Creating a website can be intimidating. This is especially true for people who have never gone through the process before. You’ve seen beautiful websites that work perfectly with their content. But how do you develop one of these for your own purposes? There are hundreds of millions of active websites, and almost two billion in total. How can you make yours stand out from the rest?
Whether you’re a business trying to attract customers, or just someone trying to post personal blogs and photos, you need a website that fulfills your needs. To do this, you need to choose the right web host. These are a few things to keep in mind when determining your web hosting needs.
How Many People Will Visit Your Site?
Your anticipated web traffic is one of the most important things to consider before choosing a web hosting provider. If you don’t plan on having lots of people pass through your site, don’t bother paying up for a lot of bandwidth.
On the other hand, you certainly shouldn’t try to skimp if hundreds of thousands of people are visiting your site. Server and bandwidth restrictions will cause your site to slow to unusable speeds if you’re exceeding your approved volume. People don’t appreciate slow websites. In fact, four in 10 people will abandon a page if it doesn’t load in three seconds or less. That’s going to seriously hurt your site performance, and your brand.
Do You Need Your Webpage to Be Highly Customized?
Web hosts generally offer clients several options for site templates. These are perfect for people who know little to nothing about coding, and only need a site that looks clean and works well. However, this doesn’t apply to everyone. Some people will need a webpage with a variety of custom aspects. You should do a bit of research into different website hosting providers to see how much or little customization is available in their various plans.
What’s Your Budget?
The previous two points go hand in hand with this one: How much can you spend on your web hosting services? High levels of customization and server allocation will be significantly more expensive than more basic plans. Then again, a lot of those bells and whistles may be unnecessary to your brand, and thus a waste of money. If you’re just starting out, and don’t know exactly how much of these things you will need, go with a host that offers a bit of flexibility in both functions and pricing.
Are You Selling Anything?
There are some web hosting services that offer websites designed specifically for online stores. You should definitely consider one of these options if you plan to sell products or services directly from your site. Why? Not only will you be provided with e-store templates, you will also find built-in features such as payment processing, SSL certification, and more essential features for ecommerce.
Are URLs and Data Transferable?
It’s a great feeling to find a web host that works perfectly for your needs. However, things don’t always stay that way. You can’t know what the future will bring for your web host. They might go out of business, change policies, or be taken over by new management. When changes happen, they might not be in your favor. It’s important to consider whether your URL and data can be transferred to a different web host. You don’t want to be stuck in case things go downhill with your web host.
Do They Offer Reliable Support and Security?
A lot of web hosting services tout their customer support and security. But not all these hosts are equal on these fronts. It’s smart to do a bit of research before deciding, to ensure you choose a web host that will bring success. Just because they offer 24-hour support doesn’t mean that they’re going to get back to you right away. Try to find some consumer reviews to help aid your decision-making process.
There’s a lot you need to consider when building your website. But before doing anything else, you should determine which web host works best for you. Adhere to these tips when looking for the perfect web host.
