Choosing the right web hosting company is one of the most important decisions you can make when it comes to your website. However, many people don’t know where to start when it comes to hosting. On this page, we’ll cover the basics of hosting and walk you through different types as well as features to look for when shopping for a hosting plan.
| Company | Main features | Price | Rating | More |
|---|---|---|---|---|
A2 Hosting | Unlimited space & transfer Solid state drives (SSDs) 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at a2hosting.com | From 3.92 /mo | 77% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 A Small Orange | Host multiple domains Solid state drives (SSDs) 24/7/365 support 90-day money back guarantee More features at asmallorange.com | From 2.92 p/mo | 50% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Arvixe | Free domain name Unlimited space and transfer 24/7/365 support 60-day money back guarantee More features at arvixe.com | From 4.00 /mo | 34% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Bluehost | Free domain name Free backups 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee Endorsed by WordPress More features at bluehost.com | From 3.95 /mo | 61% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Dotster | Unlimited storage Unlimited bandwidth 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at dotster.com | From 3.75 /mo | 35% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 FatCow | Free domain name Unlimited storage and transfer 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at fatcow.com | From 4.08 /mo | 47% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 GoDaddy | Free domain name Unlimited bandwidth 24/7/365 support 45-day money back guarantee More features at godaddy.com | From 3.99 /mo | 66% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 GreenGeeks | Free domain name Unlimited space and transfer 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at greengeeks.com | From 3.96 /mo | 74% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 HostGator | Unlimited disk space Unlimited bandwidth 24/7/365 support 45-day money back guarantee More features at hostgator.com | From 4.86 /mo | 67% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 InMotion Hosting | Free domain name Solid state drives (SSDs) 24/7/365 support 90-day money back guarantee More features at inmotionhosting.com | From $3.49/mo | 70% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 iPage | Free domain name Free security suite 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at ipage.com | From 1.99 /mo | 41% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 iPower | Free domain name Host multiple domains 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at ipower.com | From 3.99 /mo | 17% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Media Temple | Free SSD storage 30 day file backup & restore 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at mediatemple.net | From 20.00 /mo | 78% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Namecheap | Free backups Free website migration 24/7/365 support 14-day money back guarantee More features at namecheap.com | From 9.88 /mo | 57% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Netfirms | Free domain name Unlimited storage and bandwidth 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at netfirms.com | From 4.45 /mo | 27% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 PowWeb | Load-balanced hosting Host multiple domains 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at powweb.com | From 3.88 /mo | 30% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Site5 | Free website migration Free domain name 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at site5.com | From 4.95 /mo | 36% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 SiteGround | Choose server location Free backups, transfer & SSL 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee Endorsed by WordPress More features at siteground.com | From 3.95 /mo | 79% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Web Hosting Hub | Free solid-state drives (SSD) Free domain name 24/7/365 support 90-day money back guarantee More features at webhostinghub.com | From 4.99 /mo | 62% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 eHost | 45-day money back guarantee Free website backups Free powerful website builder 24/7/365 support More features at ehost.com | From 2.75 /mo | 33% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 JustHost | Free domain name Unlimited disk space & transfer 30-day money back guarantee Host unlimited websites More features at justhost.com | From 3.95 /mo | 22% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 1&1 | 100 GB storage Scalable performance 24/7 support Host one website More features at 1&1 | From 9.99 /mo | 50% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Atlantic.net | HIPAA-compliant hosting 100% uptime guarantee 24/7 support 20 cloud plans More features at Atlantic.net | From 8.00 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 PacificHost | CloudLinux environment CloudFlare CDN 24/7/365 U.S.