Web Hosting is the best way to start your online presence, whether you want to create a blog, an online store, or any other type of website.
In 2024, over a thousand web hosting providers are available, each offering different packages and features. And that makes it slightly confusing for a beginner to choose which hosting provider.
However, choosing the right web hosting provider is crucial for the success of your online venture. Before purchasing any web hosting plan, you need to consider certain factors.
If you’re a beginner and want to learn how to choose the best web hosting, this tutorial is for you. Today, we discuss the 12 factors you need to know before purchasing web hosting.
Web Hosting is essentially a service that allows your website to be accessible online 24/7. It provides the necessary infrastructure, software and technical support to ensure that your website is always up and running. Your visitors from all over the world can easily visit your website.
Once you purchase a web hosting package from a hosting company, you get access to a virtual server on which your website’s files and data are stored. When someone types your website link in a web browser, your hosting server processes that request and serves your website to the user’s browser.
Because websites are very popular, many web hosting companies offer different kinds of web hosting services, such as Web hosting, Cloud hosting, VPS hosting, Dedicated hosting, Minecraft hosting, WordPress hosting, and more.
Choosing the right and the best web hosting companies is essential for all kinds of business websites, whether they are e-commerce stores, blogs, or professional portfolios.
What are the 12 Factors to Consider Before Purchasing Web Hosting?
Without wasting your valuable time, let’s talk about what’s the factors you need to consider before choosing a web hosting provider:
- Chose Your Goal
- Performance & Speed
- Uptime
- Promotional Gift
- Pricing Plan
- Security & Backups
- CDN
- User Interface
- Managed WordPress
- Business Mail
- Money-back Guarantee
- Customer Support
1. Chose Your Goal
The goal is the main factor to consider before purchasing web hosting. You should be aware of your ultimate goal for creating a website.
In this competitive market, different types of web hosting are available, such as Shared Hosting, Cloud Hosting, VPS Hosting, and Dedicated Server. Each type has its advantages and limitations.
For example, shared hosting is the most budget-friendly option but may only be suitable for some high-traffic websites. On the other hand, dedicated servers provide more resources but are also more expensive.
Bloggers and E-Commerce site owners have different hosting needs, so knowing your goal is crucial before choosing a hosting provider. Shared hosting, WordPress, or cloud hosting are good options for bloggers.
But if you plan to build an online store, consider dedicated or VPS hosting with powerful resources and better security.
2. Performance & Speed
Performance is another crucial factor to consider before purchasing web hosting. Slow loading time can negatively impact your website’s traffic and user experience.
Most hosting providers offer two types of storage:
- Hard Disk Drive (HDD)
- Solid State Drive (SSD)
SSDs are faster than HDDs, which makes them a better option for websites that require high performance. Look for hosting providers that offer SSD storage.
Another aspect to consider is the server location. If your target audience is located in a specific region, choosing a host with servers in that region is best. This can improve website loading speeds for your visitors.
If your target audience is the USA, you must choose a hosting provider with USA-based servers.
3. Uptime
Uptime plays a good role for a website owner. But What is Uptime? Uptime is the percentage of time that a hosting server stays up and running without any issues. A good uptime is important for maintaining a reliable website.
Most web hosting providers claim an uptime of 99.9%, but it’s essential to check their reviews and reputation before purchasing. Frequent downtimes can result in loss of traffic, customers, and revenue.
Imagine you run a big e-commerce website and it goes down for 2-3 hours. That means you will lose your web traffic and potential customers, resulting in revenue loss.
4. Promotional Gift
Many hosting providers offer promotional gifts such as free domain names, SSL certificates, and advertising credits to stand out in this competitive market. This can be a valuable bonus for beginners or those on a tight budget.
Some hosting providers also offer discounts for first-time customers, which can help reduce the initial costs of purchasing web hosting. If your hosting providers allow you to use coupon codes, you can save up to 80% on your first purchase.
Research and compare different promotional offers from various hosting providers to find the best deal.
And most hosting providers offer significant discounts on Black Friday & Cyber Monday. So, if you want to buy a web hosting package at an affordable price, then you can wait till Black Friday or Cyber Monday.
5. Pricing Plan
Budget is the main factor when buying anything. Depending on your budget and requirements, you can find various pricing plans in web hosting.
Most website owners start their website with a very tight budget, so choosing the right hosting provider that offers reasonable prices and meets your website’s needs can take time and effort.
In this place, a few hosting providers provide the best web hosting services at affordable prices. We want to mention a few of their name, such as Hostinger, Dreamhost, or Namecheap.
Before purchasing hosting services, research and compare pricing plans from different providers to find the best option for your budget. Don’t sacrifice quality for a lower price, which can ultimately hurt your website’s performance.
Another essential factor to consider before purchasing a web hosting plan is the renewal prices. Some hosting providers offer lower initial prices but steeply increase them upon renewal.
6. Security & Backups
If a hosting provider offers the world’s best web hosting services, but their security needs to be better, don’t go with them. Security is a top priority for any website.
A hosting provider must offer SSL certificates to secure data transfer between servers and users. Some providers also provide additional security features such as firewalls, DDoS protection, and malware scanning.
Regular backups are also crucial in case of server failures or cyber-attacks. Choose a host that offers automatic backups and easy restoration options.
If you use the most popular WordPress CMS, you can create your website backup with many WordPress Backup plugins. But if your hosting provider gives you an automatic backup system, it works as a bonus.
