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Last Updated on June 10, 2016 by Work In My Pajamas
Whether you are building a new website and need hosting for it or already have a website and are thinking of transferring to a new hosting company, here are six factors you should consider before making your final decision on which hosting services to sign up with.
1. Price.
This is usually the first thing we look at. And you must remember that most of the time “you get what you pay for”. Paying under $5 per month will probably not include all of the features that your website needs.
Some companies may offer a free trial offer or a low introductory price offer. These will likely have more features included, but be sure to research the cost of renewing as the price my increase by tenfold over the initial cost.
2. Features.
Find out exactly what your hosting package entails and if it will fit your needs. Some of the features that may be appealing are:
- Easy to use control panel (user interface)
- FTP options
- Regular backups
- Energy saving practices
- Free domain privacy
3. Tech Support.
Make sure your hosting company offers 24/7 support and find out how you can contact them when do need support, i.e. email, chat, toll-free phone number, etc. You may want to find out if their support is US based or outsourced overseas as well.
4. Email.
Do you need hosted email? If so, make sure your hosting company provides an adequate solution for spam. Personally, I like to just forward my emails from my various websites to my Gmail and filter them.
5. Reputation.
Goggle the hosting companies that you are considering for customer reviews. Ask your friends on social media which hosting companies they recommend or specifically if they have experience with a certain provider you are considering.
6. Room to Grow.
Let’s hope your website takes off and becomes the next Huffington Post. You’ll need a host to handle all of that traffic. Think long term when considering your hosting provider.
Making the choice on which web hosting company to use with your website can be difficult. I hope this list of factors to look in will help you make an informed decision.
