I am always prompted with questions like “How do you evaluate whether a web hosting company is reliable or not? How to find a good web hosting company? What factors do I need to consider while finding the web hosting? In this article, I’ll go through the top 10 factors that might help you assess whether or not a web hosting service is reliable for your business.
Web hosting really is the heart and soul of any online business!
Web hosting is a necessity for everyone, no matter the type of site that you are building. Some people need hosting to build a personal blog or funnel, while others may need it to design an e-commerce website. Regardless of your preference, web hosting can be a great investment for any site creator.
The question is, How to find the host that is actually worth the investment. There are a large number of hosting providers that advertise on the internet, but it’s hard to know which ones are going to be worth the investment.
So, let’s cut the chase & jump into it.
15 Hot-Points to find a good web hosting company
We get it: choosing a web hosting service can be challenging. So here, we’ll clear some of that up and give you 10 major points to consider when picking one!
Your website needs
There’s no denying that when you invest in something, the service’s value has to repay your investment. If you want to host a blog or website that doesn’t get a lot of traffic, for example, don’t buy VPS hosting because it will be a waste of money and time. Make sure you get web hosting that meets your requirements!
Hosting this kind of blog on VPS hosting would spend the majority of your time finding the way to work with the server and time is money, you wouldn’t want to waste your time on something that you don’t want to spend on. You could use the same time for something that can help you grow your business. Figure out your website needs
For example, I have seen people going with the $5/m VPS provider to save money. (In fact, they’re spending more money)
but do you believe that you would need such service at the starting point of your online presence?
I’d also agree that hosting on VPS hosting makes sense in some circumstances when your site gets a significant amount of traffic, but again, time is money. To begin with, VPS hosting normally requires a substantial amount of time and knowledge. For those that aren’t as technically inclined, this can be a very time-consuming task.
With that in mind, be sure to check your website’s needs and see what kind of services the hosting company offers. Don’t overpay or underpay for your web hosting. Buy it according to your business needs.
Cost of hosting (Cheap hosting is not equal to good hosting)
It can be tempting to go for a web host that offers an extremely cheap plan, but allow me to remind you that not all cheap services are good. To avoid wasting time and money on a host that will end up failing you, do your research and find out what other people are saying about the company
So, instead of being tempted by the price of web hosting, consider how reliable the service is and how quickly they respond to support requests.
However, I am not implying that every cheap web hosting provider is bad, but before you invest in their services, be sure to check out their reviews or contact them to set up a trial period.
Server reliability and uptime
One of the most important features to look for in a web hosting service is server reliability and uptime. If your web hosting server is not reliable and goes down frequently, it can cost you a lot of money because time is money and as well as hurt your organic search engine rankings on Google and other search engines.
The typical uptime of web hosting services is 99.9% and most hosts say it can vary somewhere between 99.99% to 99.95%. If your host offers less than this, you should switch to a better host because 1% downtime = 7 hours of downtime each month. I’m sure, 7 hours of downtime a month is not affordable to any business. 1% downtime is equal to 7 hours downtime a month
You ask, how to monitor the server uptime: there are several free tools available in the market to monitor the server uptime such as uptime robot, Pingdom, hetrixtools.
It is also important to check if your web host notifies you in advance of planned downtimes or simply leaves you in the dark. A good web host will always inform its customers about scheduled downtime, but please be aware that in rare situations, the host may perform unscheduled maintenance.
Website Speed
We at Paidboom take this very seriously to help our users to have the BEST speed for their websites because knowing why your visitors are leaving your site is essential in ensuring you maximize your conversion rates. It’s no secret that speed matters when it comes to web performance, but did you know that 37% of visitors will bounce back if the website takes 5 seconds or more to load? The hosting service you use is also critical in determining site speed.
If your web hosting is fast, there’s a better chance that your site will load quickly for visitors. It’s also worth noting how themes and plugins can bog down your site speed. You can expect good speed if you create a website with a lightweight theme. If not, it’s possible that your hosting provider is at fault.
