Nowadays there are plenty of web hosting companies to choose from, all with different perks and different services available and more importantly, for different budgets. But which one best fits your need? How can you really know?
You need to pick a hosting company that fully supports your business needs and doesn’t hinder your way to success. There are many different factors involved such as bandwidth, your overall site speed, customer support and of course price. Here is a breakdown of the major types of hosting and some basic criteria to help you pick the perfect plan for your enterprise.
Most hosting plans fall into the following categories:
Individual plans
These are the most affordable hosting plans available these days. Most of these plans provide hosting support for only one single domain and limits on data storage, bandwidth and features apply. Individual plans are usually the best choice for webmasters who don’t expect a lot of traffic in their first year of business.
Dedicated servers
Individual plans are often called „shared hosting plans” because they share space on their hosting servers with different clients. Sometimes your business might outgrow the features and services offered by a limited individual plan – then you’ll need to upgrade to a web hosting plan that offers your very own server.
Dedicated server plans obviously cost a little bit more – Hostgator’s dedicated server plans will set you back $139 a month. If you expect you’ll need a dedicated server it’s best to pick a web hosting provider which offers both of these plans and allows transitions between them.
Reseller accounts
Reseller account plans are somewhere between individual plans and dedicated servers – these plans allow clients to set up multiple individual account plans within a single account. Most reseller account plans will set you back between $10 and $20 a month – these are best suited for companies with multiple smaller sites.
If you already decided on a hosting plan type, you need to consider certain aspects before signing up with a certain hosting provider:
If you already decided on a hosting plan type, you need to consider certain aspects before signing up with a certain hosting provider:
Your budget
While looking for more reasonable monthly rates you might come across free hosting services – you should avoid using these services as there considerable drawbacks such as unreliability and on site ads.
Customer reviews
Customer reviews are a great way to evaluate web hosting providers. These days it’s very easy to build a professional looking website full of bold promises so it’s a good idea to search for multiple customer reviews before signing up for a plan.
Customer support
Your host provider’s customer support team is crucial to building an online enterprise. Things often go wrong and you need to know they’re there for you 24/7. Not having a reliable customer support service can mean loss of income for you and your business so it’s a good idea to look for hosting companies that offer 24/7 email support, chat support and phone support before actually committing to a hosting plan.
Bandwidth and storage
Most decent hosting plans offer unlimited bandwidth and disk space, so it shouldn’t really be a concern. Although this is standard, you should be wary of any potential limitations your desired account might have.
Script support
One final thing you need to keep in mind is your hosting company’s support for web scripts. Let’s say you want to build a Word Press website – some web hosts offer built-in script packages that make the installation process a whole lot easier. Also check the number of MySQL databases your host supports – you’ll need more than one if you want to run Word Press and other programs on the same host.
