Top 5 Essential Factors to Consider While Buying a New Web Hosting Service
To sign up for a web hosting service is one of the the first thing that a new internet marketer has to do after finalising the plans of their new venture.
And to choose the right hosting company can make a huge impact on how your audience perceives your website/service. A good, reliable web host makes sure that your website loads fast, faces no or minimal downtime and offers a good support in case you face any problems setting your website up.
So, here is a quick guide that will walk you through the things that you need to consider while choosing your next web hosting service provicer.
Price
It is pretty obvious that one needs to be really keen on what are the price points that a particular web hosting company is offering.
Since it is a long term deal that you’re making with the web hosts, it makes sense to go with the one’s that offer affordable options, but just don’t jump on the cheapest one that you find. There are always something that you need to give up for a cheaper price point, be it lack of support, frequent downtimes or bandwidth.
Area of Focus
When it comes to web hosting, one size does NOT fit all. Different hosting providers are customised/specialised in serving different types of clients.
Your needs might be different from the guy running an e-commerce site, or from a blogger who runs a blog to share his favorite recipes.
You need to consider what your requirements are and see which hosting provider fulfills those requirements at the best price.
Resource Limitations
This one really depends on what your website does. Is it a static website for a company that is there just for the sake of it or is it a blog, an e-commerce site, a social platform or something interesting that is going to get a lot of traffic and eyeballs drawn to it. If you fall in the latter part then going with the cheapest option isn’t really your best bet.
You need to have enough resources to handle the traffic you will be generating (in future, if not now) and avoid any distress that your audience might face due to lack of resources.
Make sure you contact their support and get answers to all your questions before making the purchase.
Support
If you ask me personally, this is one of the first things on my checklist. Unless the company offers an active and responsive support system which can detect and fix your problems with minimal effort on my part, it isn’t worth building a relationship with.
To see how responsive their support is, you can check for the following things:
1. In how many ways can you approach their support representatives? Phone, e-mail, dedicated support system?
2. Do they offer 24×7 service?
3. How long do you have to wait before you actually get to interact with a representative.
Customer Reviews
I’m sure you’re already getting this one done but I had to include it here in the list to make sure you don’t miss out on it.
Scan through web hosting forums and blogs (like this one) to find which web hosting providers are currently trending and are providing great customer service at a flexible price point.
And to choose the right hosting company can make a huge impact on how your audience perceives your website/service. A good, reliable web host makes sure that your website loads fast, faces no or minimal downtime and offers a good support in case you face any problems setting your website up.
So, here is a quick guide that will walk you through the things that you need to consider while choosing your next web hosting service provicer.
Price
It is pretty obvious that one needs to be really keen on what are the price points that a particular web hosting company is offering.
Since it is a long term deal that you’re making with the web hosts, it makes sense to go with the one’s that offer affordable options, but just don’t jump on the cheapest one that you find. There are always something that you need to give up for a cheaper price point, be it lack of support, frequent downtimes or bandwidth.
Area of Focus
When it comes to web hosting, one size does NOT fit all. Different hosting providers are customised/specialised in serving different types of clients.
Your needs might be different from the guy running an e-commerce site, or from a blogger who runs a blog to share his favorite recipes.
You need to consider what your requirements are and see which hosting provider fulfills those requirements at the best price.
Resource Limitations
This one really depends on what your website does. Is it a static website for a company that is there just for the sake of it or is it a blog, an e-commerce site, a social platform or something interesting that is going to get a lot of traffic and eyeballs drawn to it. If you fall in the latter part then going with the cheapest option isn’t really your best bet.
You need to have enough resources to handle the traffic you will be generating (in future, if not now) and avoid any distress that your audience might face due to lack of resources.
Make sure you contact their support and get answers to all your questions before making the purchase.
Support
If you ask me personally, this is one of the first things on my checklist. Unless the company offers an active and responsive support system which can detect and fix your problems with minimal effort on my part, it isn’t worth building a relationship with.
To see how responsive their support is, you can check for the following things:
1. In how many ways can you approach their support representatives? Phone, e-mail, dedicated support system?
2. Do they offer 24×7 service?
3. How long do you have to wait before you actually get to interact with a representative.
Customer Reviews
I’m sure you’re already getting this one done but I had to include it here in the list to make sure you don’t miss out on it.
Scan through web hosting forums and blogs (like this one) to find which web hosting providers are currently trending and are providing great customer service at a flexible price point.