Taking your business online is one of the best decisions you can make for the growth of your business. It is essential that you make the right decisions regarding your business website. To begin your journey right, choose the right web host for your business. There are a lot of factors that need to be considered when selecting a web host. In this article, we will explore all the factors that will help you choose the right web host for your business. 

Let’s look at the factors one by one. 

1. Determine Which Type of Hosting your business needs

There are many types of hosting that can be used for business websites. It is critical that you correctly identify the type of web hosting your business needs. Let’s have a look at these. 

Shared Hosting

In this type of hosting, your website uses server resources that are shared with many other websites. Shared hosting is the cheapest type of hosting. It is also the riskier choice considering the other types of hosting. Since you are hosted with shared resources, your website will be affected by how other websites use the resources. This means that the performance of your website is not in your control. You may experience downtime that you cannot predict. This means you can lose your online business anytime. If you are running an online store and selling your products, this type of hosting is not for you. If it is just an informative page you are looking for your business, you can consider this type of hosting since it can do the job at the lowest price. 

Virtual Private Server (VPS)

In a Virtual Private Server type of hosting, your website does not share resources with other websites. In reality, your website is located on a server where many other websites are hosted. However, resources are not shared with other websites by creating a virtual environment for each site. This type of hosting is the middle ground between the shared hosting and dedicated servers. This middle ground reflects in its pricing as well. This type of hosting is cheaper than dedicated hosting but costlier than shared hosting. VPS is an ideal solution for many business websites who want a balance between resources and pricing. If you want to avoid the pitfalls of shared hosting but cannot afford the cost of dedicated hosting, virtual private server hosting can be the answer for you. 

Dedicated Server hosting

This is a type of hosting where a server is dedicated to your website, and it is not shared with any other client. Dedicated server hosting is a premium hosting solution with significantly costlier pricing compared to the other two options we discussed above. The benefits are equally compelling. You are in control of the resources you use. Downtime for your website will be minimum as extra resources can be added when the need arises.

Managed WooCommerce Hosting

WooCommerce is a popular way of creating an online store on the WordPress platform. If you are running your online business with WooCommerce, this is the best option for you. Managed WooCommerce Hosting offers the complete package that you can use to run your WooCommerce store. From maintenance to security, managed WooCommerce host takes care of every aspect. We recommend Nestify as a specialized WooCommerce host. 

2. Check The Performance of Your Website with the Web Host

A slow loading site is bound to fail. In the online shopping world, speed is critical, and you cannot afford your website to be slow. All key parameters like user retention, Search Engine Optimization, Conversion rate, etc. have a relation with the website’s speed. That is why you must check how your website performs with the web host you are considering. Different web hosts offer different resources, and these affect how your website performs. You can try each web host you are considering and compare the performance. How to do that? Use the free trial offered by hosting providers. Once you get a clear idea about the performance, it will be easy to choose the right web host for your business. You should also compare the hardware and software resources offered by the hosting provider.

3. Check If The Uptime Is Good for Your Website

Uptime means for how much percentage of the time your website is actually online. You would want this to be 100% of the time. However, uptime differs with each web hosting provider. Some of them offer uptime of 99.9%, and others promise an uptime guarantee of 99.99%. You need to be careful while relying on these claims. 

If your website goes down, even for a small period of time, you may lose traffic, loyal customers, and ultimately revenue. That’s why you need an uptime guarantee that justifies your business model. Maximum uptime is always desirable for any online business.

4. Does your hosting package allow for scalability?

Online businesses are dynamic and often need to consider scaling up resources. It is hard to predict a steady traffic for any time period. Sometimes there is a surge in traffic while sometimes there is hardly any traffic. When the traffic is at the peak, you can get the maximum benefit for your business. Unfortunately, if your hosting is not scalable, your website will not function correctly during the peak traffic times. 

For example, some businesses make profits during the holiday season while some get traffic during the Black Friday sale. It would be best if your web host offers to scale resources during such a short period to accommodate the increased traffic. 

Scalability is a critical factor that you must consider while choosing a web host. A rigid plan with fixed resources and no flexibility will not add any value to the business. Look for scalability. It’s essential for the long-term success of your online business. 

5. Check the Security Features you are getting

Security is one of the essential factors in running a website. You don’t want to carry that responsibility on your own. Your host should provide security features and defend your website from threats. 

Why is security a critical factor for hosting consideration? What should you look for in a web host? A secure site means that it is less likely to become prey to cyber attackers, given the number of efforts invested in the security of the website. You can always use WordPress security plugins to regularly check for malware, brute force attacks, and monitor your website for security vulnerabilities. However, you can ask your web host what security measures they are providing as a part of the hosting package. It can start with an SSL certificate for your website. SSL certificate marks your website as secure when users browse your website. This is the least you can expect from your hosting provider. Next comes the regular monitoring for security purposes. Your host should take measures for security vulnerabilities. There are some web hosts who offer website cleanup for free if the site gets infected. For the best results, you can use a professional WordPress maintenance service to take care of security and maintenance for your website. 

