Web Hosting

Every website needs a reliable website host. A website host is what gives your website a place to live and makes it accessible to visitors.

There are many criteria to consider when choosing a web hosting service; some are obvious and measurable (e.g., cost and guaranteed uptime), while other criteria (e.g., customer support) is more subtle and subjective. There are many different options for website hosting, with a wide variety of price points and functionality. Knowing what you need, what types of website hosting are available, and what to ask a prospective web host will help you find a web hosting provider that is a good fit for your company.

The seven main considerations for choosing a website hosting option are Speed, Security (SSL), Scalability, Support, Resources, Price, and Hosting environment type.

Speed :
Users expect your website to load in few seconds. If it takes longer, they are very likely to leave. Having a web hosting provider with a fast server, enough memory and processing power to accommodate lightning fast page speed is crucial for every business.

Security :
Keeping your website secure should be of the utmost importance to your web hosting company. Website hosting servers should be equipped with powerful firewalls, SSLS and should be constantly monitored by the hosting company for unusual activity or unauthorized intrusions.

Scalability :
Beyond the sheer speed of performance, some businesses require a web hosting service that can scale performance in an instant when requested and scale back when demand wanes.

Support :
If you want your host to provide support, make sure they offer 24/7 monitoring and support and are readily accessible in case of an outage or other problem.

Resources :
It is utmost important to consider Bandwidth, RAM, Uptime, Storage Space, Database support and other resources while choosing the right hosting provider. As a result of higher visitor traffic your server resources take a hit and if you do not have the right resources your website will eventually go down.

Price :
Probably the most obvious and the least important detail to consider is cost. Most web hosting services will offer their basic services at a reasonable price.

Hosting environment type :
What kind of server you want your website on: A shared server or a virtual private server (VPS)?

Shared Hosting :

In a shared hosting environment, your website ‘lives’ with other websites on the same server. Here, the server’s resources such as RAM, disk space, processor are shared by the websites living on that server. Hosting your website on a shared server is the most affordable option. It’s a great choice if your website is just starting off, and you don’t have a lot of visitors. That’s because you don’t need a lot of disk space or bandwidth that high-traffic sites need.

Virtual Private Server Hosting :

In a virtual private hosting environment, your website ‘lives’ in the same server as other websites, but in an isolated environment. You get dedicated processing power, RAM and disk space that other websites on that server cannot use. This type of hosting costs more. But you get more power, which means your website can handle significantly more traffic and process more user requests. If you have a well established business and anticipate a lot of traffic, get VPS for hosting your website.

Choosing a web hosting service is a long-term commitment and should never be made without serious and comprehensive research.