Website Hosting Provider | 7 questions before you buy.

If you are setting up an online presence for the first time, or if you are dissatisfied with your current service, you will need to choose a Website Hosting Provider first. There are several factors that you should consider to guarantee you receive the finest service available.

Website Hosting Provider | When purchasing, keep the following five tips in mind:

1) How frequently will my website be unavailable?

Reliability, or uptime, is critical and should be carefully evaluated when selecting a host. This is especially true for commercial websites than for personal ones.

When a website goes down, it may be inconvenient for a personal website, but for businesses, it can mean hundreds or even thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

However, keep in mind that claims of 100% uptime are unlikely to be true, so be careful of these claims. The truth is that your website may be inaccessible for a short period due to an unforeseen incident or scheduled maintenance.

What is vital to evaluate is the company’s overall uptime % as well as the individual server where your website will live. This historical data should be available to all web hosts. You should also consider how scheduled outages will be handled. The best web providers plan downtime well in advance and during off-peak hours when feasible. There is no justification for any web server to have a poor uptime rate with today’s technologies.

2) Will I receive assistance when I need it?

Customer service is occasionally one of those things people are willing to sacrifice in order to save money. But before you dismiss this as unimportant, consider your annoyance and probable loss of money if you don’t get support when you need it.

Customer service may include pre-sales inquiries, billing, and technical support.

Many web host providers offer a variety of alternatives so that you can get answers to your questions quickly and thoroughly.

Choose the host with the best combination of options that you think best suits your needs.

The following alternatives are available:

• Telephone help – a live operator will handle your problems. Consider availability (24/7 phone support or only business hours? ), hold times, and representative knowledge.
• Email support is often handled through a helpdesk system where your question will be queued and addressed in the order in which it was received. Consider how long it will take to get a response and how detailed the response will be. Live Internet chat entails chatting with a representative via the Internet. Consider the time it takes for an operator to respond and the availability of this service.
• Knowledge Base/FAQ – This is basically a compilation of frequently asked questions and answers. A well-stocked knowledge base may save you a lot of time by allowing you to help yourself by looking for solutions to frequently asked issues. Consider the size and frequency with which the knowledge base is updated.
• Community Networking – Forums and blogs are great ways for consumers to help each other. This is an excellent method to network and get instant support. Consider the number of active users and the frequency with which posts are made.

3) Is the Website Hosting Provider pricing competitive? 

Of course, price is an important factor, especially in these difficult economic times. Research the costs of your hosting providers by comparing them against each other. Keep in mind that prices may vary depending on the options offered. So first, narrow your choices to those that offer the qualities you desire, and then compare similar features. Consider the payment options and whether they are suitable for you. Many hosts may give you a discount if you pay for the year in advance. If you can’t afford it, how frequently is the bill due?

4) Will my Website Hosting Provider provider be around for the long haul? 

The stability of the company is crucial. Businesses come and go, and the web hosting industry is notorious for fly-by-night operations. Even resellers with massive accounts with a large server often resell their services. If you are dealing with a reseller, do your homework on both the reseller and the parent organization. Longevity is frequently associated with stability. If your host is well-known in the industry, you have a greater chance of staying with them in the long run, avoiding the need to switch to another provider.

5) Is my hosting space fast and optimized?

Website speed is critical; you don’t want it to lag even a millisecond. This is especially important because loading time affects SEO and overall user experience.

While many factors influence website performance, server speed is one of them. Consider the following two factors when determining how fast a server is:

• It’s time for the first byte (TTFB). The amount of time it takes for a browser to send a request and receive the first byte of a page. According to Google, the ideal estimate is 200 milliseconds or less.
• Loading time for a component. This metric measures how long it takes a server to load cached content. If the data is already cached, the server should distribute it across the page in a matter of milliseconds.

6) Is my hosting provider secure?

Your web hosting provider should ideally provide regular website backups or make it easy for you to do so yourself.

A website backup is a copy of your website that helps keep it up and running. It keeps you from losing all of your website progress and data if something untoward happens.

Your web hosting provider should also offer security features such as security monitoring, DDoS protection, LetsEncrypt SSL, RAID, and secure data centers.

Never overlook security when searching for a web hosting service. Choosing a hosting service with high security ensures the safety of both your website and your customer’s data. When choosing a security solution, consider the security features and available plans if you need an extra layer of protection.

7) will I have enough space and bandwidth? 

The primary concerns for your hosting bundle are space and bandwidth. The quantity of space required is determined by the number and size of files on your site. However, keep in mind that even huge sites typically do not require a lot of disk space. Therefore web hosts will often advertise limitless or significant quantities of disk space as a selling factor. The truth is that you are unlikely to require it, so don’t place too much weight on it.

Bandwidth is the amount of data sent when visitors visit your website. The more popular and crowded the website is, the more bandwidth is consumed. Make sure you have enough to meet your requirements. However, be wary of claims of infinite bandwidth. This is a cost borne by the host. Therefore if you have an excessive quantity, you may have difficulties. Make sure you read the fine print if you have an unlimited plan. Most web providers include stipulations in their contracts that allow them to stop your site if you consume too much bandwidth.

Most web providers offer tiered packages that allow you to upgrade to more space and bandwidth as needed. This is usually a possibility when you outgrow your plan and need to upgrade.

First, however, investigate the cost of exceeding your plan’s specifications and the laws governing how this is handled.

In the long run, carefully considering these six critical questions to ask about a possible new web host can save you a great deal of time, energy, and pain. Before making a selection, thoroughly examine the potential web hosts to guarantee you have a great service at a competitive price that will meet your company or personal needs.