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Are you planning to have a personal or business website? If so, you need to remember that your website will need a hosting platform. A web hosting provider is an internet hosting company that will accommodate your website to be seen worldwide by internet users. All websites need a hosting service.
There are many web hosting providers you will come across. Some are cheap, others are expensive, while others are reliable and others not. It is important to get a reliable web hosting provider to ensure your website remains reliable to your clients. How do you choose a good web hosting provider? If you are a first-time client, the chances are that you will get stranded in the process. However, this article will have you sorted.
This article has a simplified process that will help you get a reliable web hosting provider for your website. Read on for the steps.
Step 1: Figure out your website needs
What is your website for? Is it an ecommerce, a personal website, a news website? It is important to know what your website is for before choosing the best hosting provider. A reliable hosting provider will offer you tools or services depending on your type of website. As stated at wp-tweaks.com, the hosting platform will also provide you adequate storage, reliability, and speed, depending on your website needs. For instance, they will facilitate you in their hosting platform if you require online payments.
There are also hosting providers who deal with particular websites that require special tools and infrastructure to enable your website to work flawlessly. While most websites need almost the same options, the things that will work for you might not work for another business and vice versa.
Step 2: Consider website building and bundling options
Are you building your website from scratch or depend on website builders? There are website builders, including Wix and Squarespace, that will help you create your website. It is important to consider whether you will require your services bundled or not. Here are the terms defined:
Web Hosting and website builder combined: Many web-building websites also offer web hosting services. This means you will build your website and get web hosting services as an inclusive package. Some of these providers include Shopify, Blogger, Weebly, Wix, and Squarespace. They all partner with Google domains to offer you web-building and hosting services as a package.
Web Hosting separate from the builder: You will build your website and then seek the hosting services. The website builder and the web hosting company are not related to each other and offer separate services. Examples of these include WordPress. You can use WordPress publishing tools to build your website, but use different web hosting services to host your website. After creating your website, you can use Google domains or other third-party websites to host your site.
Step 3: Do some research
After choosing how you will build and host your website, it is time to do some research on your builder and web hosting provider options. It is important to look at all the factors that make the providers stand out and get suitable candidates to accommodate your needs. While doing so, you must consider your current and future needs to avoid getting inconvenienced when you want to upgrade your website. After this, make a shortlist of your options and get to the next step of comparing factors before choosing the best hosting company.
Step 4: Compare the Key factors
You now have a shortlist, and you want to settle on one provider who will be hosting your website. What will you be looking for from your list? Here is a list you can use to choose the best web hosting provider.
- Signup and renewal prices: Other than the signup cost, it is important to look for renewal costs and conditions before settling on a specific provider.
- Management settings and ease of use: Who will be doing the site management, including updating the site content? Is it easy to use for an amateur?
- Support services: Will the hosting provider be available anytime you need them? Are you comfortable with their way of communication?
- Ease-of-setup: How fast will it be to set up your website and run on the hosting platform?
- Cancellation policy: Do they allow cancellation? Do they give options and enough time for service cancellations?
- Technical needs: Does the web hosting provider meet all your website requirements? Can they comfortably accept your current and future needs without changing the look and conditions of your website?
Once you have done this, you will definitely come up with the best hosting provider for your website. It is essential to get a perfect domain for your website when starting. Remember to have a binding contract between you and the service provider to avoid issues once your website starts running.