There are thousands of web hosting providers that you can find on the internet. They offer different features, bonuses, price plans, payment choices and many other things. But finding the best fit web hosting provider for you is a challenge. You have to consider many aspects and options they offer. And you should consider your traffic and your target visitors too.
Below are the aspects you should consider to choose whether a web hosting is good for you. Please keep in mind, be realistic and don’t get fooled by the ads!
1. Features
Different web hosting providers offer different features. Some of them say Unlimited space and Unlimited bandwidth. Hmm… sounds interesting, doesn’t it? As I said, be realistic, don’t get fooled by the ads. There is no such thing as unlimited space and bandwidth. It’s just ads. I’d rather go for limited space and limited bandwidth — that’s more honest. But I have to find big space and huge bandwidth. So how much space and bandwidth do you need? That’s relative; you should know it from your files and traffic. For a standard WordPress blog, 5 GB should be enough. Another feature you should consider is CPanel. For me, CPanel is the most powerful hosting control panel. It makes my life easier to configure my website. Find out if they have CPanel available for free.
2. Price Plan
Price plan relates to the resources and features they offer. Compare the price plan of one hosting provider to another, see which one has the best deal for you. Shared hosting usually goes from $2 – $7 per month. Know what you need, and choose what is best for you.
3. Payment Option
Payment options should be considered too. Find out what payment options are available. Can you pay with that option? For example: I don’t have a credit card, but I do have money on my Paypal. So I should find web hosting that has a Paypal payment option.
4. Read Their TOS
Yes, I am serious! Read their TOS before you buy their service. Take your time and pay attention to their TOS. Like I said in point 1. For example: Hosting A offers Unlimited space and unlimited bandwidth in their ads. But if you pay attention to the TOS, it says you cannot have more than 25,000 files. If you don’t read that, then you have more than 25,000 files, somehow they suspend your site and you lose your visitors. This is not good! Another provider said unlimited bandwidth, and after your website grows and has 10k visits per day, they suspend your website saying you take too many resources. So seriously pay attention to their TOS. Don’t get fooled by the ads!
5. Good Support
This is always what I look for — I always look for a good support team. Good support means fast response and quick problem resolution. Shit happens! Sometimes your website breaks, and you don’t know how to fix that. All you need to do is submit your support ticket and ask for help. Good support will not take more than 12 hours to reply (considering different time zones and holidays). Find out by trying their service for 1 or 2 months; if you are not happy then go somewhere else. Also you can find their reviews online and see what customer feedback says.
6. Reliability & Uptime Guarantee
Reliability is one of the most important requirements. Don’t choose hosting that often goes down. And see whether your website can be reached from all countries. You can use host-tracker.com to find out. See other customer feedback about their reliability. Don’t get fooled by ads saying 99.9999% uptime guarantee — that’s bullshit. Shit happens; sometimes the server load goes too high and makes the server go down. The admin should have a fast response and get it back up in no time. That’s what a good web hosting should do.
7. Billing Cycle and Agreement
See what billing cycle options they have. Whether they have monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. If you purchase with a credit card, please pay attention to their billing cycle and agreement. Read their TOS about this. See when they will bill your credit card, and see how you can terminate their service if you don’t want to use it anymore. Don’t get billed for a service you don’t use because you were late or didn’t know how to terminate your account.
8. Find Reviews and Other Customer Feedback
Yes, finding another point of view and other customer feedback would be wise. There are lots of websites that review web hosting providers. See what they say and read the customer comments and feedback. Read it carefully and focus on what you need and what you don’t need.
9. Server Technology (speed, bandwidth, memory, cluster)
If they have online support and chat, it would be nice to ask them about the server technology. See if they are using the latest technology available. I would go with a server that has 8 cores and more than 32 GB of memory. But different providers use different technology; find which one has the best deal for you.
10. Server Location
This is another important thing to ask online support. Ask them where the server is located. Is it inside the US or outside the US? Why? This is about your target visitors. If you want most of your visitors to come from the US, then buy a server inside the US — it will have a faster connection for your visitors. But if your visitors come from Asia, buy a server outside the US, for example Hong Kong, Japan or Singapore. If your visitors are mostly from Europe, then buy somewhere like France, Germany or the Netherlands. It’s your choice; you should know what you need.