What a Good Web Host Service Should Offer You
Your website host is at the frontline of ensuring that your website doesn’t flop. From quick loading speeds to securing your data. You might not know it but a website host is more than just that. Often when service users are paying for a subscription, they don’t know about all the services they can utilize all under one roof of their web host so let’s take a look.
Want to know who is a good web host provider in your location? The good guys at Mango Matter can help you find a web host that will support your website and much more.
The Basics of Good Web Host:
These are the features that a good web host should provide at a minimum.
Speed & Uptime
The first requirement you need from your hosting provider is speed and uptime. When someone lands on your website the time it takes for your website to load will determine whether a website visitor stays or abandons your site completely. Next to this is uptime, which keeps up the performance of the site, again, ensuring that customers can easily navigate your website without interruption.
Backups
Losing all of your data is annoyingly unavoidable but you shouldn’t need to sweat. Any hosting provider worth their salt will include data backups as standard keeping your data secure should the inevitable arise.
Customer Support
A good web host will provide customer support that is available and accessible. Most hosting companies offer 24/7 customer support across multiple channels: email, phone, live chat. Hosting companies like HostGator that are known for the difficulty in contacting their customer service department gets a back rep because should an issue arise with your hosting, you want to be sure that they can get back online as quickly as possible.
Security of Good Web Host
Website security is not only important in keeping your information safe but the information of the people visiting your website, ensuring they are safe from scammers. This is known as an SSL certificate which authenticates a website and enables an encrypted connection. A good web host now offers SSL free with your chosen package, these certificates can be quite pricey in terms of upfront cost but are completely vital for verifying the safety of your website.
Buying services through the same provider can be easy for management and that includes email. Providers that also offer email subscriptions usually offer this as an add-on. Depending on the provider you might be able to secure a promotion such as Siteground free email package when you subscribe to a shared hosting plan.
Domain Registration
Domain registration is now something that should be offered as standard with a good web host subscription. This registration protects your domain and ensures that no one else can purchase it.
User Friendly
Can’t make sense of your hosting provider’s dashboard? While it may not seem important but whether your provider’s site is easy to navigate or not will determine how much time you spend setting up your hosting, making adjustments, and updates, particularly, if you’re not the most tech-savvy person. If your provider’s dashboard is comfortable to use and seamless to navigate this will save you time and frustration when trying to complete even the simplest tasks.
Good Web Host Extras
Want a little more for your money? Web hosts can provide more than just the above, here are some of the extra features a good web host might be able to offer you.
Website Builder
In the last couple of years, hosting providers started to launch website building services via their platform. These websites are quite primitive but similar to professional drag and drop builder. They have ready-to-go templates that are customizable and at the fraction of the cost of hiring a website designer, are a viable alternative for businesses with a low budget.
Good Web Host and Free Domain
Depending on the website host you choose, you might be given the option to receive a year’s free domain when you subscribe to a certain package. Registering your domain for a year whereafter, you will pay the host’s typical cost for the domain or given the choice to cancel your domain and purchase it elsewhere.
MS Office
A good web host offers MS Office as an add-on feature, usually with a promotional offer for teams. This can be financially beneficial for companies that require MS Office software as well as beneficial in terms of management, having their Office products and email in the same place.
Key Things to Keep in Mind
Choosing a hosting provider is not always an easy task, especially if you don’t know what you need or what you should spend on a hosting plan. If looking for the right hosting provider is giving you a headache, here are some ways to filter your search.
Price
Website hosting can vary greatly in cost. Some providers offer to host for as little $1 and while this may be tempting, usually you get what you pay for. Usually, a provider will offer a variety of hosting subscription packages, the cheapest offering the most basic features. A good rule of thumb is to compare hosting plans against what you need and expect to get from your hosting provider. Spending more money on hosting will give you better service, better protection, and more from your provider.
Good Web Host Features
Hosting is not a one size fits all solution. Smaller businesses might not require as much bandwidth and storage space compared to a large business or even an eCommerce. You also might want to opt for priority support which will cost more. It’s a good idea to take a look at what each provider offers and decide what you need and what you don’t need. This will enable you to gauge what sort of hosting plan you are looking for.
Reviews
One of the best ways to whittle down your options is to go by the experience of other customers. When looking at reviews, don’t just look at the reviews on the provider’s site, go further afield and look at websites like Hosting Facts, where the reviews are more balanced.
Looking for a good web host can be tough, especially when you don’t know what to look out for, but take into consideration the features we’ve mentioned above and you’ll know exactly how to define the right host for you.
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