Another topic we want to mention is if you go with WordPress, then go with an Authentic Premium Theme or A Free Theme and plugin. Don’t use any copy version of the premium theme or plugin; it may inject malicious code into your website. This can compromise the security and trust of your website.
7. CDN
CDN is another popular web hosting service. But the word of CDN can be new to you.
CDN stands for Content Delivery Network, a network of servers located in different regions that is used to deliver web content to users based on their geographic location. This can significantly improve website loading speeds and performance for visitors in various places.
Suppose a visitor opens your website from Russia or any country. In that case, your website content will be served from a local server, which can significantly reduce loading times and improve the overall experience.
If your website has a global reach, consider choosing a host offering CDN services to improve user experience for visitors worldwide.
Some hosting providers offer CDN services for an additional cost or as part of their hosting packages. Research and compare different options to find the best CDN provider for your website.
8. User Interface
A user interface is necessary but is only sometimes considered when choosing a hosting provider. However, a clean and user-friendly interface can significantly improve your experience managing your website.
Some hosting providers offer their own custom build control, such as Hostinger, which offers their most popular hPanel; Bluehost, which offers cPanel; or Dreamhost, which offers their custom panel.
However, most hosting providers offer traditional cPanel control panels. If you have experience with cPanel, managing your website will be easier.
But our opinion is Hostinger hPanel because its clean and user-friendly interface makes it easier to manage your website without any prior technical knowledge.
User Interface is not everything; it’s only needed to install WordPress or set up your website. Then you don’t need to use it anymore.
So, choose a hosting provider with an easy-to-use interface that suits your preferences and needs. This can save you time and effort in the long run.
9. Managed WordPress
These features only help to the WordPress users. You can ask CouponForHost why you guys added this factor because WordPress powers 43.1% of the live websites in the world.
A managed WordPress hosting provider offers specialized services and support for WordPress websites. This can include automatic updates, security measures, and optimized server configurations for improved performance.
Here are a few features of Manage WordPress, such as 1-click WordPress Installation, WordPress Acceleration, WordPress Auto Updates, WordPress Multisite, Object Cache for WordPress, and more.
If you use a managed WordPress hosting provider, these features can significantly improve your website’s performance and security.
However, traditional web hosting options may be better for you if you have technical experience or prefer to manage your website.
10. Business Mail
Business mail is essential for any website owner. It allows you to create professional email addresses using your domain name, which can increase trust and credibility among users.
Business mail allows you to create this (Eftekharul@Couponforhost.com) email address, which is more professional and credible than a generic Gmail or Yahoo email for your business.
Many hosting providers offer business mail services as part of their packages, with different storage and pricing options. This is an excellent option for small businesses or freelancers who want to create a professional online presence.
Other hosting providers may not offer this service, so you may have to use a separate email hosting provider. Consider this factor when choosing a hosting provider for your website.
11. Money-back Guarantee
A money-back guarantee is not the most crucial factor, but we add this because if you are unsatisfied with your hosting provider, you can get a full refund within a certain period.
This is especially important for new website owners who want to test different hosting providers before committing to one.
Most hosts offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, but some may have longer or shorter periods. Check the terms and conditions of the money-back guarantee before making your decision.
12. Customer Support
And lastly, the customer support offered by the hosting provider is a crucial factor to consider. In case of any technical issues or questions, it’s essential to have reliable and efficient support from your host.
Look for hosting providers that offer 24/7 customer support through multiple channels such as live chat, email, and phone. This ensures that you can reach out for assistance whenever needed.
If you want to know more about your web hosting company, you can read the reviews from TrustPilot, G2, or other platforms where customers can leave honest feedback and ratings. This can give you a better idea of the quality of customer support the hosting provider offers.
Top 3 Best Web Hosting Services
No one can say which hosting provider is perfect for you because the requirements and preferences of each website owner may vary.
But here are our top 3 recommendations based on our research and personal experience:
1. Liquid Web
If you’re looking for the highest performance, best uptime, and 24/7 customer support web hosting companies, then Liquid Web is the only solution for you. Liquid Web is a little bit more expensive than other web hosting companies. But what you get is impressive.
Liquid Web’s best side is its performance. Its average server response time is around 100ms to 200ms. They offer up to 6226R (Dual) @ 2.9GHz CPU, 32 Core, 128GB of RAM, 3 TB SSD (RAID-10), and much more.
2. Cloudways
Cloudways is the most popular cloud-based hosting provider offering managed cloud hosting for websites of all sizes. It provides advanced caching, automatic scaling, and 24/7 support from experienced engineers.
The pricing plan for Cloudways starts at $11/Month, with the option to customize resources and pay for what you use. This makes it a cost-effective choice for growing websites.
3. Hostinger
Hostinger is our personal favourite because of its affordable web hosting plan, excellent performance, and customer support. They offer various hosting options such as shared, VPS, and cloud hosting with an easy-to-use interface.
Hostinger’s pricing plan starts at $1.99/Month, making it one of the most budget-friendly options on the market. But don’t let the low price fool you—they also have impressive website speed and uptime.
Conclusion
In conclusion, choosing an exemplary web hosting service is crucial for the success of your website. When deciding, consider factors such as performance, user interface, managed WordPress options, business mail services, money-back guarantee, and customer support.
If you still need to decide which web hosting is the perfect one, which one is the best for you? Then message us via live chat or contact form, or you can even comment below. We would love to help you choose the best web hosting for your website.
Remember, a good web hosting provider can significantly improve your online presence and user experience, so take your time and choose wisely!
