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Regularly
- Free domain for 1 year
- Free CDN included
- Free SSL certificate
- 1-click WP install
- Free migrations
- 24/7 customer service
90% Off Regular Price
- Free Domain Name
- Free SSL ($11.95 value)
- Free CDN Included
- Managed WordPress
- Weekly Backups
- Free Email Account
45-day money-back
- Free domain for 1st year
- Free site transfers
- Unmetered bandwidth
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- One-click installs
- Free SSL certificate
Regularly
- Unmetered Traffic
- Free SSL
- Daily Backup
- Free CDN
- Free Email
- Managed WordPress
90-Day Guarantee
- Free Domain Name
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- Free SSL Certificate
- Automatic Backups Available
- Free Email Addresses
- Hack & Malware Protection
Regular
- Unlimited Web Space
- Unmetered Data Transfer
- Free SSL Certificate
- Free Domain for 1st Year
- Free Nightly Backup
- Unlimited E-mail Accounts
66% off regular price
- Free Account Migration
- cPanel Control Panel
- Unlimited Transfer
- Unlimited Email Accounts
- Free SSL Certificate
- Free Cloudflare CDN
65% Off (was
- Free Cloudflare CDN
- Powered by cPanel
- Daily and Weekly Backups
- Free 24/7 Priority Support
- One-click App Install
- Free SSL Certificate
97-Day Guarantee
- Unlimited Traffic
- Unlimited Storage
- WordPress Pre-Installed
- Free Domain included
- Free SSL Security
- Automated Backups
30-Day Guarantee
- 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
- Free & Effortless Migration
- Free SSL Certificates
- Free Domain Name
- Unlimited Emails
- Unlimited Bandwidth
How to Choose the Best Web Hosting Service
Choosing the best hosting company for your business is very important. If you are still unsure which provider to go with, here are 10 tips will help you make an informed decision.
1. Understand the types of web hosting and their average costs
The first step is to understand what you need. Most hosting companies offer small hosting packages and allow you to upgrade as needed. If your website is new and don’t have much traffic, a starter plan will suffice. As your traffic grows, you should be able to upgrade for more bandwidth and disk space. If you choose a provider that doesn’t offer a starter plan, then you will be paying for unused extra services.
Shared hosting
A shared hosting service uses one server to host multiple websites, which may range from just a few to hundreds of websites. All websites for a particular server share the same pool of computing resources such as processing power and memory. Shared hosting plans are best for those who just need a basic website, including individuals and some small to medium-size businesses. The goal of these plans is often to provide many of the functions necessary for website at the lowest cost. The cost of shared hosting plans typically starts at $3 to $10 per month.
VPS hosting
A Virtual Private Server (VPS) uses virtualization technology to allocate the resources of a server so that each website gets their own dedicated (private) resource. A VPS service may be managed or unmanaged, meaning the customer is responsible for maintaining the virtual server. The cost of an unmanaged VPS hosting service typically starts at $20 to $30 per month, with $60 per month being the typical minimum for a managed VPS plan.
Cloud hosting
Unlike other hosting models, cloud platforms host websites on multiple physical servers. The use of load-balanced servers makes cloud-hosted websites more reliable than other models because other servers can take over when one server goes down. Similar to a VPS, cloud hosting can be either managed or unmanaged. Cost can range from $30 to thousands of dollars depending on how much resources your website uses.
Dedicated hosting
Dedicated web hosting provides users with the entire resource of the server. This hosting plan may be self-managed or managed depending on the provider. Dedicated plans are the most secure and typically have the fastest load time because the physical server resources aren’t shared with anyone. These plans are ideal for large websites with lots of traffic. These plans can start as low as $100 to $200 per month, but often cost significantly more.
2. Look for companies with a good reputation
A provider’s reputation among its customers is an important quality to consider, since their opinions are based on direct experiences. Reading reviews from real customers is helpful and it’s especially true for providers with large customer bases.
