Guide to Choosing the Best Web Hosting Provider

Whenever you build a website, you have to deploy it on a server. There are several platforms that provide hosting services, and choosing one can sometimes be overwhelming, especially if you don't have a technical background. But don't worry.

Don't know how much hosting services cost? We will help you out.
Don't know much about choosing a development company? We will help you out.
Confused between Shopify, WordPress, and a custom website? We'll help you out.
Don’t have any business? Then sorry, you have come to the wrong place.

We are here to guide you in a simple and easy-to-understand way so that you can ultimately decide which hosting provider will be the best platform for your website. In this blog, we will explore topics like:

What is hosting?
Why is choosing a correct hosting platform important for your website?
Why is proper prior planning of your budget important before choosing a plan?
What are the types of web hosting?
How to Choose the Best Web Hosting Service Provider?
What can be concluded?

We will also discuss some famous hosting platforms like Hostinger, GoDaddy, AWS, GCP, and Microsoft Azure.

What is Hosting?

Imagine you're looking to buy a house in the online world of the internet. A website is like the house you want to buy, And to build that house, you need some builders who will construct your house from scratch, design it, and will understand your feedback. The builders in this online world are called development agencies. Web development companies build your website either from scratch like a custom website or by using existing platforms like shopify and wordpress.

So coming back to the question, what is web hosting? Web hosting is like the land where your website resides. And just as you need land to build and support a house, you need web hosting for your website to place it on the internet, so that your customers can locate and access your website.

Web hosting is the process of renting or buying space to store your website on the Internet. This service makes your website’s content accessible online. So the next time someone types your website address, it's the responsibility of the hosting service to deliver your site to the user's device. Simple, isn't it?

How Does Web Hosting Work?

When you build a website, either by yourself or through a web development company, you ensure that your website looks top-notch by integrating images, videos, text, and code. But that code needs to be stored somewhere in a computer that will run your website 24/7.

One solution to this problem is to run your website on your internal computers. However, this can be time-consuming, hard to maintain, and really expensive at the same time. In scenarios like these, web hosting providers come into the picture.

Web hosting providers run your website 24/7 on their special computers called servers. They implement all the security measures and ensure that all your data, including text, photos, and other files, are successfully transferred to visitors' browsers when they search for your website.

Why Correct Hosting is Important?

Now that we know what hosting is, let’s talk about why choosing the right hosting provider is crucial. Selecting a poor hosting service can lead to many headaches like slow loading times, frequent downtimes, and poor customer support. These are the results of bad hosting choices.

If you want to establish a strong online presence, then hosting your website is important because that is the primary way users will reach out to you and your product. Choosing the right hosting platform has become more important than ever because, nowadays, every business operates mainly online. Their sales and business leads either come from their website, or they spend a lot of money marketing their product through influencers from a completely different niche or advertisers, which can be really expensive.

Always keep in mind that websites promote you 24/7; no employee can do that.

Importance of Correct Hosting

Imagine someone opening your website, and it takes too long to load, or it doesn't appear at all. There's always this buffering whenever someone visits your website. Your potential customers won't wait for your website to load. They will simply bounce off to another site that loads on time and provides the information they were looking for.

A good hosting provider always ensures that your site is fast, reliable, and always up and running.

Planning Your Budget

Nowadays, there are hundreds and thousands of options for web hosting that offer a variety of services. Each option ranges from a free plan with limited features to a more expensive plan with specialized services at the enterprise level.

You don't necessarily need to fall for their plans. The main goal must be to choose a plan that primarily focuses on the type of website you have and the amount of traffic it will face. By understanding these two factors, we can ultimately decide how much resources we actually need from the hosting service provider for our website.

The goal must be to find a hosting provider that offers services and provides the best value for our money. We must never go with a plan just because it is cheap. There is a Japanese saying that "a cheap man pays twice." If you are a newbie and you're hosting your website for the first time, it is better to consult a web development company to make the right choice.

Choosing the right hosting is like investing in building a strong foundation for your house. Many newbies fall into the trap of thinking all hosting providers are approximately the same, but this could result in a costly mistake. But don't worry. We'll guide you through everything you need to know, like how to choose a web hosting platform and which plan to go for.

What are the types of web hosting?

There are a variety of hosting providers that offer hosting services ranging from affordable to expensive. This difference in price range is due to the amount of storage space and computing resources allocated to your individual site. And it's quite easy to understand: the more space and resources are allocated to your website, the better your website will perform. It will have better up

What are the types of web hosting?

But it is not always necessary that you need huge computing resources and large storage space for your website. Depending on your unique needs, the type of hosting that you require depends on these factors:

Size of your website
Number of daily website visitors
Peak time website or webpage traffic
Additional web hosting features like antivirus, server management, website backups, and technical support.

