If you want your websites and web applications to be accessed easily by users on the Internet, you’ll need high-quality web hosting services. That’s why, when building a website, the type of web host you partner with is a vital decision. Your web hosts will run the physical servers that house your websites. They’ll also maintain and configure these servers and all the websites on the servers.
The type of web hosting services you select will depend on how your business operates and what its main areas of focus are. For example, if your business website is expected to attract millions of page views, you’ll need a web host that can handle such high amounts of traffic. For such high-traffic websites, web hosting providers also offer onboarding specialists who guide website admins.
Due to the COVID-19-fuelled rise in online purchases, it’s the perfect time for business owners to set up shop in the digital world. Ideally, your web host should offer all types of hosting plans – dedicated servers, virtual private servers, cloud servers, and others. Here are the most important business-friendly features your web hosting providers must offer –
Speed and Performance
Website speed and performance are intrinsically linked. Slow-loading websites are hard to scale and don’t offer satisfactory user experiences. A recent survey by Kissmetrics revealed that 47% of Internet users expect web pages to load within two seconds (or less). Just as soon as the loading time crosses the three-second mark, 40% of them exit the website.
To make sure your consumers don’t abandon your business website, you’ll need to partner with hosting companies that are known for offering fast servers. With increased website speeds and uptime guarantees, it becomes easier for site administrators to keep their sites accessible on the Internet for long, uninterrupted periods.
Your web hosting company should guarantee at least 99% uptime. To make sure the rare downtimes aren’t as bad, you need to select hosting packages that come with uptime/downtime monitoring tools. These tools alert website administrators every time there’s a risk of downtime.
Security
The lives of website admins become much easier when their web hosts provide high-quality security features. When you’re selling products/services on your website, keeping your website’s servers super-secure at all times should be your web host’s priority. A good way of securing eCommerce websites is partnering with web hosts that offer Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates.
You’ve probably seen SSLs before on retail websites or online financial platforms. It’s a green-colored padlock that pops up in your browser’s address bar. SSL certificates encrypt all data that’s shared between the web hosts and the customers’ browsers. As business owners, it’s your duty to protect your consumers’ financial information.
So, spending extra cash on these extra security layers (fixed yearly payments) is very important. An SSL certificate alone won’t protect your website from all types of security threats. You’ll need to invest in other spam prevention tools, data protection tools, etc. However, selecting a hosting service provider that offers SSL certificates is the first and the most important step for business website owners who want to protect their customers’ data and financial information.
Support
Your web hosting service providers must offer 24X7 customer support. If it’s by phone – perfect. If not, the web hosts must at least be available at all times via chat or on public forums. But, website admins who are new to the world of web development certainly need to communicate with human operators to resolve important confusions and queries.
That’s why website owners must make sure that their web hosting service providers promise to provide expert assistance whenever technical difficulties arise. Include this clause in the contract. Also, look for web hosting companies that have extensive catalogs of educational blogs/articles on their websites.
Server Operating Systems
Which OS does your web hosting service provider use? Most probably, it’s Linux. Some service providers still offer Windows hosting, but it’s way more expensive than Linux hosting. If you’re getting a 10Gbps dedicated server and want cost-effective functionalities, you want your web hosting service providers to use Linux.
However, if your budget is big or your website has some server-side apps that need Windows, your web host should offer Windows hosting. Whether you have a Linux host or a Windows host – make sure your web hosts provide graphical interfaces where you can administer your servers or manage your websites easily.
Buying Web Hosting Plans
Still unsure of what type of hosting you need for your business website? Do what most small business owners do and start with shared web hosting plans. These cost-effective hosting plans don’t come with a lot of features. But, they’re the perfect stepping stones for future moves to VPS hosting or dedicated hosting.
Top companies like CHL Technology always guide their clients through different hosting options and packages. Listen to these experts, decide on a price range, consider how much time you will require web hosting services, do your homework, and read the small print before buying service packages from web hosts.