problem that we are facing today is that there are dozens of such companies offering their hosting services.

Of course, all of them are advertising like they are the best option available and they are all offering the same features, guaranteeing 100% percent uptime and immaculate support for their clients. But as you already might think, in reality things are a bit different. This is why I have decided to point your attention to these important things that you should check before making your final decision.

Choosing the Right Hosting Plan

Web hosting plans can be divided into two major groups, one being individual plans and the other dedicated servers. The individual plans are usually the cheapest ones and their starting price usually starts at a couple of dollars per month. They are usually a good option for anyone who wants to start a small specialized blog and doesn’t anticipate a lot of traffic. The other option, a dedicated server, is much better suited for businesses or people who aim for very high website traffic.

What you should look for here are the web host companies that have several plans available for their clients, with the option of upgrading to an advanced plan if your website starts to evolve. Also, try to look for hosting companies that allow you to choose all the technical specs and features, so that you can create a custom plan that best suits your needs.

Getting the Best Deal for a Good Price

The price is usually the most important factor in choosing the right host company. However, the same rule that applies to other purchases also applies here – the cheapest option isn’t the best one.

Luckily, the hosting market is pretty much saturated and there are some really nice deals to be found. This is why it’s good to always keep an eye on the cheapest webhosting providers and the special deals they offer from time to time.

For instance, the first Monday after Thanksgiving is the Cyber Monday, and many top-notch web hosting companies have special deals during Cyber Monday. Some of the web hosting companies offer a money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied with their services in a given period of time.

Is the Tech Support any Good?

The hosting company’s tech support should be on the top of the list of your concerns. How long does it take for them to answer your ticket? Is there a direct phone line? What happens if the ticket escalates? In some cases, one minute of your website being offline can mean a significant financial loss.

So, before you consider a hosting company as a viable option, make sure to visit their official website and popular forums to look for their customers’ reviews and satisfaction. Furthermore, make sure to explore the contact methods they made available for their customers. Do they only offer an email contact form or do they also have live chat, perhaps a phone number? Is the support available 24/7 or do they have fixed work hours?

Technical Specs

Technical specs are a really important aspect of choosing the right web hosting company. Are you going to run a blog or an ecommerce website? What features will your site have? All these have to be supported by both the hardware and software a hosting company uses for their servers and services.

If you are going to use any of the CMS platforms, such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal or Magento make sure that the company has support for those. For instance, do they have the latest cPanel Control Panel, and do they offer website statistics? How about instant shopping carts? What programming languages do they support? How many MySQL databases can you use? Only after you get all the answers you will be able to make a good, informed decision.

Although these things might seem too techy for you at the start, trust me, they are essentials that make good web hosting. Don’t rush yourself into making this decision. Take your time and get all the relevant information. The speed and uptime of your website, especially if it is a business or ecommerce one, are of the utmost importance.

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