Here are some speed-related features that you should seek in a web hosting provider:
- Should have SSD or NVme storage.
- Should be having latest up to date software stack on server.
- A free CDN would be a great addon, this can help to speed up the site at different locations.
- The server should be optimized for WordPress websites.
but if you are looking to host a website that has already been built and has gotten steady traffic, these following points will help you make the right decision.
- Better server reliability because you don’t want to lose your existing traffic.
- A host that can be prompt to your support questions.
- Should come with an ample amount of security features (Outlining more on security in the next steps in more detail)
Server Performance
High-performance hosting can be a key factor in a business’s success. The speed and quality of your website are determined by the server’s performance. And it’s not just about the server hardware, but how it’s set up and monitored too because it will help avoid lags, crashes, slow load times and other glitches. Choose a provider with better servers capable of providing sufficient resources without crashing.
A good performing web hosting service can also guarantee a good website speed. This can be determined by also checking TTFB. TTFB (Time to first byte) is the process of connecting to your server and downloading the content of a specific webpage. (browser saying Hi to the server, hehe)
If your TTFB is high, the user will have to wait for a long time for your webpage to load, which will harm your website’s ranking and user experience. Google suggests that TTFB be less than 300ms. Anything beyond this is harmful.
Server and website security
Every day, over 30,000 websites are hacked, making it critical to protect your website from cybercrime. not to mention how horrible your website’s reputation might be if it’s compromised with malware.
Yes, you may indeed utilise security software and solutions to protect your website. Regardless of the technology you use, whether it’s a security plugin or a managed security solution. However, the security of your website is mostly largely decided by the web hosting you use.
A Good web host take care hard-part of the web hosting for you while you focus on your business. Period
– Amit Mishra director at Paidboom hosting.
How?
A Good host will block suspicious traffic to your website. A bad host won’t do this leading to more hacking attempts on your site.
A good host blocks potential attackers by using multi-layer firewalls at the server level. a bad host would allow attackers to exploit your website vulnerabilities.
This list could go on and on. Imagine cutting down your website security tools cost & letting the GOOD host take of this part for you?
Here are some server and website security features that you should see while choosing a web host:
● Software updates – Updating the software is critical protection against exploits and attackers. If your web hosting company isn’t updating the software it uses for the server stack, then you’re already asking attackers to take full control of your site.
● DDoS protection and malware scanning – DDoS protection and malware scanning features are the most important features that protect your server and website from cyber attacks. So, always see them in the web host you are investing in.
These are the two major points to consider but this list can go on when it comes to server security.
Hosting customer support
One of the most valuable assets of a web hosting company is responsive customer support, which helps them secure more customers for their business. Web hosting support is the team in charge of resolving all issues with your server, email, and website service. These people will assist you if your business incurs a setback. A good web hosting customer support is Important.
Web hosting support can help with issues such as malware attacks and site downtime, but it can also help with more technical tasks such as site migration and database tweaks. Every business requires a web host with good support, and without one, one way or other, you will end up spending more time troubleshooting errors.
You may ask, How to determine good support with hosting?
I’m sure that most web hosting companies have a way for you to contact them. One such method is Livechat, where you can ask a few pricing and feature-related questions. This is where you can find out how swift they are to respond to your questions and how helpful their responses are.
Ease of upgrading the hosting plan
As your website grows in popularity, it may become difficult to rely on your current hosting package. You may need to upgrade to a web hosting package with more storage or bandwidth. or even more CPU and RAM capacity. You should definitely look into how web hosting companies approach the ease of upgrading your web hosting plan without interrupting the website data that you’d be hosting with them.
You can either contact hosting customer service or send an email inquiring about the process of upgrading your hosting plan. It would be easier to switch from one hosting plan to another if your hosting provider helped you or even provided the most painless upgrade process like Paidboom hosting does. And if they don’t, you’ll have a difficult time researching and carrying out the entire process on your own.
