Choosing a web hosting service is one of the biggest decisions you will have to make for your website. It is also one of the most overwhelming.

It can all look very confusing especially if you are just starting out. Understanding all the jargon that surrounds website building and web hosting is going to be new to you. 

Once you get informed the whole process will be demystified and you will be better able to understand what you need and what everything means. 

These are some of the things you should consider when you’re going after web hosting services. One of the paramount considerations should be cost. However, there are a lot of other things to factor in to make sure you make the right choice.

Here’s what you need to know.

Understanding Different Types of Web Hosting

Web hosting isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. There are many nooks and crannies that you will need to think about. The price you’re going to pay for your web hosting service depends on the factors that are specific to your website’s needs. 

The big one that you’re going to have to contend with is the type of hosting that you want. Each type of hosting has varying costs. Some will be more expensive than others. 

You need to decide what will make your website run efficiently and be up 99.9% of the time while watching your pocket and determining what you can afford to spend. 

It’s a delicate balance and you need to make sure that you are getting it right. This is the only way to ensure that your vision is brought to life in the best way possible. 

Shared Hosting

Of the three main types of hosting out there, one of the most popular ones is shared hosting. It is also one of the most affordable options you will find. 

Your website will be sharing resources with other websites that are on the same server. This is often the way many start out, so they can keep costs down and get their website up and running in no time. 

VPS Hosting

The other option that you have is to choose VPS hosting. This is a dedicated server that may or may not be shared with other websites. A VPS has resources that help to improve the performance of your website. VPS hosting ensures that sharing is limited or non-existent.

This is absolutely a game changer for those websites that have a lot of traffic. Shared allocation to each website is minimised. This way you will not be disturbed by what your neighboring website is doing. 

The last thing you want is for your website to crash when you have a high volume of visitors. This will give your website a bad reputation and prevent visitors from returning. 

Dedicated Hosting

One of the best types of hosting out there is a dedicated host. This is considered a heavyweight among hosting choices. It gives you complete control over an entire server. 

You can get it for websites that have high traffic and apps that demand a lot of performance and security. Naturally, these will be a little bit more expensive than the other types of hosting services already discussed here.

Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting is another option. This option offers you some scalability and flexibility as well. It gives you access to a network of servers. 

The good thing about this one is that you only pay for the resources that you use. If you have fluctuating traffic, for many this is a great option. It’s also good if you’re on a budget as well.

The Winner Is…

So far you have been presented with the four main types of web hosting solutions that are available to you. Naturally, you want to know which one is the winner. 

If you’re looking to strike a balance between getting great web hosting that is affordable and being able to host your website without having to worry about it crashing and having downtime, a VPS is your best choice. This is especially great if you are hosting a WordPress website.

You save money because you are not on the server by yourself, and you will not have to pay a dedicated hosting cost. However, since there is a limited number of people who are on the server, you are still getting the benefits of having a server that gives you special attention. 

You get unmatched performance at a fraction of the cost of a dedicated server.

Each website hosting provider will have their own specific cost for this. However, by comparing you will be able to find the one that is right for you. Remember that the cheapest is not always the best when it comes to these types of services. 

Think about what you want to accomplish with your website, if you have big goals and it’s worth making sure that you get an affordable plan that is reliable.

Costs You Need to Consider

You will definitely have to think about web hosting costs, but there are some other costs that you need to anticipate as well because all of them will come together to determine how much money you’ll have to spend to get your website on the World Wide Web. With that being said, there are three things that you need to consider carefully.

Domain Name

The domain name you choose is very important. It’s almost the same kind of feeling you get when naming a child. There is a lot of back and forth as you decide what character and personality you think the child will have and which name would suit them. 

This is exactly how you should be when naming your website. Be very picky!

The most important thing is that you choose a name that tells your visitor exactly what your website is about. Doing things in this way will also help you to rank in the search engines as well. 

Remember this is something that you can only do once and when it’s cemented you can’t take it back without having to reroute your website to a new domain. Think long and hard about what your business is about and what kind of image you want to put out there and then decide on your domain name. 

Remember though that even when you decide on a domain name this doesn’t mean that it will be available. You need to check availability before you get your heart set on it. It just might be that it is not available to you. 

Another consideration is your top-level domain (TLD). There are many TLDs out there to choose from. The most famous ones are the .com but .net and .org. 

There are some newer ones out there as well. Consider the long-term benefits and overall reputation of your site when choosing a TLD.

SSL Certificate

Something that’s important to security is an SSL certificate. This encrypts information between your visitors’ browsers and your website to keep both you and them safe. 

It is not surprising that it comes in many different types. It can all get very confusing and if you find it a bit mind-boggling this is understandable. 

The breakdown below will clear things up and allow you to see exactly what each of them is, so you can decide which one is the right fit for your website. 

Domain Validation (DV) Certificates 

This certificate is easy to get. It’s considered the most basic. Think of it as you would the foundation of a house. 

