Best Web Hosting Services: Factors to Consider When Choosing WebHosting

Choose the best web hosting service today… and success will follow you. 

You already know that you really need a website or a blog to make money online.

This article will tell you why and recommend you the best web hosting services.

Do you want to make money online? Do you want your brand to be discoverable?

 

First of all, I am sure you want to create an online brand and maybe make money.

You have thought about starting your website. You have selected a nice domain name.

You now want to know the best hosting company so that your website or blog stays up all the time.

As a website designer or business owner, choosing the right web hosting service may be a headache since there are too many hosts to choose from.

Your main question is “What are the factors to consider when choosing the best website hosting service”?

 

Pro Tip: Choosing the best web hosting service is the wisest thing you will ever do since it affects the Search Engine Optimization Process, the website speed and uptime.

 

Definitive Guide to Selecting The best web hosting Service for beginners

The newbie’s biggest dilemma when starting a new website is finding the best web hosting company that will keep their website running at the most optimal and affordable price.

Our readers ask us daily on how to choose the best web hosting company since they are bombarded with too many options.

There are too many websites which compare and contrast the best web hosting services and yet it is not easy to pick the leading website hosting service.

Although some companies perform better than others in terms of offering quality web hosting services, fastest load times, cheapest web hosting services and largest disk spaces, there is no perfect web hosting service under the sun.

The best web hosting services are the ones which meet your expectations fully by coming closest to the ideal scenarios. Otherwise, the efficiency of any system can never be 100%.

Having said that, it is important to consider the most relevant features of web hosting services which concern your current or future hosting requirements

For example, if you need a web host that gives optimal services, look for one which combines high-quality hosting packages, acceptable prices, enough storage resources, optimal site performance and excellent customer care.

Don’t spend a whole year trying to figure out the best web hosting company in the world!

Learn and host your website now, profits wait for no man!

Here are some of the cheapest web hosting services for you.

 

WordPress Hosting Services

I have nice experience dealing with WordPress websites.

No doubt, I am going to point you in the right direction depending on your budget.

In fact, I shall direct you to the best website hosting services based on your budget and the number of visitors to your website.

What is the essence of going for very expensive dedicated servers when your website only receives 10 visitors or at most 1000 visitors per month? It beats the entrepreneurial spirit behind your online ventures.

As a rule of economic thumb, Shared Hosting is the Best Hosting Solution to start with as opposed to Virtual Private Servers (VPS) or Dedicated Servers for new WordPress blogs and websites with traffic less than 20,000 visitors per day.

 

Shared Web Hosting package

The shared hosting package is the most common and cheapest web hosting service.

Your website or blog shares the same server with other websites, making it cheaper.

Call websites hosted on the same shared server have the same IP.

In case one website takes more resources, which rarely happens, websites sharing the same resource will be affected. For example, the speeds may reduce.

This hosting package is the most ideal for starters or newbie bloggers.

 

Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting

VPS is based on virtualization.

This hosting is more expensive than shared hosting.

Your website gets dedicated resources limited to a certain extent; you do not share your IP with another website.

Virtual private servers are best when your website requires dedicated resources always.

VPS servers share resources with other websites but your website will not be affected in case any of the other websites get faulty or in case they take more resources than necessary.

VPS hosting services come in managed and unmanaged packages.

In unmanaged VPS hosting, you will be issued with root access of the server but you will be required to do the entire configuration including script installation, updating etc.

An example of an unmanaged VPS is Linode.

In Managed VPS hosting, you have the root access and the freedom to do anything with it.

Additionally, the hosting team will support you in installing stuff around.

For instance, if you need help in installing a product add-on, an SSL certificate, the managed VPS team can assist you without you dirtying your hands with codes.

Managed VPS is more expensive than unmanaged VPS.

 

Dedicated Server Hosting

This type of hosting is for websites and apps which require lots of resources and utmost speeds without sharing with any other service.

They are the most expensive

Like VPS servers, they also come with managed and unmanaged dedicated server plans.

