If you are interested in website design and development, the topic of web hosting is probably on your mind quite frequently. How do you know if a web host is suitable for what you need? What type of host are you looking for? There are so many factors that come into play when choosing a web host, that we’ve written some tips to help make sure you are making the right decision!
How To Choose The Correct Web Host
Know What You Need
You won’t find the perfect web host before you know exactly what you’re looking for and what your needs are. Before you set forth to seek out a web host, make a list of the things you need. Some ideas you may think of are what kind of website you’re looking to build and if your website needs any type of special software that you can only find in certain places. Think about a year in advance while thinking about your needs, as your needs may change in the coming months.
Check Your Servers
Having a server that works around the clock is super important, as you don’t know when visitors will come to your site. Because of this, you need a web host that will give you stable service, which, luckily, is pretty common these days. A good way to check the quality of a server is to read its reviews. If you want to see when people are looking at your site most often, you can download a server monitoring tracker, which sometimes even offers a free trial run.
What Are The Costs? Are There Free Trials?
The signup costs and the renewal costs of websites vary from site to site, and sometimes can even change within the same site, so it’s always a good idea to do your research so you’re getting the best bang for your buck. Generally, the price is lowest during the initial signup and will increase as you’ve been a customer, but cheap signup might also be an indicator of expensive renewal fees. Keep your eyes open for free trial periods; with these, you can test out the web hosts to see if it fits the criteria you’re looking for before you commit financially.
Limitations
You may have heard the term “unlimited hosting” at some point or another; unlimited hosting is a term that hosts use to explain that their services can provide unlimited storage and bandwidth. Despite the term “unlimited”, these hosts still have more limitations than you’d think. Bandwidth and storage may have capabilities to be “unlimited”, but the CPU and memory are actually where the limitations come into play. If your site has 8,000 visitors per day, it may not be able to handle the traffic if the CPU and memory are limited. That’s something you should do your research on thoroughly before choosing a web host.