They are at the base of the SSL certificate landscape and are very easy to obtain.

All they do is verify that you own a domain but they don’t get into your private or personal details. 

This means that people will not know your company details. If your website is what you would consider low risk and there’s not a lot of exchange between your visitor’s browsers and your website this is a good choice. You’ll find these certificates mainly on personal blogs or portfolios.

Organisation Validation (OV) Certificates

An organisation validation certificate is a layer up from DV certificates. These certificates do more than validate domain ownership. They dive a little deeper into some personal details. 

They tell people about the organisation that is behind the website. There’s no hiding away here, as this validation is given by a third party of authority. 

This means that there is someone who will validate that the organisation is not an imposter and that it is who it says it is. They do this by asking you to hand over your business documents, after which they will go deeper to find out if your organisation is trustworthy. 

These certificates give your customers extreme confidence in you and this is why many banks and e-commerce stores use them.

Email Hosting

Email hosting is something you may also want to take into consideration, you will be able to create email addresses from your hosting service in most cases. These email addresses will have the at symbol and your domain name at the end, this is sufficient for many.

However, if you don’t mind spending a bit more cash and getting some wonderful features for your email then you can go ahead and select an email hosting service.

There you have it! Those are the additional costs that you may face along with your web hosting service prices.

Choosing the Right Type of  Hosting Services for Your Needs

It’s important that you know exactly what you need when you are on the hunt for a reliable web hosting service. There are a couple of specific things that you need to think about. 

You need to project how much website traffic you think you will have. If the website is already up, think about the current traffic. Consider your storage requirements and what special features you need. 

When you take this kind of targeted and focused approach you are going to ensure that you are choosing the most cost-effective plan for your needs. 

Compare Pricing

When it comes time to compare prices it’s not just about it comparing two different services. You need to compare what is an offer from the service of your choice as well. 

Often there will be different packages and you will need to zone in and look at what your business needs are at the present moment and your current budget. 

For example, if you are using a VPS service you might find that one package gives you certain features and this is often considered the standard or basic package. A step up from that they may give you other features and you will have to pay a little bit more every month. They may also have a third tier where you can pay even more to get a whole host of features. 

You can see then that it’s all about what your business needs at the present moment. If you need more than what is being offered in your present package you can always scale up.

Basic services can cost you about 19 pounds per month. While a step up from that you will find it a medium size package for about 28 pounds. If you want a high-end premium quality package 36 pounds per month is a reasonable cost.

Prioritising Quality Over Rock Bottom Prices

As mentioned before, it can never be denied that cost is very important. However, before you choose a service there are some key things that you need to consider. 

Monitoring

The Web Hosting service that you choose should provide monitoring of your website. This monitoring will ensure that you have high levels of uptime. There’s no sense in paying for hosting and having your website be unable to show on the web most of the time. 

You need to make sure you’re choosing a service that has a history of high levels of uptime. Always remember that 99.9% or higher in uptime is what you should be aiming for.

Downtime is one of the quickest ways to damage your reputation and prevent your site from becoming a top destination in your industry.

Customer Support

Aside from uptime, the next most important thing is customer support. You need professional support so that you can troubleshoot technical issues as quickly as possible. 

Make sure that your provider has a responsive and knowledgeable support staff. This will save you a lot of time and push away a lot of different frustrations that may overwhelm you when you are trying to get your website up and running.

Nothing is perfect and things can definitely go wrong so you want to know that when this happens, you can talk to someone immediately so your fears can be soothed away.

If you run an e-commerce site this is even more important. You can’t have people visiting your website and not finding what they came for. This means you are losing sales and your reputation is being damaged at the same time.

Security

Security is another thing you will need to keep at the top of your priority list when you are choosing a web hosting provider and thinking about the cost. You need a hosting provider that can give you some of the best security in town. You also need to ensure that your website is being protected from malware and cyber-attacks. 

Make sure the web host provider that you choose, places a priority on security. 

This is very serious. You need features like intrusion detection, regular backup of your website and firewalls.

Other Services

It’s always great to find a good web hosting provider. What is even better is if you can find a web hosting provider that can provide you with other services that you will need for your website. 

Consider using a web hosting service that will also provide you with SEO services should you need them. Search engine optimisation is key to getting traffic to your website. You will soon learn that “build it and they will come” is not something that works for website creation. 

Selecting a web hosting provider that gives you top-notch SEO Services is definitely something you should look into to drive traffic. This way all your website’s needs will be serviced in one place.

Make the Big Decision 

There’s a lot to think about when you are getting ready to choose a web hosting service for your blog or business. As you can see the selection process requires several considerations.

By taking everything here into consideration you should be able to pinpoint exactly what you need. However, you must align this with your goals for your business. Have a business plan ready and make sure that your web hosting services match up with what you want to achieve. This is the only way to ensure that you are getting the best value for your money at all times. Business is competitive enough, you don’t need an extra challenge when it comes to web hosting, this is one thing that should just work smoothly,