-based support 99.9% uptime guarantee More features at PacificHost | From 2.49 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Aspiration Hosting | Magento experts High speed 10Gbps servers Unmetered bandwidth 24/7/365 support from high-level engineers More features at Aspiration Hosting | From 9.99 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 MochaHost | Website builder, marketing tools Free SSL Website, WordPress, VPS Java/Tomcat, Asp.net hosting More features at MochaHost | From 1.95 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 IX Web Hosting | Unlimited bandwidth Linux, VPS, Cloud hosting Unmetered bandwidth 24/7 support More features at IX Web Hosting | From 3.95 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 UK2 | Budget hosting WordPress hosting, Cloudflare CDN One-stop shop: site builder & more VPS and dedicated hosting More features at UK2 | From 1.00 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 DailyRazor | Web, WordPress, ColdFusion hosting Java, VPS hosting Web design, marketing, graphic design services VPS and dedicated hosting More features at DailyRazor | From 1.95 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Hawk Host | Shared, Semi-dedicated, and VPS hosting 10,000 MB storage Cloudflare CDN Unlimited bandwidth More features at Hawk Host | From 2.99 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Heart Internet | Shared, WordPress and VPS hosting 99.99% uptime Failover systems Single or multi-core processors More features at Heart Internet | From 2.66 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 WebHostingPad | Shared, WordPress, CDN, and VPS hosting 30-day money back guarantee Video tutorial library 24/7/365 support More features at WebHostingPad | From 1.99 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 CoolHandle | Linux shared hosting Unlimited bandwidth Cloudflare CDN Dedicated account support team More features at CoolHandle | From 1.99 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 BigRock | Unlimited email, bandwidth, storage. Linux and Windows shared hosting Free VPS backups Website builder More features at BigRock | From 1.59 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Beyond Hosting | Multiple compliance including HIPAA compliance. Managed cloud, WordPress, VPS hosting Free migration, domains, and SSL 24/7 support More features at Beyond Hosting | From 19.99 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Web.com | Shared hosting Site builder Marketing, advertising and design services Tools for dental, realtor and auto shop businesses More features at Web.com | From 5.95 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 ServInt | VPS and Dedicated servers Enterprise class hosting 99.999% uptime guarantee 60-second hardware replacement More features at ServInt | From 27.00 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Limestone Networks | Cloud, dedicated, colocation, CDN hosting Enterprise class hosting 24/7 monitoring Game servers also available More features at Limestone Networks | From 7.30 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Yahoo Web Hosting | Designed for use with Yahoo's site builder Little support for WordPress plugins SpamGuard Plus "Snapshot" backup does not cover databases More features at Yahoo Web Hosting | From 3.75 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 StartLogic | 100% powered by wind energy One-stop shop: hosting, site builder, marketing and business growth tools E-commerce options Beginner-friendly More features at StartLogic | From 8.99 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 StableHost | Unique clustered hosting technology Automatic failover Shared and Enterprise hosting VPS and reseller plans More features at StableHost | From 4.95 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 HostMetro | Shared hosting Guaranteed price lock SEO consultation Marketing tools More features at HostMetro | From 2.95 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 HostPapa | Shared hosting Site builder, E-commerce tools Robust customer support CDN, VPS More features at HostPapa | From 3.95 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 WebHostFace | Shared, reseller, dedicated Unmetered bandwidth CDN, Site builder Marketing tools More features at WebHostFace | From 0.69 /mo | % score | Visit website Read reviews |
 WP Engine | Built for WordPress Curated WordPress solutions CDN, SSL included Marketing integration via WordPress API More features at WP Engine | From 35.00 /mo | 93% score | Visit website Read reviews |
What is Web Hosting?
Web hosting is essentially rental space on a computer that holds all the files for your website. This computer is most often referred to as a server. It’s best to think of a server as the place where your website lives.
Unlike your regular computer that you use at home, computers used for hosting are much more powerful and ensure that your website is always accessible using lightning-fast networks. They do this by delivering your website’s content, including images and text, to site visitors every time they click on your website or enter your site’s URL into their own computer browser. Without web hosting, your website would not be visible to people that visit it.
That’s why all websites need a web host.
A web host’s computers are maintained by experts who have the technical know-how to keep the server hardware running smoothly and the software working. They also assist you when you run into problems with your website’s uptime and manage things like security, support, bandwidth, page loading times, and so much more.