3. Check for uptime guarantees
Uptime is the percentage of time that you can expect your website to be available. Servers generally require some amount of downtime during each year for scheduled maintenance, which many providers specify in their Service Level Agreement (SLA). The SLA will often provide compensation when system availability falls below a specified minimum. However, it’s important to understand the SLA’s wording to determine exactly how the hosting provider calculates downtime, which can vary greatly between providers. For example, the SLA often excludes scheduled downtime from its uptime requirement, meaning you need to subtract scheduled downtime from the uptime requirement when forecasting your website availability. While no hosting company can offer 100% uptime, the industry-standard is 99.5%. That may sound good, but it still represents three hours a month of downtime. The best web hosting providers offer at least a 99.7% - 99.9% uptime guarantee.
4. Ask about security and backups
Good security is essential for any website. Even a very small website might get targeted by hackers. Make sure that you choose a web hosting service that includes backups and find out how frequently the backups will be made. If your website gets hacked or your files get corrupted, you can easily restore it. A good hosting company will also provide a firewall, anti-malware monitoring, and an SSL certificate. SSL, or secure sockets layer, encrypts the data sent to and from your website.
5. Check where the hosting servers are located
Choosing a hosting company that can host your website close to you and your target audience is a good idea. Location is one factor that determines your website’s speed. A website that loads slowly provides a bad user experience and will cause Google to reduce your site ranking. Some companies have multiple data centers allowing you to choose where you want your website to be hosted from.
6. Check for bandwidth limits
If your website is new with little to no traffic, bandwidth won’t be too much of an issue. If you have a high traffic site, you will need to watch out for bandwidth limits. Some hosting companies limit the bandwidth that a website can use each month. If you exceed your bandwidth allocation, your site may be taken offline until you pay for more bandwidth. Others might automatically bill you for the extra bandwidth. If you don’t want an unexpected bill, look for providers that offer “unmetered” or “unlimited” bandwidth, meaning they won’t charge you for the extra traffic.
7. Check for disk space limits
Some hosting packages have limits on how much disk space you can use. Some also have limits on the number of files you can store. If your website is going to contain lots of pages, images, and videos, disk space will be an important consideration. It’s often a good strategy to start out with a smaller plan and then upgrade as your storage needs increase.
8. Make sure they offer 24/7 support
Check what level of support is available. The important things to look for are 24/7 support, the extent of the support, and the response times. A small business website is unlikely to need a lot of support. Significant problems with your website are generally rare with most hosting providers, but you’ll want them fixed quickly when they do occur. 24/7 technical support with online chat or email is the standard, with many providers also offering toll-free phone numbers.
9. Check the refund policy
The best web hosting companies usually offer a risk-free money back guarantee, during which you can get a refund should you be unhappy with their service. The guarantee period should be at least 30 days, but some services offer up to 97-days.
10. Check for additional free features
A lot of web hosting providers include additional free features as part of their hosting plan. Depending on your needs, these freebies might help you save a lot of money.
Free domain name registration
If you have already registered a domain name with another registrar, then you probably won’t need this. But if you are a new website a free domain can save you $12 - $20 a year.
Free email account
A personalized email like you@yourdomain.com provides better branding for your business. Customized email addresses cost anywhere from $1 - $6 a month.
Auto-installation or 1-click WordPress installation
If your website runs on WordPress, have a provider with an easy installation process will help if you are a non-techie.
Free SSL certificates
Having a secure website is one of the most important parts of security. While some hosting companies charge for SSL certificates, most will offer it for free.
Free migration or site transfer
If you are starting a new website, this won’t matter to you as much. But if you are transferring from another hosting company, make sure the new provider you choose offers free migration services. This will ensure your site will be transferred correctly and you won’t have any downtime.
Conclusion
When choosing a good web hosting service, it is usually best to go with an established, well-known company. Even then, you will still need to research and make sure they offer everything you need.