Depending on your needs, you must select the type of web hosting. If you are someone who needs hosting for their business website, then your requirement could be different compared to a person who wants to upload personal blogs. So ideally, you should start with hosting solutions that are reliable as well as affordable. And once your site gets enough traffic, you can upgrade your hosting plan to a more advanced plan of the same hosting provider or you could explore other hosting providers as well.

Different types of web hosting explained

Let us go through some of the main types of web hosting to meet the specific requirements of your website:

Shared Hosting:

Many hosting platforms provide shared web hosting. In shared hosting, your website is hosted on the same server along with other websites. All the resources like memory, processing power, and storage space are shared among different websites. Extremely small businesses and personal websites do not require higher bandwidth; therefore, shared hosting could be an affordable solution for your initial needs.

If you have a small or medium-sized business and you are in search of a cheap and easy-to-set-up hosting solution, then shared hosting could be a good fit for your website. There is just one big catch: you cannot expect a lot of traffic with shared hosting. It's best suited for personal websites as well as those belonging to small or medium-sized businesses. If you want a reliable solution for your digital marketing or your online business needs, then you must reconsider your decision and avoid shared hosting. But if you are really low on budget and are willing to gamble with your dream, then you can search for a hosting provider with shared hosting.

Examples of Shared Hosting : A2 Hosting , Hostinger , DreamHost etc.

VPS Hosting:

In VPS hosting, a website host allocates you a portion of the server along with some dedicated RAM and processing power for your website. VPS hosting is a better option compared to shared hosting, but it is slightly more expensive than shared hosting. The resources provided by the web host might not be ideal for all users, but you will have room for customization and specialized software installations. It could be a good solution for small businesses that will take time to expand and accumulate a large audience or won't stream media files on their websites.

But VPS hosting will require significant technical knowledge, and there might also be a need to hire a developer to manage the virtual server, which will increase the overall cost of VPS hosting. But there is no doubt that VPS hosting is proven to be a better alternative than shared hosting, providing users solutions that are associated with hosting medium-sized sites, eCommerce shops, or large blogs.

Examples of VPS Hosting : DigitalOcean , Vultr , Linode etc.

Dedicated Hosting:

Dedicated hosting is highly reliable and could be an ideal choice for large online businesses that deal with heavy traffic. By choosing dedicated hosting, you'll have complete control over your server's configuration, and you will have root access to your server. But dedicated hosting is the most expensive option among all the other hosting options, and it requires huge technical expertise as the stakeholders or website owners will be managing the servers on their own. Website owners will have the liberty to install their preferred security tools and their preferred operating system, but dedicated hosting is no doubt the most complex hosting solution, which small startups should definitely avoid due to the significant investment required for building the necessary infrastructure.

Examples of Dedicated Hosting : Liquid Web , InMotion Hosting , HostGator etc.

WordPress Web Hosting:

WordPress offers its own CMS, and it also offers servers that are especially optimized to run WordPress sites, which helps to load your website faster. They also offer many shared hosting plans, but a dedicated WordPress hosting plan comes with additional features like access to premium design tools, pre-installed themes, plugins for core functions like caching and security, and other site builder tools. Despite being a dedicated hosting plan, WordPress offers proper technical support. The good thing is that if you have a WordPress site, then it could be a good, low-cost, and beginner-friendly option for you. The downside is that if you don't have a WordPress website, then WordPress hosting might not be an ideal type for you.

Example of Wordpress Web Hosting: Bluehost , SiteGround , WP Engine etc.

Cloud Hosting:

Cloud hosting is quite different from other traditional hosting methods where your site is dependent on a single server. If the server is up, the site works smoothly and if the server is down due to any unexpected problem then your site face problems. In cloud hosting the resources are distributed across multiple virtual servers, and it uses a network of interconnected servers to host your website. If any server fails or faces high traffic then another server in the network takes over, ensuring your website doesn't experience downtime, which makes your website more reliable.

Because of this, businesses with significantly higher traffic and large-scale sites can leverage cloud hosting to their advantage. And with the help of load balancing, businesses can host their websites according to their needs. For Instance, If the traffic suddenly rises, businesses are prepared to handle it because of load balancing. This makes their website scalable and not restricted to just one single server.

Cloud hosting does not require much technical knowledge to host your website and offers you one of the best performances. Although cloud hosting is a bit more expensive compared to shared hosting and VPS, it is still really affordable when compared with dedicated hosting.

Examples of Cloud Hosting : Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Microsoft Azure, Fast Comet etc.

So how would you Choose the Best Web Hosting Service Provider?