Web Hosting Terminology
Before getting into the details of different hosting plans and features to keep in mind, let’s cover some basic hosting terms you’ll need to know to make a more informed decision.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Disk Space | The amount of storage space available for storing your website files such as images, databases, and the actual content of your website. |
| Bandwidth or Data Transfer | The number of visits or visitors that your website gets and the amount of information your website can transfer to them. The more visitors you have, the more data you transfer and the more bandwidth you need. |
| Admin or Control Panel | The administration panel of your hosting account. It allows you to upload and download files, create email addresses for your domain, install applications, and more. Most Linux hosting plans use cPanel as the admin panel. You may also be offered Plesk, Webmin, or the host’s own panel. |
| Linux and Windows Servers | The operating system used by your web server. Linux hosting is arguably more versatile and cheaper. Linux can handle a variety of programming languages and applications and come with the cPanel. Windows servers are great for websites that rely on Windows technologies, such as the ASP.NET framework. Windows servers are slightly more expensive and often utilize WebsitePanel or Zpanel. |
| Name Servers | Translate your domain name into an IP address, so your users can visit your site without having to remember its IP. |
| Add-on Domain | An additional website that can be added to your hosting plan. Check your host offers this if you need it. |
| Subdomain | A subsection of the main domain. Subdomains can be used for a blog URL, such as blog.yourmaindomain.com. |
| FTP access | FTP stands for file transfer protocol, which you’ll use to upload files to your server. You can an FTP client such as FileZilla, or log into your control panel and use its File Manager. |
| Uptime | The total time your website stays up during a certain period of time. It’s usually measured in percentage. Most hosts nowadays claim a 99% uptime guarantee or better. |
Types of Hosting
Web hosting comes in many forms and hosting plans can handle everything from a simple website with a handful of daily visitors, to an online app used by thousands of users on a daily basis.
Some host plans are better suited for small to medium-sized businesses, as opposed to the hosting plans that work best for those with personal blogs.
Let’s take a quick look at the differences between the two and why it matters what type of web hosting services you use.
Personal Hosting
Personal hosting is usually less demanding than the hosting services required by a small-to-medium-sized business. That’s because the number of daily visitors is usually far less on personal blogs.
As a result, most personal blogs can get away with using the cheapest hosting providers, using shared hosting without any issues, and they’ll never run out of hosting resources such as bandwidth. Personal blogs do not typically have any uptime issues because the amount of traffic, while it may be steady, is not excessive enough to crash the server.
Business Hosting
Business hosting is much more demanding than a personal blog and thus needs more resources like CPU, RAM, and disk space to operate at its highest speed and performance. That’s because business or corporate websites tend to experience a lot more daily traffic and need to be able to handle this influx of traffic without any downtime.
When it comes to choosing the right business hosting plan, you’ll have to evaluate your individual site and see how much you need in terms of resources and features in order to deliver the best experience to your site visitors as possible.
Now let’s take a look at the different hosting solutions you can choose from when it comes to your business website.
Shared Web Hosting
Shared hosting is usually the most affordable option. Your website will be hosted on a server that is shared by hundreds of other customers, which is why pricing is so low. This type of hosting is great for those just starting out, those that don’t have a lot of content on their site, or those that have a low amount of daily traffic.
Since shared hosting plans require you to store your website’s data on one server, along with tons of other website owners, there is a chance that the performance of your website could be affected by other sites on the same server.
For instance, if one website crashes the server because it is hacked, your site is going down too. In addition, if one website goes viral and experiences a huge influx of traffic, they will end up hogging way more resources than they normally would to accommodate this traffic, pulling away from the resources you need to run your site efficiently.
Having said that, shared hosting plans are a good way to get familiar with web hosting if you’re just starting out with your website.
Shared hosting plans range between $5 and $10 per month or less with a web hosting coupon. In most cases, you can pay on a 3-month, 6-month, or a yearly basis to access additional discounts.
One of the most well-known and reliable shared hosting providers on the market today is Bluehost, which is known for having tons of resources, providing a free website builder and domain name for customers, and easy one-click install of the WordPress content management system (CMS).
Cloud-Based Web Hosting
Cloud hosting is relatively new technology that uses a number of individual servers (often hundreds of them) that work together as one large server.
The main advantage of cloud hosting is that you can add more resources instantly as your website grows, so scaling your business is a cinch. All your hosting company has to do is adjust the allocated disk space, CPU usage, or bandwidth and you can immediately start accommodating lots more site traffic.
This is great if your website suddenly starts getting a large number of visitors. Rather than harming your site’s uptime while you scale up, your resources are automatically added to your hosting plan.
Another great advantage of using cloud-based hosting is that your business site is protected from DDoS attacks, which are attempts to shut down entire sections of the internet with a massive influx of server requests. Though this tactic works on sites being hosted on one single server, because cloud hosting works with multiple servers, if one goes down, the others pick up the slack. As a result, your site never experiences downtime and you don’t lose revenue.
Cloud hosting plans don’t have a set price range because most of them use a pay-as-you-use pricing structure, which is appealing to those that don’t want to overpay for resources they never use.
