When you’re building your own website, you might not think about your web hosting service too much. After all, to an outsider, it might seem that web hosting services are pretty much the same, right?
Wrong.
Like any other product or service, you should plan, research and assess carefully before you choose the web host for your website. After all, the reliability of the hosting service is the difference between having your business website working for you 24/7 and one that loses business in downtime.
Here are 4 things to look for when choosing a website hosting company for your business. Some of them are considerations for any business purchase, so make sure you apply the same business sense to your website as you do to the rest of your company.
Work out what you need
Some simple questions you should ask yourself when figuring out what you need:
- Are you a small start‐up company, or a big organization?
- Does your site have an e-commerce function?
- Are you a DIY-er (Do It Yourself-er) or do you need Tech Assistance?
- Should you be looking for a dedicated server?
- How important is to have the site up and running?
Choose a hosting provider that will accommodate your business growth and changing needs into the future. You can typically start with a smaller hosting package (i.e., and save some money) and you should be ablt to easily upgrade to a more powerful plan.
The Customer service
When your website is down or there are technical issues, your business will suffer. Not to sound pessimistic, but it is a fact – websites DO go down at times. Because of this, you should look for a company that provides great support. Being able to chat with someone live is best, or having quick email response is important.
Don’t choose a hosting service that only provides a support forum. Glitches of some kind are inevitable, so you need to be able to talk to someone to get it fixed fast!
Flexibility
Look for a hosting provider that will allow you to make changes to your site such as creating new email accounts or changing server settings. Make sure you can access email in a number of different ways including online, so if your mail application (like Outlook or Mail) crashes you can still check your email from other devices.
Read the fine print
This is another business basic – Always make sure you check to see exactly what you’re buying and look out for ‘extras’ that you might expect to be part of your package. Depending on your hosting company, Email accounts, Email forwarding, and blogs may all be counted as extras. So if the start‐up rate looks too good to be true, it probably is. Don’t get stung for basic services as add‐ons.
The other fine print issue is to make sure you can take your business elsewhere if you’re not happy with your web hosting service, especially whether you can take your domain name with you if you leave. And as your domain name is your business’ internet identity, that’s pretty important!
And since people have already asked me, my Hosting Company of choice is here. Whenever clients need hosting, I recommend them!
I’ve found that occasionally your host has goodies you don’t really hear about. So I’ll second the comment about reading the fine print,! Take a look at their sales pages from time to time, too, to see what they’ve added for new members. You may be eligible without even knowing it!
Just like any other subscription (think your cable provider, mobile service, etc.) Hosting Companies provide different extras as well. My experience has shown that the sales and marketing teams at these companies are really good at convincing people that they need more than they do and end up upselling services or products that aren’t really needed. Thanks for stopping by, Virginia!
Valuable Points on searching for a website host. I was fortunate to find an excellent hosting service. Pay attention to the details.
YES! It is more important than some people think. Cheap hosting for $5/month just is not going to cut it if someone is serious about their business!
Hosting speed is something to consider, as I presently use Ipage, the speed was great before but I feel the speed is not as it was. So in the next few weeks, I hope to switch over to Siteground!
Many hosting companies seem to overload their servers with too many websites, thus causing a slow down for all. They save some money, and it is at the expense of your website’s speed. Before switching, make sure it is your server that is the problem and not your website.
I am a DIYer, so what was most important to me was choosing an easy website builder, with no need to know how to use HTML. That’s why I will probably never switch from the one I use now.
Everyone has their own requirements for a site and “one hosting company fits all” is not feasible for any company! That is why it is important to shop around and get the facts!
There is so much wisdom here. Articles like this help me learn what to look for – without such a foundation, I don’t have a clue and don’t know how to sound informed. Thank you, Paul!
You are welcome, Julie! Everyone starts at the beginning so I will often start fresh so everyone gets the same foundation.
I’ve run into clients (when I was doing website design) that would buy their marketing materials with VistaPrint and then be sold hosting and web builder software through them using Homestead. I had so many issues with the web builder end, and VistaPrint/Homestead would not allow transfers to other hosting companies. Have you run into that?
PS: the link to your hosting company failed to open.
Proprietary site builders like that (VistaPrint/Homestead and Wix, Weebly, etc.) are notorious for being difficult to transfer because they do not ‘act’ like regular sites. There is no way to easily export the site because the website builder was designed for that company alone.
The link seems to be working now 🙂
These are all helpful tips Paul. When I started my blog, I didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing but little by little, I’m learning! Thank you for put up with us, I mean for putting the challenge together once again!! LOL
You crack me up, Martha!
Hi, Paul. Thank you for the tips. I had a bad experience before with a hosting service and was thankful that I got a better replacement. I had to end the plan though for some reasons.
I am now back to creating a website. I was in a rush so I grabbed WordPress’ suggestion of the basic plan. I noticed that a lot of the features that I need have separate payments that would add extra expense for me. I am left with no choice and hope that I can be more conscientious next time.
You can always go with a self-hosted solution. We are in the process right now of moving a site from a WordPress.com site to be on their own! It is great to do around Independence day – they are getting their website independence! LOL