Before you can build an effective online presence, you need to decide who is going to host your website. But with dozens of legitimate choices, all offering over 99 percent uptime and boasting great perks, how can you make an informed decision?
- My Website Isn’t Fast Enough
Your hosting company plays a huge part in the speed of your website. A slow website leads to a poor user experience, and even worse, bad SEO results, meaning you will be harder to find on search engines, leading to fewer visitors to your site overall.
When choosing your hosting provider, look at where their data centers are located, as a nearer location to your users will increase the speed of your website for them.
Network latency is the term for the amount of delay a company receives. Make sure your chosen hosts invest wisely in reducing their network latency, by using quality hardware and support teams. It’s also worth asking if your website host supports or provides a Content Delivery Network (CDN). This allows cached versions of the static parts of your website to be available at optimized speeds to various locations, and could dramatically improve speed, especially when your visitors come from varied places around the globe.
- My Hosting Plan is Costing More Than I Thought
How can some companies offer free hosting, while others seem to charge extortionate amounts for the same thing? Before being caught by unexpected charges, consider the following points.
Like in most areas of life, you get what you pay for. While free options are available, make sure you can see what the company gains from hosting you, which may be advertising space, or perhaps other products you are paying for alongside. If you choose to go with free hosting, make sure you are being given enough bandwidth and data to meet your needs, or that there is opportunity to upgrade to a paid package in the future.
Try not to be fooled by companies who offer “unlimited” bandwidth, as there is usually some small print involved. Usually, your traffic will be capped in some way, and a charge given for exceeding the “unlimited” transfer amount. Make sure to be clear on what each hosting provider is offering for your money, and what you really need. Conversely, “unlimited data” may turn your head, but as most websites without video or music need less than 20GB of disk space, it may not be worth turning out your pockets for.
- I Can’t Get My Problems Resolved Quickly
When everything is running smoothly, your hosts are great. Your website is easy to find, it’s quick to use, you’re on top of your monthly charges, you couldn’t be happier. But when problems arise, there’s nothing to do but wait in growing frustration.
Making sure you understand what support is offered before you sign on the dotted line is key. Some companies offer live chat from their websites, or have 24/7 phone lines available to get through to an expert at any time of day. Others will simply have a contact form, and no way to follow up if they aren’t speedy in responding to your help ticket. Some companies rely on their FAQ and forums to provide the support, not always helpful if your website has gone down and you’re looking for answers.
Make sure to check out reviews from satisfied customers, ask around on social media for other people’s experiences, and compare the customer service packages on offer to get the right level of support for you.
Remember these common problems while browsing the features and capabilities of the various web hosting platforms out there. With these in mind, you should be on the right path to a speedy, cost effective and easy to manage solution for your own website.
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