That said, if you are looking for a cloud-based web hosting provider that can give you exceptional customer support, check out SiteGround, as they are known for affordable hosting and stellar customer service.
Virtual Private Server (VPS)
Virtual private servers are a step up from a shared hosting plan.
With a VPS, one physical server acts like multiple, separate servers. Unlike shared hosting, VPS hosting provides a dedicated portion of the shared resources, so your website isn’t affected by other websites who are on the same server as you.
In other words, you get an individual piece of the server pie and don’t have to share with others. Not to mention, rather than sharing a web server with hundreds or even thousands of other website owners, you typically only share with about 20 other site owners on your VPS server.
In addition to not having to share your resources with others, VPS servers offer easy scalability and more control. Simply click a button and upgrade your hosting plan to accommodate more site traffic. Plus, do things like add software to your server portion since what you do does not affect anyone else.
The good thing about VPS hosting is that the price is more affordable than renting a dedicated server that you get all to yourself, despite being able to make very similar server changes.
Prices for VPS hosting range between $50 and $200, depending on the chosen CPU and amount of memory.
Remember: low priced VPS packages may not include management from the host, but this is essential if you don’t have any server administration experience. For instance, iPage offers managed support, free domain registration for the year, and an easy to use cPanel for making changes to your VPS server for relatively affordable monthly prices.
Dedicated Web Server
A dedicated server means you are renting an entire physical server from the hosting company and storing all of your site’s data on it by itself. You have complete control over the server, which means you can install complex applications and scripts that aren’t usually available with shared hosting plans, without ever affecting anyone else or having to share resources.
Dedicated servers, such as the ones offered by InMotion Hosting, often provide better security. They are best suited for very large websites that have thousands of visitors each day or businesses that run web applications that are used by thousands of people.
The downside of a dedicated hosting plan is that you need to have a lot of technical knowledge to ensure your server runs smoothly. If you don’t, you’ll either need to pay your host for management, or you will need to hire someone to manage the upkeep, which increases the monthly price. After all, if something happens to your server — until you get it fixed — your site’s uptime is negatively affected and you risk losing lots of business as a result.
Dedicated servers are usually priced from $100 a month and up.
Colocation Web Hosting
Colocation web hosting is an advanced hosting plan where you rent rack space from a data center and supply your own server hardware. You also pay for the bandwidth you use each month, so your monthly bandwidth bill will depend on how well-trafficked your site is. In return, the hosting company will provide you with power, cooling, physical security, and an internet connection.
When you rent rack space from a hosting company, the responsibility for any software, data storage, and backup rests entirely on you. You are also responsible for replacing the hardware.
This can become very costly if something goes wrong, and can affect your business site should your experience serious downtime. However, this also means you can use any operating system you want, such as Linux or Windows, increase the CPU and RAM whenever you need to, and install any type of specialized software on the server you want.
Because of the fact that operating your own server hardware can be so technical, colocation is not recommended for beginners or most small businesses.
Reseller Web Hosting
Reseller hosting packages allow you to sell hosting space to your own hosting customers. These hosting packages can be a shared, cloud, or dedicated plan, depending on the type of customers you want to sell hosting plans to.
They also tend to come with pre-packaged tools to help you manage the hosting plans you resell to your customers. No to mention, reseller programs such as the ones offered by SiteGround come white labeled so your clients never know you are using an established hosting company to sell hosting plans to others.
Reseller hosting comes with greater technical control offered through a management panel. On Linux, this will often be Web Host Manager (WHM).
You’ll usually also be provided with billing software to create client invoices, and you may be able to re-brand the entire system with your own business name. You may also benefit from private name servers and free website templates.
The price for reseller hosting usually ranges from $15 – $50 a month, depending on features and resource limits.
Managed WordPress Hosting
Managed WordPress hosting is ideal for businesses that want a hassle-free WordPress experience. Some hosts offer this as a plan choice, but others actually offer it exclusively, meaning that you cannot host any other type of website with their hosting plans.
With managed hosting, everything related to WordPress is taken care of. For instance, your WordPress core, themes, and plugins will always be up to date, your site will be secure, you’ll have automated backups and easy restore options, and dedicated WordPress support, such as the customer service offered by WP Engine, when you use managed WordPress hosting.
In addition, there are several benefits to using WordPress hosting for your business website:
- Servers are configured specifically for WordPress, meaning even when your site traffic jumps significantly, your site’s speed and performance are never sacrificed.