 

Web hosting services I have Used

Over my blogging life, I have used Dreamhost, Bluehost, Hostgator, Godaddy, Fatcow, In Motion, Arvixe, GreenGeeks, iPage and eHost to test my websites. I have also used other web hosting services for my clients’ websites.

Some of these web hosting services deliver what they promise. For example, the best shared hosting companies in my view are Bluehost and Hostgator.

The motivation behind my book is to let you avoid bad hosting services like Godaddy and Fatcow hosting services which may pull your online business empire down.

In as much as you can buy domains from these companies, please avoid hosting your website with them.  You have been warned.

 

Factors to Consider When Buying Web Hosting Services

Preamble

When launching a new website, it is important to get all things right.

It is important to choose the best domain name and of course get the best hosting.

Reliable web hosting will help you prevent future downtimes and increase your conversion rates.

Best web hosting also implies fast website load speeds which leads to higher Google rankings and best conversion.

Therefore, choosing the best web hosting is an important factor when launching an online business.

I know you don’t want to leave any room for errors.

Now let’s discuss some of the important areas of consideration when selecting a web host.

 

1. Your Goal

First of all, you must know what you want to host.

Are you hosting a simple blog or personal website or a big e-commerce website?

It would be ridiculous to host a simple not-for-profit company blog on a dedicated server just as it would be crazy to host a large e-commerce website on a shared hosting.

These questions will help you know the kind of web hosting you may need:

What is your budget for web hosting

Are you able to sustain cheap or expensive web hosting?

Do you want cheap hosting?

Do you expect to expand in the future?

How much traffic are you anticipating?

Do you want to start small and expand as traffic increases?

Your answers will determine your choices in the following sections.

 

2. The Main Factors to consider

The main factors to consider when selecting a web host include the following:

• Disk Space
• CPU usage
• Data Transfer Allowance/Rate
• RAM

The amount of resources allocated determines the web hosting package and the type of web hosting account.

You need to compare the features offered by alternative web hosting companies in order to make an informed decision after knowing which provider offers the most competitive and reasonable services.

 Disk space is an informal term for the amount of computer data storage available on one or more storage devices, file systems, disk partitions, volumes, or logical disks.

You should choose a hosting company which provides you with adequate disk space for your needs. Other than disk space, you need bandwidth.

Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred from the servers at one time.

Data transfer refers to the actual amount of data transferred at one time.

RAM is the amount of memory allocated to your purchased web hosting plan.

If you are starting a business, your main aim would be attracting as many visitors to your website as possible.

The higher the amounts of traffic you have, the higher the storage disk space and bandwidth needed.

Keeping the nature of your business in mind, it is advisable to buy web hosting which has adequate disk space and bandwidth for your needs.

 

3. Price of Web Hosting Services

Price is the main appetizer which leads many website owners into poor decision making. Price is an important and a sharp factor which cuts through your pockets and bank accounts.

The price for web hosting should be something you are able to sustain.

It is ugly to go for a dedicated web hosting package only to be unable to pay the monthly hosting charges.

If you are not sure of your financial capability, always choose the lowest price and go for the optimal solution which you can sustain.

When you have enough money, you can always upgrade to the hosting package of your choice.

Have you ever visited a website only to be told: “If you are the owner of this website, please pay your hosting bill to continue”?

Such embarrassments leave a bad taste in the mouths of your web visitors and can only be avoided by choosing a web hosting package that you are able to buy.

With the available one-click upgrade system in most web hosting services, you can choose the cheapest hosting package in your preferred web hosting company and scale up (upgrade) at the right time.

Once you have a hosting company in mind, the best hosting package to consider is shared hosting. Later on, you may decide to move to managed VPS or dedicated hosting if you so wish.

Heavily advertised low prices may mislead you into long-term commitments of higher prices after one month, three months or even after one year!

For instance, some web hosts may promise to host your website for a penny in the first month or the first year. Do you think that they are fools?  Hell no! They understand that once they get you hooked, it will be difficult for you to change your web hosting service. They will then get time to manipulate the prices as they wish and you may have nothing against them since you are already hooked.

As a rule of thumb, you must pay for longer hosting durations if the discount codes or coupons are to make sense to you.

