Finding the perfect web host is like finding the right neighborhood for your website. With so many options out there, it can be hard to find the perfect one. Here are a few tips to help you find the right match for your domain.
Your Server Must Be Reliable
Nothing is more frustrating for viewers than going to visit a website and finding it down because the server it’s information is stored on is not working. These moments when your viewers are frustrated lead to a bad experience with your brand, and if it’s a business website, may result in the loss of sales or (worse!) losing leads to a competitor.
You need your website to be up 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. While nothing is perfect and it’s logical to expect some issues throughout the year, you can expect that your website’s servers are up and running 99% of the time. Anything lower should be considered unacceptable.
How Much Traffic Will Your Website Get?
Every website is different and appeals to a different type of viewer. Is yours an online retail store? Is your website giving information on a popular (or not as popular) subject? Is this a set of forums or a login situation where your visitors might check your website many times a day?
Many people opt for “shared hosting“, giving most websites plenty of space for visitors to come check out their goods or information. It’s the ideal option for ‘newbies’ to the website world and those that are operating an online presence for a small business. What does ‘ideal’ mean? Most shared hosting experiences can accommodate somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 unique visitors to a normal WordPress based website a month.
If you find that your website is very busy (Congratulations!), you can always upgrade your domain to VPS hosting, or even dedicated hosting to allow for a better experience of website browsing for many more visitors.
The Domain Game
When it comes to the web, keywords are key and one of the easiest ways to help your website show in the right internet searches is with the right domain name. It’s a good thing they are so cheap! It’s not uncommon for small businesses to purchase many domains that all point to the same website.
It’s for this reason that it’s important to find hosting that allows for multiple ‘Addon’ domains. This allows you to support many different websites with many different domains all under the same hosting account. It’s not uncommon to find hosting companies that allow for up to 20 or 25 domains, so be sure that check on the number you are allotted before you commit to hosting from a particular company.
Get Ready for Fees
It’s very common for most hosting companies to offer low rates at sign up. This initial price is to encourage you to start service with them for a certain amount of time. However, when it’s time to renew, the price usually goes up. While the price difference isn’t normally drastic (less than $10 or so), it can really add up over time so it’s important to read all of the fine print before handing over your credit card information and transferring all of your domains.
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