- Extra layers of security are added on top of the already secure WordPress CMS, meaning your site’s data, and your customer’s sensitive information is always protected from malicious activity
- The support teams for WordPress hosting plans are knowledgeable about the platform so any time you have an issue it is resolved quicker and more efficiently than with a traditional web host provider
- You typically receive daily backups of your website just in case your site is compromised for any reason
- Website builders, staging areas, and version control are just some of the dev tools WordPress hosting plans provide their customers
That said, there are two main downsides to managed WordPress hosting. To start, it can be expensive since so many exclusive features come as part of your hosting plan. In addition, you may lose some control over your site, such as the ability to move it to another host later.
As a side note, it’s important to understand that there’s a big difference between having a WordPress.com and WordPress.org website:
- WordPress.com is a free blogging platform hosted by WordPress itself. You don’t need a host your site’s data with a hosting company, there is no software to download, and you have no web server to maintain. In fact, you don’t even need to register a domain name, as it is given to you. You also have access to plenty of customization tools for making changes to the design and functionality of your website.
- WordPress.org is also a free platform, though it requires a web hosting provider and a domain name registration. There are thousands of free and premium themes and plugins you can use to customize your website, and creating a business website with this platform is going to be your best option.
Free Hosting Plans
For those on really strict budgets, there is always the option of going with a free hosting plan. Though not recommended, it’s good to know the option exists, just in case.
It can be easy for startup businesses that have yet to make a profit to want to get in on a free hosting plan. After all, any money that can be saved is a good thing.
However, before you jump into a free hosting plan, check out some of the potential problems you might run into:
- The domain name will include the free hosting provider’s name, taking away from your branding opportunities and making you appear less professional
- There are usually no uptime guarantees, which can affect the user experience and your revenue
- Many free hosting providers display unrelated ads on your website that can affect your site’s SEO and look unprofessional
- Limited bandwidth and storage space is to be expected, with no chance of upgrading
- There is usually no customer service or support team on hand to help you with any problems you run into
That said, free is free and sometimes that’s enough for people, no matter what kind of website they are running. In addition, free web hosts don’t lock you into contracts like most premium hosting companies do, which is appealing to those that don’t want to have to stick with one web host.
Hosting Features to Look For
Your chosen hosting plan needs to offer all the functionality for your specific business needs. Here are some of the most common features you should look for in a hosting company.
Bandwidth And Storage Space
All hosting companies have at least one plan that offers unlimited bandwidth, which is technically the amount of data that can pass from one point to another per unit of time, and storage, which is how many files you can actually store on your server. However, the truth is, nothing in this world is truly unlimited.
When it comes to your hosting plan, your host will claim that you can host an unlimited amount of websites, upload unlimited files, and create an unlimited amount of email addresses.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t really translate into unlimited usage. It just means is that there is no limit on the number of resources you can use so long as you don’t abuse the service, or cause an interruption in service for other customers.
For example, Bluehost will take control of your hosting account if you hit their CPU usage limits, and iPage will suspend your account altogether if you use excessive amounts of CPU. In addition, SiteGround only offers 20 GB of storage and Bluehost only offers 50 GB, while hosts iPage and InMotion Hosting offer unlimited storage.
So, while there may be some elements that are seemingly “unlimited” the truth is that unlimited hosting is mostly a marketing tactic used by hosting companies to get more customers.
To avoid falling victim to clever advertising, be sure to read the terms of service carefully, particularly if you expect your site to use a lot of resources.
Programming Features
Most hosting companies provide support for many popular programming languages and databases such as PHP, Python, Ruby, and MySQL.
On Windows hosting plans, your host should provide support for ASP.NET, ASP, NET framework, and MS SQL. There are even a few hosts still supporting FrontPage Extensions.
If your website or application relies on using one of those languages, be sure your chosen hosting provider supports it.
Website Builders
If you are looking to create your own business site, without the help of a developer, using a website builder (an online app, not a person) can be very helpful. Some website builders come as part of your web hosting package, while others are standalone products. That said, most popular website builders have an easy to use drag-and-drop interface, which makes site creation a cinch.
Here’s a list of some of the best website builders on the market today that will surely help you with your site building efforts.