Many web hosts give special coupons or sales deals for various hosting packages.  Be sure to do diligent research and take advantage of the discounts.

Other web hosts use the tactic of free advertising credit to attract customers. Make sure that the freebies are not the governing factors in decision making. Even though the freebies are useful in saving costs, they should not mislead you into purchasing hosting packages which can frustrate you later on.

You should choose web hosts which provide quality services regardless of the freebies promised.

 

4. Website Requirement

Make sure that the web host you choose supports all the needs of your website.

It is not nice to host a website only to discover that certain important requirements are not supported by your web hosting company.

This is short and clear.

If in doubt, please consult the customer support before buying web hosting.

This brings us to another important factor, customer support.

 

5. Customer Support of Your Web Hosting Service

You will discover that customer support is very crucial once a snag hits your website.

It does not matter how technically savvy you are.

At one point or the other, you will need assistance over technical hitches or some aspects of your website which would require the attention of customer care representatives.

Make sure that you choose a web hosting company which has 24/7 customer care availability.

Hosting companies like Hostgator provide excellent customer support services in various ways.

As a rule of thumb, ensure that your web hosting provider can be accessed through live chat, telephone, email or social media platforms.

Check whether the hosting company of your choice provides instant customer care services.

Furthermore, you should read reviews about the web hosting company to make sure that customers are talking well of their support services.

Be in the habit of looking for genuine reviews, one review can save you lots of headache and heartache.

 

6. Web hosting Control Panel or Dashboard

In modern web hosting world, many hosting companies offer standard dashboards for managing your hosting accounts.

For instance, many web hosting companies offer cPanel, Plesk and WHM depending on the hosting package.

For shared hosting, cPanel is the most common while Plesk is most commonly used in managed VPS hosting.

Many resellers hosting accounts use WHM as it incorporates additional reseller tools.

Depending on what you are comfortable with, find out what your hosting company offers you and take note whether they want you to pay extra for such free services.

The above factors are important when buying web hosting. Be careful and take care as the choice of your web hosting contributes to the success of your online ventures.

 

7. Server Location of Your Web Hosting Service

N/B: The server location of your web hosting company is very important because it determines speed and latency. Server locations can positively or negatively affect the load times of your website.

Make sure that the server of your web hosting company is located as close as possible to your high traffic sources to increase load speeds of your website.

To enhance user experience on your website, you should also configure Content Delivery Networks (CDN) on your WordPress blog.

 

Other Factors to consider when selecting the Best Web hosting services

 

8. Reputation

Nowadays, many webhosting companies try to emulate each other in the type of services offered.

They try to come up with tables with similar pricing structure, packages, freebies and almost identical pricing schemes.

The only way to distinguish between them is to do a deeper investigation through search engines to learn what customers say.

Don’t read the reviews on the hosting companies. No web hosting company will post poor reviews on their website. I bet you also would not do that.

Webhosting is a competitive market with a very thin line determining success and failure.

We all know that it is impossible for any web hosting service to manipulate its reputation although it invests huge amounts of money on advertising and promotions. Reputation is earned from the way the web hosting company performs, its customer support services, attention to detail and prices.

The best way of knowing a company’s reputation is by digging deeper into individual customer reviews as posted on other non-partisan websites, blogs or forums. Consumer’s opinions and impartial reviews will give you deepest insights about any hosting company.

 

9. Popular versus Dedicated Services

Should you choose a web hosting company which provides all types of hosting solutions or should you consider one which gives a special type of hosting service you are interested in?

If you think that you may consider upgrading your hosting services, you got to select a web hosting service which provides a full spectrum of services; otherwise, you can go for specialized web hosting.

The standard web hosting solutions provided by many hosting providers include:

• Shared Hosting
• Reseller Hosting
• VPS Hosting
• Dedicated Servers

Specialized web hosting services provide higher echelon of hosting services like VPS or dedicated servers. Such services are more advanced, flexible and of specific natures. They are most suitable for high-end solutions.

 

10. Hosting Options

Cloud hosting is another type of web hosting which involves spreading resources across a network of many servers.

