As you build your business online, you’ll need a website that not only attracts visitors and satisfies client demands, but also grows with you and changes to fit a changing landscape.
This may seem like a lot to ask if you have a small team. How can you ensure that your website will be able to respond to new problems even if you already know how to construct websites? In situations like this, picking the best web hosting platform is quite important.
What Exactly Is a Web Hosting Platform?
Web hosting platforms store data that allows websites to work, removing the need for site owners to handle it all themselves.
To put it simply, third-party hosts run servers that are used to store website data, such as code, text, videos, and picture assets. The server sends that material to the browser when users attempt to visit the website.
Sites that are self-hosted operate similarly. The primary distinction is that they are kept on servers that the site owner owns and manages.
Third Party vs. Self-Hosting
Both self-hosting and using third parties as hosts have benefits and drawbacks, mostly depending on your technological skills and available resources.
When you host your own website, you have more direct access to the server and framework. Additionally, you won’t have to worry if your server will support a new feature you require for your website.
Self-hosting, however, also takes a lot more time and resources to complete. Some potential drawbacks:
- You are responsible for all hardware and software upgrades and maintenance.
- Costs may rise as a result of the high power consumption it may need.
- Your website may operate more slowly than it would with a professional host depending on your resources.
Things to Consider When Choosing a Hosting Platform
Choosing a hosting platform is not as difficult as many people imagine, but it is very important to choose the right platform. Hosting platform might not directly visible to users, but it tremendously affects user experience and SEO ranking. Choosing the wrong hosting service might result in slower loading time which will make user bounce and SEO ranking go down. So, we already talked to our in-house Melbourne SEO service experts and come up with things you should consider when choosing a hosting service.
Type of hosting offered
The majority of hosting companies give a variety of services. Shared hosting might be a cheap choice for a new website with moderate traffic. However, you should consider choices like VPS (virtual private server) and cloud hosting if you want more bandwidth or more processing capacity to execute the software on your website (opens in new tab).
Additionally, you should think about if they provide managed hosting or unmanaged hosting (opens in new tab). With managed hosting, your hosting company will take care of all the technical aspects for you, so you won’t have to worry about things like security or software upgrades. This can be a particularly wise choice for novice webmasters.
Even more crucially, choose a hosting company that enables easy switching between its service tiers. If, for instance, your website has a surge in traffic as a result of a viral marketing campaign, having the opportunity to change your hosting package without experiencing downtime is essential.
Support
One of the most important things your hosting service can offer is responsive support. You need to be able to contact someone who can assist you as soon as possible if your website goes down or you come under malicious assault. Your website’s downtime may cost you visitors and sales every minute.
In light of this, make important to enquire about the assistance alternatives a potential host provides. While some simply provide one or two contact options, the majority offer round-the-clock phone, live chat, and email assistance. Call the support line to determine if the customer service staff is educated and helpful before you join up.
Features
When it comes to the services they include with their plans, hosting companies vary greatly. Look at how your data will be kept to begin comparing features. Hard disc drives are often used by low-cost suppliers; they are inexpensive yet prone to mechanical failure. Solid state discs are significantly more dependable and can speed up your website since they enable quicker data transfer processes, which is why an increasing number of hosts are making the transition.
Check to see whether automated backups are part of your hosting package as well. Having backups of all your static pages and content is crucial for swiftly restoring your website following a server crash or breach.
It’s also wise to take your host’s software into account. While many providers offer the cPanel hosting panel software for managing your website, others also offer proprietary control panels with varying capability. Additionally, keep an eye out for one-click installers to assist you in launching your website more rapidly.
Server locations
Visitors will load your pages more quickly the closer your host’s servers are to your audience. Therefore, it’s important to find out where your host’s data centres are and whether you’ll have a choice of server locations.
You may also have the choice, with certain hosts, to host your website in a data centre that practises sustainable practises. Consider a server that allows you access to a CDN (content delivery network), like Cloudflare, if you have a worldwide audience. A CDN caches a duplicate of your website on servers all around the world so that users may access it quickly from wherever.
Security
Due to the rise in cyberattacks, website security is more crucial than ever. Both your computer and the computers of your visitors might be harmed if your website is compromised by hostile individuals. Even worse, you may be held responsible for harm caused by your website, even if a security breach was the cause.
It’s also important to keep in mind that if your website shares an IP address with spammy or hacked websites, Google and other search engines may penalise it. Therefore, even if a breach doesn’t directly harm your website, picking a host that doesn’t prioritise security might hurt your website’s traffic.
Therefore, it’s crucial to thoroughly examine the security measures that various web servers provide. Some providers offer 24/7 performance and threat monitoring in heavily guarded data centres to safeguard your website. Others are far more lenient and let you control the rights on your website.
Price and general feedback online
It goes without saying that you’ll want to compare pricing once you’ve narrowed down your selection of possible hosts. Price may have a bigger or less role in your selection than other factors depending on your budget.
Examining internet reviews from webmasters who have utilised these hosts at this time is also an excellent idea. You can determine if a hosting service is as excellent as it appears on paper by reading about other people’s experiences with it.