WordPress.org
Though not always thought of as a site builder, the WordPress.org platform offers website owners of all levels an easy way to build any kind of website imaginable. It has a drag-and-drop interface, is compatible with plenty of reliable page builders such as Beaver Builder and Elementor, and has thousands of free and premium theme and plugin options to build on top of your site’s foundation.
Wix
Wix is a fully hosted website builder solution so you don’t have to pay for hosting to use it. You’ll have to buy a domain name and may have to purchase a premium plan if your site is large. However, you’ll have access to tons of pre-designed templates and apps for your site’s design and functionality.
BoldGrid
BoldGrid is a website builder that’s built right on top of WordPress, though it can be used as a standalone plugin as well. It’s official hosting provider is InMotion Hosting, it comes WooCommerce ready, and you have the ability to choose from a variety of themes to make your site unique.
Shopify
Shopify is a website builder solution designed specifically for e-commerce shops. It’s a fully hosted solution and manages everything for you, from updates to backups. There are plenty of design options, and every feature you could need to run a fully operational online shop.
In addition to those mentioned above, there are other website builders that come with hosting solutions such as:
- The iPage Website Builder is an addon to your hosting plan that gives you an easy way to build your site. Though a limited version does come free with all hosting plans. Enjoy built-in social sharing, SEO optimization, mobile-friendly design, and beautiful image galleries.
- GoDaddy offers a website builder called GoDaddy GoCentral with their hosting plans. Create an online shop, design a blog, and even use images they include that come straight from Getty Photography.
E-Commerce Support
E-commerce hosting is an option offered by many web hosts, such as WP Engine, that supply e-commerce functionality to your website.
So, if you plan on launching an online store, it’s helpful to find a hosting company offers e-commerce software that you can use to improve your shop’s design and functionality.
Here are some of the best features to look for in an e-commerce web host:
- SSL certificates
- Database support
- Shopping cart software
- Payment processing services
- One-click e-commerce platform installs
- E-commerce specific security measures
- Caching technology and CDN integrations
- Domain name registrations
- Daily backups and easy restore options
- Built-in drag-and-drop website builders
- PCI compliant servers
- 24/7 support through a variety of channels
In addition, there is a good chance the hosting provider you employ will have built-in e-commerce management tools to help you manage inventory, create product pages, and track your company’s success.
Backups And Security
When it comes to hosting plans, most shared plans will not provide you with a backup of your site that you can download. They usually take regular backups of the entire server for their own internal purposes which they can use to restore your website in case something goes wrong, but with shared hosting, you are almost always responsible for taking backups of your own site.
That said, some hosts, such as SiteGround, do have advanced backup services, such as antivirus monitoring and removal, firewall protection, and disaster recovery, for an additional fee.
SSL Encryption
SSL, or secure socket layer, certificates are small data files that encrypt data that is being passed between your website and a site visitors browser so hackers can’t steal the information and use it for their own malicious purposes.
They also increase your Google rankings so more people can find your site in search results, build trust amongst your site visitors, and improve conversion rates because people feel secure entering their personal information into your website when they know it’s secured with an SSL certificate.
This feature is especially important for those that run online shops. In fact, it is required in the United States as part of PCI compliance that websites that accept credit cards as a form of payment have a valid SSL certificate on their website at all times.
The way to know your website is properly secured with an SSL certificate is to look at your site’s URL. Secure website URLs start with https, whereas non-secure website URLs start with HTTP.
That said, if you run an online shop and use an off-site payment processor such as PayPal, you are not technically required to have an SSL certificate. However, it is always a good idea to add that extra layer of security to protect your site’s data and instill trust in those that visit your site.
Many web hosts provide their customers free SSL certificates as part of their hosting plan. For instance, InMotion Hosting offers a free SSL certificate for all domains that use their hosting plans.
Datacenter Location
Datacenters are facilities that house the web servers that store your website’s data. They typically come with video surveillance, physical security monitoring, redundant communications connections, and environmental controls such as air conditioning and fire suppression to protect the servers that store so much important data on them.
Once your website is hosted, regardless of the server it’s stored on, it can be accessed from anywhere in the world. But location does matter. The closer your web server is to your website visitors, the faster your website will load for them.
So if your target audience is primarily in the USA, your best bet is to choose a server that’s somewhere in Northern America. This will ensure your website visitors are served your site’s content as quickly as possible. Similarly, if you’re targeting an audience in Europe, you’d be better off finding a host that has a server located in a city like Amsterdam.