The main advantage of this type of hosting is 100% availability.

If one server crashes, this kind of web hosting service will not bring down your website theoretically speaking.

Apart from 100% server uptime, cloud hosting also offers the best payment flexibility and resource scalability.

Cloud hosting has no resource restrictions. Once you set up the initial cloud hosting, your website gets live. In case you exceed the allowed or allocated resources, your web hosting service provider will simply charge you for the extra resources without affecting site performance.

Cloud hosting is more expensive than the standard web hosting plans by about 5% to 15 %.

 

11. The Linux/Apache vs Windows/IIS Dilemma

Which is the best server/platform configuration for my website?

The lines of separation between server/platform configuration routes are not as distinct as they were earlier on.

With advancement in technology, it is now possible to use Windows/Linux configuration and to use Apache in conjunction with Windows-based systems.

Both systems handle PHP but only Windows/IIS allows the use of ASP.NET.

The best way of selecting this is by checking the individual web hosting services or by reading in reliable forums.

 

12. Webhosting Honesty or Empty Talk?

Many web hosting service providers provide a list of many services and prices for each service in a long table with ticks for basic and premium features.

Do the figures actually represent the real information?

Do they report all features of their web hosting packages?

Are they actual figures of just baits to let you purchase a web hosting package after which you are left on your own?

Do the figures tell you anything useful or it is a bunch of jargon meant to confuse you (if you are a newbie, as I once was)?

Many web hosts disclose all information about their web hosting packages. It does not mean that all web hosting services are similar. You must be on the lookout for vague and rogue web hosts which are out to swindle customers of their hard-earned cash.

One thing you need to know: Confident web hosting services do not need to use fancy words and persuasive marketing techniques to get customers. They plainly list their features and leave you to decide. Such companies tell you that “what you see is what you get”.

 

13. The Unlimited/Unmetered Illusion

Many web hosting services disillusion customers by promising “unlimited everything, unmetered services for various services like email accounts, bandwidths, disk space, databases and such like.

You must stay clever and realize that it is impossible to have unlimited everything in the real world because of the following reasons:

Firstly, all unlimited resources are limited at some point due to system restrictions.

Secondly, even though a resource may seem unlimited, other resources will force it to be limited since all system functionalities of servers are interconnected. It I impossible to have unlimited resource since users must reach a limiting point by resource or by space. For example, you may have unlimited bandwidth but restricted CPU allowance, making the whole theory of unlimited resources a lie.

Lastly, the fact that almost all web hosting service providers promise unlimited resources tactic is just a marketing tactic, nothing more. All resources that seem unlimited will be throttled by the limited resources and all resources will be forced to be limited in the long run.

 

14 eCommerce Web Hosting Services Consideration

eCommerce web hosting needs other considerations which are different from the normal web hosting services. Large businesses, for example, may need dedicated IP servers and lots of disk space. Most e-commerce websites require:

• Control Panel
• Dedicated IP Address
• E-Commerce marketing Solutions
• Many FTP Accounts
• Private SSL Certificates

Small e-commerce website owners may be tempted to think that they do not need all features at once. However, as the business grows, it may be necessary to expand. Choosing the best web host beforehand enables you to grow with the business and expand the resources as the business expands.

eCommerce business owners need to know:

The ease with which to upgrade from one web hosting package to another in case the business grows

Availability of e-commerce add-ons.

The costs associated with adding various add-ons in case the business needs to expand

Final Remarks on factors to consider when choosing web hosting services

If you read through all the content in the preceding pages, you now have a greater understanding of what to look for and what to ignore when selecting the best web hosting provider.

Your initial plan should be to identify the goals of your website and the number of resources your website is likely to use.

After planning on the resources, you should look for the best web hosting service which gives you optimal performance through a combination of all the factors presented in this book.

You are now ready to make an informed decision and pick the best web hosting service which will make your online experience successful.

Happy web hosting and see you in the next post.

Let’s talk. I like interacting with you.

What factors did I forget?

What is your experience in web hosting?

What is your best web hosting service?