You have developed your website on the local host, and you are planning to get it online. When you get to this point, you start looking for a web hosting solution. There are some basic things that people consider such as the bandwidth, price, and storage space. These are important things to consider. However, there are other crucial things to consider. Before settling on a web hosting solution, you should also consider the following things.

Evaluate your Needs

This is the most important factor to consider. Getting the best web hosting solution involves first knowing your needs. Some of the things to consider when looking for a web hosting solution is the kind of website you are developing, is it a common platform like Joomla or WordPress, which platform does it run on, is it software dependent, and the amount of traffic to expect. A small website with low traffic can be hosted in most free hosting companies. If building an e-commerce website that will handle payment, then a web hosting that has best security features is the preferred choice. A website with high traffic will require a hosting solution that delivers performance to handle high volume traffic. If the website is developed using a framework, first check if it can be hosted on the server. If looking for web hosting for Joomla, WordPress or any other known platform, look for a web hosting company that has customized services for them.

Server uptime and Reliability

Reliability and uptime are also important when it comes to choosing a web hosting company or plan. Some of the things that make a server reliable are stable network connections and server. When selecting a server, a score of 99% and above for server availability is the most preferred. Do not even consider having a look at a server that has an availability score of less than 99%. The first place to check for a web hosting reliability score is by going over the reviews done by various sites or forums online. There are a bunch of web host reviews online. However, using this approach may not give a true review as some are for promotion purposes. The sure way is to use server monitor tools. Whether looking for web hosting for Joomla, WordPress or any other platform, reliability and server uptime is important.

Available Options for Changing Server Options

When starting, the number of users may be small. However, as the business grows, users will keep on increasing. A shared hosting space will serve a website with about 40,000 users. For a start, a shared host may be enough. But before settling on the web host plan or company, first, enquire if it is possible to upgrade to a plan that will allow the website to grow. With a shared host, there is a limit to the number of database connections. Therefore, if your website and business will continue to grow, then go for a web hosting that will accommodate the growth. If there is a shared hosting plan, check if it is possible to upgrade to virtual private server (VPS) or a dedicated server. This will give more memory capacity, processing power, storage, and security features.

Number of Domain Names that can be Added

This depends on if you are planning to have several domain names. If that is the case, how many domain names are you planning to have? Normally, it’s hard to know the number of domains you will have in future. When also considering having multiple add-on domains, note that you will need more hosting space. So check the number of domains that can be added. Though most shared hosting plan allows, at least, twenty-five add-on domains, do not assume. Some shared hosting plans only allow one domain.

The Cost of Hosting

Before choosing a web hosting, check for the signup and renewal prices. Most web hosting solutions will charge a small signup cost and charge higher renewal costs. If you are planning to host your server for many years, then consider going for one that has high initial setup cost and lower renewal cost. This is cheaper in the long run. If you are hosting the website for a shorter period, you can opt for small signup cost and higher renewal costs. Normally, it is a win-win for both parties. Just be sure to go over the terms of service before committing.

Customer Service

It may be very stressful when there is a server downtime or some technical issue that is beyond your control. Such circumstances are easy to handle with a good customer service. They will help you fix the problem or advice on what to do. Therefore, check if there is a good customer service by the web hosting company before signing up for their services. Some of the things to check when evaluating the customer service is whether you are able to contact someone live at any time. Also, check how fast they respond to email. For technical support, check if they have blogs and forums for that. Test their response time and read reviews about their support.

Compare the Web Hosting Features

One of the features that you should compare among several web hosts is the storage space. The higher the storage space, the better. However, if the website does not require lots of storage space, then you should not put this as a high priority feature. Bandwidth is also an important feature to compare. With a larger number of users and lots of data transfer, the more bandwidth your web hosting plan needs to provide. Unlimited bandwidth should be the best option if your business is growing. Other features to check out for are the connection speeds and uptime.

Conclusion

When looking for a web hosting for Joomla, WordPress, PrestaShop, or any other platform, many companies are offering such services. However, there are things that you need to take into consideration before signing up. This will help you get the best web hosting solution for your website.