6. How Good is the Customer Support

You will probably do not consider customer support as a big deal. Yet, it is indeed a big deal. Think about a situation where you need help regarding anything related to hosting your website. Who would you approach for help with hosting? Customer support is the answer.  Customer support helps with issues that customers face. Timely, appropriate, and expert customer support goes a long way in the journey of a successful website. 

How do you check customer support of your web host? Browse the internet for reviews. See what people are talking about the web hosts of your choice. Another way you can use is by testing the customer support during the free trial. Ask help for technical difficulties, negotiate pricing, or raise concerns. See how much time they take to respond to your query. You can test if your query gets resolved immediately or if you are redirected to another source more than often. 

It is always a good idea to note the number of channels available for communication with customer support. Live chat, email, or phone support are among the most common options. Also, check for the availability of customer support. Some web hosts offer customer support only during the weekdays, while others provide 24/7 availability. 

Customer support is indeed a critical aspect to examine when deciding a web hosting solution for your business website. Make sure you get expert and quick customer support when there is any problem. How to do that? Examine the customer support in advance. This is an essential step in wisely deciding the web host for your business.

7.  How easy is it to migrate to your Web Host?

If this is your first web host, you may not need to worry about migration. Uploading your website can be a matter of concern for you if you find it difficult. You can reach out to customer support for guidance about the same. There are many tutorials available for uploading your website to your web hosting provider. However, things get more challenging when it comes to migration. 

Migrating your website to your new host can be a difficult task. A mistake or two, and your website is unavailable. You may end up with a broken website, and the downtime during the transition may affect your business. For these reasons, it would be more than helpful if your web host handles the migration. Cheap web hosts do not offer free migration. However, if you opt for any one of them, you can seek help from the customer support team. 

A Managed WordPress hosting provider like Nestify can offer free migration that is handled by migration experts who ensure that downtime is minimal. If you find such an arrangement with your web host, you will save yourself a lot of hassle. Migration is a tricky task that’s best handled by experts. Check with your web host how they handle the migration process.  

Migration can be done through WordPress plugins as well. Yet, even with a migration plugin, it is you who have to do the migration. Why have a DIY approach to this critical task when you have it taken care of by your web hosting provider? Some offer to help, and some don’t. Stick with the ones that do. Chances are you will end up getting good customer support as well. 

8. How many email addresses are offered by the web host?

Email is an indispensable part of a business website. You will need multiple emails for a variety of reasons. You should have separate email addresses for admin, staff, support, and marketing. Every web hosting provider offers a different number of email addresses. These are often included in the hosting packages. Check if you are getting the desired number of email addresses. 

An unlimited number of email accounts is not really necessary. Make a rational choice of how many email addresses you need and choose accordingly. 

9. Check Bandwidth and Storage

Bandwidth and storage are important considerations when you want to have an optimum performance for your website. This also means the scalability of your website during peak times. 

A fair amount of storage allows you to have space to upload media files while low storage means limits on file upload. If you are running an online store, opt for an ample amount of storage. A sizable amount of bandwidth allows significant traffic without costing downtime for your website. On the same note, low bandwidth means your website won’t be up and running when the traffic crosses the bandwidth limit. 

Many hosting providers specify the bandwidth and storage limits with specific numbers. Others promise unlimited bandwidth and storage. However, there is no such thing as unlimited bandwidth. Check with customer support about these claims and decide accordingly. 

10. What Does It Cost

The key parameter where every decision about web hosting ends up is the cost. How much does it cost to you if you choose a particular web host? Different web hosts have different pricing, and it is natural for you to go for the web host that offers more value for your buck. 

It would be best if you considered how much you are getting for the price you are paying. Cheap does not always mean beneficial. Also, costly does not always mean reliable. Look beyond numbers.

Additionally, you need to consider your requirements and the package you want to select as costing differs by the package.

Some of the questions you can ask are:

Are you planning to host a single website or multiple ones?

Which type of web hosting are you opting for?

How much traffic are you aiming for?

Are you hosting a WordPress website?

What is the nature of your website – online shopping, blog, or portfolio?

There are many factors that constitute pricing. You can also negotiate for a custom pricing if you want. You can contact web hosting providers for custom pricing. Many hosting providers offer multiple communication channels such as live chat, email, and phone so that you can reach out to them regarding your hosting requirements. Some of these channels may come at a cost or with some limitations. Make sure you consider this in the cost calculation. 

These were the top 11 factors that you should consider when choosing the right web host for your business. We hope these considerations help you make the right choice of web host for your business. If you have any further questions in mind or if you need more guidance regarding web hosting, please reach out to us. We are delighted to help you through your online business journey.