Best Web Hosting - Business Guide

Choosing the Right Web Hosting for Your Business

The idea of building a web site is possible today...but you need to know what host is appropriate for your business. Web hosting providers and their costs can vary.

As an online business owner, you should choose the right web host for your website. When looking at which hosting company to choose, consider: cost of plan, uptime and reliability, quality of customer support, security and data protection.,  and speed performance of website.

If you are looking to build a small business site, a shared hosting plan is the best choice. Shared hosting allows you to host approximately one web site on one server with multiple users sharing the single server.

This means you will not have your own e-mail address and can only access your website through an FTP client. A small business web site may be composed of up to 10-20 pages so this type of service is suitable for small businesses where space is at a premium.

Shared hosting can cost between $10 and $35 per month depending on features and size of the plan. However, choosing shared hosting does not have to mean limiting yourself to a low cost provider with poor service.

It is possible to find online businesses that are experts in shared hosting, providing you with high quality service at competitive prices.

Nowadays, many web hosting providers have a range of plans from the very inexpensive to the very expensive. Choosing a web host can be complex since there are so many variables to consider. You should investigate what each of the host's services will provide for your particular business needs and choose the one that best fits your budget and company structure.

There are several things you should consider about a web host provider before signing up for their services:

The cost Factor – The first thing you want to look at when comparing hosts is how much their plans cost. Obviously, the more you pay the less hosting services you will get in return. The cost of hosting is only one of several factors that will determine a host's performance over time.

One thing to be aware of is that most web site hosts make their money from advertising on your website. If you are looking for a host who offers unlimited bandwidth and domain registrations at a reasonable price then you should carefully consider which package includes these features because it is likely to be very expensive. Look at web sites such as HostGator, A Small Orange, and iPowerWeb for examples of providers offering just about everything for an affordable price.

The best way to get the right host for your website is to look around and compare different companies. As with any other service, you get what you pay for. When comparing hosts, make sure they offer the services that you need and that they represent value for money.

The reliability Factor – Hosts are not all alike. Some host providers have more reliable sites than others and some are more dependable in times of trouble. A good way to test a host's viability is by looking at their previous customer reviews online or asking about the reliability of the host from people who are familiar with them.

Some companies provide excellent support for their clients and others do not. If you have any problems, make sure that the host you are considering has a good reputation for resolving customer issues quickly. You may also want to check their live chat or contact forms to see how they will treat your concerns.

The uptime Factor – This factor is particular important if you are running your website on a shopping cart software such as Shopify because it can be very frustrating when a site is down due to the web host's downtime (websites often go down for maintenance on weekends).

The other aspect of uptime is what does the service include? Many hosts offer discounts because they maintain their equipment in top condition. Some host providers even have their equipment stored in a climate-controlled environment and these hosts may have increased uptime.

Online business owners should be aware of what guarantees and warranties come with the hosting service plan that they are considering. Do the guarantees cover the full term of your contract? What will happen if you are unhappy with the service? Most web hosts provide some sort of guarantee or money back satisfaction guarantee however, you should read the fine print before signing.

The Customer Support Factor – Web hosting companies must offer excellent customer support to maintain their reputation and attract new clients every day. They must be knowledgeable about the latest web site hosting resources and technology that allows them to provide excellent service. The customer support staff at each of these companies should be friendly and helpful.

The security Factor – When you start a web company, the last thing you want to do is pay for a bad hosting plan. Some web hosts are known for poor security or even shut down or cancel accounts because of security issues with their customers' websites.

You should ask your provider if they give 24-hour security monitoring and if they have a US based call center or customer support. You should also check their customer recommendations page since many users are very knowledgeable about providers and can let you know whether or not they know what it is like to deal with them.

Web hosting providers often claim to be secure but once you do your research, you will probably discover that some host companies are far more secure than others. You can tell if a host offers security by the options they have available. If they don't offer secure transactions, then avoid them because this is a telling sign of their level of security commitment.

The Domain name registration factor – Some hosting companies will register your domain name for free when you sign up with them. They may even pay for your renewal fees too. However, it is not always wise to accept free registration because there are many 'free' domain services out there that use spammy methods to get people to visit their sites and buy their products or services.

Although this may be an attractive option to you, it is not really free and it could lead to problems in the future. You should avoid these providers because they are likely to end up charging a fee or even get your domain taken from you. In addition, many of these companies use deceptive advertising and will sell you services that you don't want.

The hosting company should always provide customer support for the domain because it is crucial to the running of your web site. It would be wise to make some calls before signing up with a new provider in order to find out if they are reputable and have good customer support options available before signing a contract with them.

The best way to choose a reliable web host is to look around and compare different companies. As with any other service, you get what you pay for. When comparing host providers, make sure they offer the services that you need and that they represent value for money.

After reading this guide, you should have a better idea of how to choose a good hosting provider for your business. If you have time, read about some of the hosts listed in our review section and the reviews left by their users.

You may also want to check out our list of web hosting providers (and their server locations) so that your customers can reach your site more quickly.

Conclusion

Choosing an excellent web hosting service is very important. The inexperienced business owner will soon discover this once they have started suffering from downtime or slow loading speed of their website. If a new business does not invest in a reliable web hosting company, then it will simply bring it down for good and there is no way it could survive in the long run.

Hopefully, through reading this review article, you now have a better understanding of what the best web hosting companies are and how they compare to their competition.

We hope that you found this guide useful and can use the information provided in it to make a more informed decision when choosing your provider.