Regular website backups
Due to the increasing dangers of cyberattacks and other events that can endanger a website, website backup is an important practice. A website backup is a process of creating a duplicate of a website’s files and databases. It can happen on-site or off-site. The main goal is to keep the website up and running while also having the ability to revert if something goes wrong or if it is hacked.
It is complicated and expensive to lose data online, so website backup is essential. Backing up a website ensures that it will not be lost in the event of hardware failure, human error, or natural disasters. The majority of web hosting services provide some form of automated backup functionality for websites hosted on their server.
So, make sure to check with your hosting provider about backups. Some hosting providers offer weekly backups to ensure that your website data is always safe. And I would recommend that you use these web hosts.
Website Migration
A website migration is a process of transferring an entire website to a new domain or server. It is also known as a site transfer. There are two types of website migrations:
- Internal
- and external migrations.
Internal migrations involve moving a website from one location on the same domain to another location on the same domain and external migration involves moving a site from one domain to another domain name.
In case, If you are already hosting your website with another provider, it is critical that you understand website migration as a vital element of moving your site to another web hosting provider. In fact, we at Paidboom offer free website migration services because we understand the importance of transferring the website, and I recommend that you find a host that offers free website migration when looking for web hosting.
Some web hosting providers offer free website migrations, while others limit the number of websites you can migrate or charge you to have your site migrated to them (for real). So, before you invest in any web host, make sure they offer free migrations.
Refund policy & Trial account.
A good web hosting company should have a clear refund policy in place to ensure that their customers get exactly what they pay for. Not all web hosting companies provide refunds, so it is critical to look for those that do. Another thing that can help you leave your current web host if you don’t like their services is a refund policy.
So, It is recommended to properly inquire about a web hosting company’s refund policy by reading its terms and conditions or contacting their customer support. If there’s something fishy about their refund policy, rather avoid going with them.
If the hosting provider offers a trial period before committing to an annual subscription, that is a plus for your site’s needs because you can test them before committing to an annual subscription.
Hosting renewal.
Most web hosting companies charge a higher renewal fee for their web hosting plans than they do for the initial signup. To protect yourself from this, talk with your hosting provider about renewal costs.
Also, choose the web hosting provider that offers no more than a 50% increase in renewal pricing. For example, if normal hosting pricing is $5/month, renewal pricing should be less than $7-8/month if you don’t want to move your website from one hosting provider to another on a regular basis.
One-click app or WordPress installer.
A one-click app is an application that allows you to install popular CMS on your domain name with a few clicks. This is something to consider because it eliminates the need to spend additional time installing apps that you would like to have. Take, for example, WordPress.
Free Email Accounts.
In order to communicate with its customers, every business must have a professional business email address. Having to have a third-party email along with your web hosting plan will be a little pricey at first. This may change if you already have traffic and are making money from it.
This is the one thing you can look after if your web hosting can offer free email accounts along with the web hosting packages.
Free SSL Certificate.
SSL certificates are required for any website that handles user data, works with sensitive information, or collects financial information. A certificate establishes a secure connection between the server and the web browser.
This ensures that all data transferred between the two is encrypted, preventing unauthorised third parties from accessing it. and also SSL is a ranking factor as well as an additional layer of security for your website. A good web hosting provider provides SSL for free, so you will not have to pay extra for it, whereas some providers charge you to have the SSL installed on your domain name.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the best way to determine whether a web hosting company is reputable or not is to look at hosting providers that provide all of the 15 hot points mentioned above. If the provider provides all of these, you can be confident that you are dealing with good company. This is how you can find a good web hosting company that is reliable or not. I hope this answer your question and if you’ve any questions in mind, don’t hesitate to ask in the comment section.
also, let me know what do you think about the (14) & (15) points that I mentioned.