How to choose the best web hosting for your site
Hosting is an essential part of any website. It can be difficult to choose the right hosting company for your website. You won’t find all hosts the same, so you will want to ensure you have all the features that you need.
DreamHost has a lot of experience in web hosting and knows the most important criteria. You’ll be able to launch your new website on the right track if you know exactly what you want.
What is Web Hosting and Why You Need It
No matter if this is your first website or your 50th, it is important to understand exactly what you are getting when you purchase a hosting plan. Your web host basically provides storage space for all your website’s files and data. It also delivers that data to visitors to your site via their browsers.
Images, videos, Hypertext markup Language (HTML), files and even Cascading Style Sheets, which tell your site’s theme what to do, could be stored. You can think of the website’s domain name or web address as a street address.
People visit your site by using their browsers to find your web host information and access your website’s contents. Your website wouldn’t be connected to the rest of the internet if it didn’t have a web host.
Web hosting is a crucial element in launching any website. However, it can also impact your Search Engine Optimization. Your web host can have a significant impact on your website’s speed, security, and other factors. These issues will be discussed in greater detail soon. Your web host is important, so make sure you do your research.
How to Select the Best Web Hosting Service For Your Website
We can help you assess your options now that you have a better understanding of what hosting companies offer. To make sure your website is as successful as possible, you will need to evaluate each potential web host against these 16 criteria.
Find out what your website needs are
It’s a good idea to take a seat and create a list of all your needs. You can then prioritize your needs by comparing what each host has to offer.
You should consider the niche of your website. You might want to consider storage and speed when building a photography website. Some hosts offer Content Delivery Network options to help you build content-heavy websites.
E-commerce websites may need to be concerned about security and bandwidth. Some hosts even offer e-commerce plans. Don’t forget about how much support you may need.
Last but not the least, consider the content administration system that you would like to use on your website. WordPress boasts more than 60% market share, so many web hosts offer -specific services. DreamHost offers DreamPress, an optimized WordPress web hosting solution. It includes professional staging, custom caching, and email.
Learn about your Upgrade Options
When you sign a contract, it is smart to read the fine print. This is doubly true for online services. It is important to ensure that you are not penalized for upgrading your hosting plan before you sign up.
You never know when your podcast or blog might become a viral hit. To increase the size of your website, you will need to scale it quickly. This is a great thing. But, your hosting plan should be able to move with you and not hold you back.
Verify the Primary Features of the Host
There are many types of hosting. We have already mentioned this. You’ll be able to navigate this step easier if you know what you want from your web host. While some hosts provide very basic services, others offer specific features that will make your life easier.
DreamHost is proud to be open about our love for WordPress. We offer many features to make it easy to build, launch, maintain, and update WordPress sites.
You should be able quickly to determine if the service you require is available on the website of your hosting provider. You might have to search for this information on the host’s website.
Another great way to find out if a web host can meet your needs is by reading reviews. Online reviews are often honest and you should look out for the most important features.
Assess the available add-on products and services
You might need to add more features once your website is live. It is worth looking into what your host has to offer in terms of “extras” at this stage.
You can start small and build your website as you grow. However, it is important to ensure that you are able to add new functionality quickly without needing to move the entire site. You can pick and choose features from a menu to create a plan that meets your needs.
You might want to add items such as an SSL certificate and custom emails. We’ll talk more in-depth about this later. You might also be able to increase storage or other resources without having to change your base plan. It doesn’t matter what, knowing what is possible upfront can save you from unwelcome surprises later.
Find out if the host supports E-commerce
It is essential to ensure that your web host offers everything you need to build an e-commerce site. These tools could include one-click installation of useful applications and additional security measures to protect online transactions.
If you don’t know how to set up your storefront, you can look for hosts that offer website builders and other features that will help your e-commerce venture.
Verify any differences in sign-up prices vs. Renewal prices
You will often get discounts depending on how much you pay for your hosting plan. You may even be able to pay for multiple years in order to receive a greater discount.
Many hosts offer renewal discounts. You should be aware of the terms before you sign up for a plan. Unexpected rate increases are not something you want. It is not unusual for initial discounts to disappear and lead to increased costs after a year or two of service.
Learn What Type of Control Panel you’ll have Access to
Hosting can be the most difficult part of managing your website. There’s no reason to be intimidated. Many hosts offer a user-friendly control panel or dashboard. You can use this panel to configure various parts of your website’s software and setup.
The cPanel control panel is the most commonly encountered. Some hosts offer custom solutions. DreamHost operates in this way.
Get a firm understanding of any account limitations
You might not be able to predict the traffic volume you will encounter, especially if you are building a new website. We recommend that you thoroughly investigate whether your potential hosting provider will place limits on your account.
This means that you will need to be familiar with bandwidth. This refers to the traffic and data that flows through your server. For example, if you have many videos on your server, it can consume a lot more bandwidth because multiple people are watching them simultaneously.
You should always research the policies of any host you find. Do you remember the fine print that we spoke of before? sometimes have “unlimited” plans that may still have restrictions you need to be aware of.
