When it comes to picking a web host, the most popular factor that influences someone’s decision is the price. This is logical, as the price we pay for any type of service or product is one of the first things we will consider before making a choice.
For web hosting, the cheapest option is not always the best option, and there could be times when you will in fact have to pay more simply because you have tried a host that was disappointing and are now trying a second option. If you do have financial restrictions, then you’ll most likely need to go for the shared hosting option, rather than a VPS or dedicated server, which to be fair you wouldn’t really need unless you were running a huge website with lots of traffic.
Create a list of possible web hosts
It is a very good idea to make a list of potential web hosts who you may use. You should compare a number of hosting companies’ hosting packages before making a decision about which to use. It’s a good idea to go with a local web host, rather than one on the other side of the globe. The benefits of this include faster web load times for your site, as well as similar working hours should you need to contact customer support for any issues that you may face. If you are using a host on the other side of the world, their response time for support might not be as good as that of a locally-based company.
If you are located in Australia, then you will want to use an Australian hosting company. You could do a search on Google or your preferred search engine using search phrases such as “Australian web hosts” or “best web hosting Australia” and gather the URLs of the local companies.
Work out what your hosting requirements are
Once you’ve compiled a list of potential hosts, you should have some idea of the type of hosting package that you need. Do you need a hosting account with a large amount of storage space? Are you planning on running a single website or multiple sites?
Different hosting packages have different limitations on them, and the basic packages will only be for a single website. So if you are planning on creating additional sites, it is probably a good idea to go for the middle package that should allow you multiple add-on domains, which are domains that you can host individual sites on.
Compare the hosting packages that are offered
Now that you have a list of hosting companies and know your hosting requirements, it’s time to start comparing the options available. If you use Excel or Google Sheets, you could easily create a spreadsheet and start entering the data on there, which makes it very easy to compare. You should include hosting package specs such as web space, bandwidth, and add-on domains, as well as the prices.
Take note that sometimes the monthly price you may see is actually the monthly price if you sign up for a three-year package. Spend a little time making sure that you are collecting the correct monthly prices, which for newcomers would usually be on a month-to-month basis or quarterly, and not the best monthly price being offered by the web host.
Check the server performance
Some hosts offer you the ability to check their server performance, so if this is an option available to you, use it. Different web hosts use different servers and different data centers, so even though their specifications may look similar, you could find that one server runs very poorly when compared to another.
Another easy way to find out more about the quality of a web host is to check online reviews. There are lots of websites that are dedicated to web hosting, and on these you can read through the experiences of users all around the world who have used the hosting offered by a huge number of web hosts. This is a great way to gauge the type of service being offered by a host. There is nothing like genuine feedback and testimonials to help you make your decision about which host to run.
In fact, a lot of times, people will just ask for recommendations before even searching for a web host. There are a number of Facebook groups for web design and development that contain thousands of active members, and these are people who are all using web hosting. If you want a recommendation on which is the best hosting site, these are the people you need to ask.