It’s important to check that your hosting provider has a datacenter near your target audience. However, another helpful feature that takes the pressure off of having to have a datacenter close to your site visitors is CDN integration.
What’s a CDN?
A CDN, or content delivery network, is a system of servers that help deliver your site’s web pages to site visitors based on their geographic locations. This means that no matter where in the world your site visitor accesses your website from, your content will be delivered from the CDN server that is closest to them for the fastest content delivery possible.
Many businesses use CDNs because their target audience is spread throughout the world and are not necessarily nearby their web host’s datacenters. Luckily, many web hosts, such as Siteground, offer free CDN integration as part of their hosting plans.
Site Uptime and Downtime
Website uptime is the time that your website is available to your site visitors. Your website’s uptime is important to your business and your user experience. After all, if your website is not available for people to see, they cannot read your content, shop in your online store, or subscribe to your newsletter, or help boost your search engine rankings with the amount of time they spend on your site.
As a result, people may not want to return to your site or ever shop there again because of the downtime they experienced.
Your web host should monitor your site’s uptime for you. In fact, most web hosts boast of guaranteed web uptimes, even going so far as to credit you for any downtime you experience.
For example, Media Temple is so confident of their 99.99% Uptime Guarantee that you’ll receive 20% off your monthly hosting fee for every twenty minutes of downtime you experience in the month.
Uptime Guarantees
The cool thing about some web hosts that really value their uptime guarantees will even give their customers a way to access their website’s real-time status at any time, as well as provide monthly uptime reports as a way of maintaining uptime transparency.
If you ever experience downtime with your website you should do the following:
- Confirm that your website has actually gone down.
- Determine the cause on your own or by contacting your web host.
- Get in touch in with your web host customer support team and see if you can troubleshoot the issue.
- Make sure to notify your site visitors of the outage, whether it’s routine maintenance or a hardware issue.
- Find out how long your site is expected to be down and plan how you’ll handle the outage with upset site visitors.
There are some things you can do to prevent downtime. For instance, back your website up regularly, make sure your web host has uptime monitoring, make sure your hosting plan payments are up to date, and ensure your domain name registration is up to date.
You can also test your website every time you make a major design or functionality change to ensure there is no bad code causing your site to have issues.
Domain Names
Every computer is given a unique IP address to distinguish it from all the other computers in the world that are connected to the internet network. IP addresses are a series of numbers and come in the form xx.xxx.xxx. However, trying to remember the IP addresses of every computer in the world is difficult to do.
That’s why domain names were created.
The domain name of your website is the address people type in their URL browser when they want to visit your site. So, instead of having to type in the long string of numbers to visit a site connected to the internet, you can simply type in the web address instead.
Every website has to have a domain name. That’s why when you build your business website, you need to register a domain name that will identify your website as unique from all the other websites in the world.
Not to mention your domain name is the first impression all site visitors will have of your website, it affects your site’s chances of getting found in search engine results, and it helps define your brand.
Getting a domain name can be kind of tricky if you’re not sure where to get started, so we outline the two main steps for you.
Step 1: Choose a Domain Name
The first thing you’ll need to do is choose a domain name that will represent your business on the web. You’ll want it to be short, easy to remember, and related to your brand so people who visit will remember you and continue to visit your site in the future.
Here are some great tips to follow when it comes to choosing the right domain name:
- Make it easy to type so people won’t have trouble entering it in their browser.
- Keep it short and easy to remember.
- Use keywords related to your company for brand recognition and better SEO results.
- Avoid using numbers and hyphens as they are easy to confuse.
- Make it memorable so site visitors will think of you when they are searching for something specific.
- Research your domain name to make sure it isn’t trademarked or copyrighted.
In addition, you’ll want to choose the right domain name extension or top-level domain. This is the part of your domain name that comes right after the “dot” symbol.
There are many top-level domains to choose from such as .com, .net, .org, .gov, .edu, and .mil. If you want to get more specific and recognize a specific country in your domain name, you can choose something like “.au”, which represents Australia.
Step 2: Buy/Register Your Domain Name
Because domain names are unique, you’ll have to choose from the available domain names. For instance, you cannot use the domain name www.google.com, because it’s already taken. That’s why you should test your domain name options in any number of domain name search tools found on the internet.
For example, Instant Domain Search will let you enter a potential domain name into the search bar to see if it’s available. If it is, you’ll need to buy it and register it so no one else can claim it as their own.
