When reading an article about “the right choice” for any product or service, it is obvious that there is also a wrong choice or a choice that you will regret making. We are going to talk a little about choosing the right hosting service for your blog or website.
Why It Is Important To Choose The Right Web Hosting Service
There are several key factors for you to consider, but unlike other websites there will be no Top 5 list. The reason is that what is important to one blogger or website may be of no interest to you. So we invite you to read on about the most important considerations and choose the ones that fir your situation.
Price – We might as well get price out of the way at the top because for most people either they are budgeting their choice of hosting site or it is not a priority. Cheap web hosting does not mean the service is good or bad. Compare it to buying a new car.
The extras for a web hosting site when considering price:
A cheaper car just has fewer features that come with it, but it still gets you where you want to go. You may want automatic parallel parking, but cannot afford it. So you will have to do it yourself.
A cheaper car just has fewer features that come with it, but it still gets you where you want to go. You may want automatic parallel parking, but cannot afford it. So you will have to do it yourself.
- Unlimited bandwidth – Many cheap hosting sites will limit the bandwidth, which is how much data your visitors can use to access your site. Pictures and videos greatly increase your bandwidth use, but if it is basically text and some images you can probably go cheap. Also, if you do not expect 1,000 visitors a month bandwidth should not be an issue.
- Choice of operating system – The truth is, most people do not know or care about what the platform is as long as they are keeping things simple. Paying extra for a particular platform is usually unnecessary.
- Number of email boxes – Many of the more expensive hosting services will give you a mailbox for free. The question is, do you need a mailbox? For a blog maybe. For a website, most likely. So here is where you may need to move up to the next pricing level.
- Reliability – This is huge, especially if your goal is to make money from your blog or website. The last thing you want to happen is for visitors to come to your site and get a message from the hosting site that your site is unavailable. Users will not know what to think, leaving them to answer questions such as:
How about web site security ?
Has the website been hacked?
Is the website owner reliable?
Is my personal data secure?
Any of these questions is one question too many for a hosting service you are paying for. The service should have no less than a 98% reliability, meaning you can expect your site to be available 98% of the time.
Your reputation – This is an important point most of the articles on website hosting miss by a mile. When you spend your money for a 1 year contract (or whatever length) it is you who are responsible for what the website looks like. Issues of downtime and reliability have been discussed above, but if you are serious about your blog or website and plan to have it for the long term, the web hosting site you choose goes beyond important.
Do you want to be moving your site from one web hosting service to another every year or two?
If you use a web hosting service that allows you to use a package of website themes (and many do) will you be able to keep the same theme when moving your site elsewhere?
Do you want your website to be on a hosting service that has been publicly known to be hacked?
This reputation factor is critical if the purpose of your site is to make money. Customers will have their credit card transactions and number stored on your site, as well as other personal information.
If you do not have a solid reputation, and this goes beyond just the web hosting service, you stand to lose a considerable amount of business because people will simply become nervous.
Here is a summary of key issues to evaluate in choosing the best hosting service:
How much you pay will depend on what you can afford, want, and need for your website or blog
Unlimited bandwidth and a specific type of platform are things you likely do not need
Take the email mailbox if it is free or you find it essential
Settle for no less than 98% system reliability (no system is perfect)
Check to see if many major hacks or data breaches have occurred
Realize that while it is their web hosting service, it is your reputation that visitors will attach to the site