Luckily, many web host such as Bluehost offers their customers free domain names so all you have to do when signing up for web hosting is enter the domain name of your choice and it’ll be registered as yours. So long as it’s available of course.
If your hosting company doesn’t offer domain names, or you prefer to register your domain name elsewhere, there are some affordable companies such as GoDaddy that will let you buy and register your domain through them, even if you don’t use their hosting services.
This is a popular option as some people don’t want to keep things like their email accounts and domain name registrations in the same place as their web host. That way, should they want to change web hosting companies, transferring the information is easier to do.
That said, most web hosts offer free site transfers and include the transfer of your registered domain name, so the hassle of making the move from one host to another is not that bad.
Additional Hosting Provider Services
In addition to providing general hosting services to their customers, many hosting providers offer additional services as well.
Let’s take a look:
- Professional web design for those times you just can’t create the type of site you want
- Marketing tools to help you grow your business such as PPC bonuses for AdWords or AdSense
- Email hosting so you can get a professional business email that matches your domain and host it with your provider
- Free site transfers and setups from other hosting providers
- Additional security services at a premium price to ensure your site’s data is secure
- Free site builders so anyone can build a site from scratch, regardless of skill level
- Domain name registration so starting fresh is easy and renewing your domain is even easier
And that’s just the beginning.
Getting Hosting Support
One of the most important things to consider before signing up for hosting services is the level of customer support that is given. After all, there will be times when you need help completing a task or when your site has problems, and you’ll need someone with hosting expertise to help you.
Especially if you are running a business website that has a lot of traffic, finalizes e-commerce transactions, and has lots of web content.
Just because you are tech-savvy doesn’t mean you should ignore the fact that the right web host will have host specific experience so any problem you encounter can be handled quickly and efficiently. Because chances are, even if you do understand the technical details behind web hosting, you probably don’t know everything.
And, just because a hosting company is reliable with its hosting, does not mean you’ll love their customer service.
There are plenty of things you’ll want to look for in your hosting company’s support team. To start, having 24/7 support is always helpful. After all, website issues don’t take time off for the holidays or weekends.
In addition, you’ll want to have multiple channels for accessing support. This includes live chat, phone, email, a dedicated ticketing system, and even a do-it-yourself knowledge base with articles and video tutorials.
The other main component to look for is response time. When you run a business site, time is money. That’s why knowing that your host support is going to respond to your issues, no matter how minor, as quickly as possible is important. For example, SiteGround is known not only for their 24/7/365 support, but their nearly instant response times via live chat and phone.
Web Host Shopping Checklist
Now that you have a comprehensive idea of what to look for in your web hosting provider, check out this helpful list of questions to ask so you can make sure everything on your list of priorities is handled by the hosting company you are considering using.
- What experience does your support team have when it comes to site hosting and WordPress (or other CMS)?
- What type of customer service can I expect when I have an issue and how to do I contact the support team? Do they have native speakers in my language?
- Are there any discounts for paying on a yearly basis as opposed to a monthly basis for hosting services?
- What are the setup fees and what setup steps are handled by you? For instance, do you perform site migrations, domain name registrations, and WordPress installations?
- How do you handle site security, both when everything is good and when there is a problem? In addition, do you have any uptime guarantees? What is your monthly uptime?
- How many customers share the server my site’s data will be placed on? Where are the datacenters located and do you offer CDN integration or other speed and performance features?
- How often will my site be backed up and how do I access those backups in the case I need them?
- Do you offer any money back guarantees?
- How many email addresses can be created with my hosting account to accommodate my business needs?
- What measures do you take to secure the servers storing my data and my website itself?
- What type of hosting plans do you offer and what are their feature sets and price points?
- Do you provide things like SSL certificates, subdomains, staging areas, website builders, or other marketing tools?
In the end, choosing the right web host is a big decision. And, without the right information, it can be tough to know which hosting company for your business is the best option.
After all, running a business site involves much more than the just the website and its web host. However, it’s important to build your business site on a solid foundation, which includes a reliable content management system and web hosting provider.
Go Further
Now that you’re armed with an overview of web hosting, make sure to check out other helpful information hubs on our site like our launch page for website builders, e-commerce platforms, and our blog.
More reading & other small business web hosting reviews:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_hosting_service
https://garage.godaddy.com/smallbusiness/launch/what-is-web-hosting
http://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/website/what-is-webhosting