Choosing the right web hosting service provider is a crucial step in building your online presence. You must start searching for a proper web hosting platform even before the launch of your website because proper hosting is the base of your house—it is the foundation. While choosing a hosting platform, you must make sure that you take into account several factors such as proper server management, support, bandwidth, speed, and more. When choosing a proper web hosting provider, you don’t have to think just about the present, but you also need to plan for the future. For instance, will it be easy to migrate to a more advanced hosting solution like VPS if you go with this hosting provider? Here’s a detailed guide to help you make a correct decision:

Choosing The Best Web Hosting Service Provider

Reliability, Security, and Uptime

When you are hosting your website on the internet, the most basic need is for your website to be up 24/7. Research shows that 86% of business-to-consumer websites load in five seconds or less. A website hosted on a reliable platform will likely have better loading speeds and uptimes, giving you an edge over others.

Also, ensure that the hosting provider you choose includes services like access management, malware detection, real-time monitoring, automated backups, and timely updates. Proper security measures from the very beginning will protect your websites from external threats.

Bandwidth and Storage

Bandwidth, in simple terms, is the amount of data shared in a given amount of time. While choosing a hosting provider, you must understand how much bandwidth is allocated and required for your website. Bandwidth is also referred to in layman's terms as traffic or data transfer. If your website is heavily text- or image-based, it might consume less bandwidth compared to a website loaded with multimedia elements such as videos or music. However, if there is a scope for your website to grow rapidly, you must pre plan to go with a hosting provider that can easily adapt to your needs.

Initially, most website owners go with a shared hosting plan because it is affordable, but as the requirement increases, the increased customer base will push you towards allocating more resources to your website, such as storage space and more bandwidth. Therefore, it is advised for new website owners to provide a detailed service level agreement (SLA) to the hosting provider about the exact amount of bandwidth required initially and how they are going to scale in the future during traffic spikes. This should be done before making a deal because the host might disable your site for violating the agreement or charge you extra.

Some hosting providers restrict the maximum size of the files that you can upload and also impose bandwidth limitations. Sometimes, this limitation can be problematic, so make sure to review all these limitations to avoid potential issues in the near future.

Technical Specifications, Additional Features, and Flexibility

Each hosting provider offers services like disk space, processing power, and bandwidth. However, apart from this, ensure that your hosting provider also offers flexibility for the technologies and customizations you need. For instance, if you want to install PHP or Perl, you should be able to do so without needing the host's permission. Customizations include modifying your error pages, protecting your site from bandwidth theft and hotlinking, etc.

Try searching for a hosting platform that provides necessary additional services by itself, like an SSL certificate or a domain-based email address. A good hosting platform will provide you with a domain-based business account. For instance, the tech department in Werbooz will get an email address of technical@werbooz.com. These domain-based email accounts help you brand your company. Some hosting providers will provide you with just one domain email, whereas better hosting providers might offer an unlimited number of domain emails. Go with a hosting provider that includes additional services like free SSL certificates, business email accounts, content delivery networks (CDNs), and website builders. These extra features can save you money and enhance your website.

Customer Support and Trial Periods

Any website, no matter how big, can face problems like outages and downtimes. To deal with these problems, website owners must choose reliable hosting companies that offer 24/7 technical support. Proper technical support will safeguard your website from potential issues like unexpected lags, crashes, and security breaches. Also, check whether your hosting provider has enough articles for future queries, FAQs to help you understand some issues, options like chat with technical support, and comprehensive documents to handle situations by yourself. In a nutshell, check their availability.

Many hosting providers offer free demos and money-back guarantees. Leverage these offers to explore the services offered by your hosting provider without committing to a long-term contract. This helps you evaluate the performance and support provided by your hosting provider before making any financial commitment. Also, check whether your hosting provider offers a money-back guarantee. Some service providers refund your entire money if you cancel their service during the demo period.

Online Reviews and Reputation

Check online reviews to better evaluate your hosting provider. Most online reviews include genuine information about the uptime and speed that the website provides. This will help you better understand your hosting provider. Go through some of the reviews on platforms like Clutch, Trustpilot, G2, etc.

To Conclude :

Making the right choice while selecting your website's hosting provider can make a huge impact in building your online presence. By going through various “hosting types” and exploring several factors like reliability, security, bandwidth, storage, technical specifications, customer support, and online reviews, now you can make a smart choice that fulfills all your requirements of your website. Also remember that a reliable hosting provider will give your website a strong base(i.e a strong foundation), and will make sure that your website functions well, loads quickly, and is safe from threats.

Key Takeaways :

Understand What Hosting Is: It’s the land where your website resides, and makes your content accessible to the user’s online.

Choose the Right Type of Hosting: Among shared, VPS, dedicated, WordPress, or cloud hosting, choose hosting according to your website's size, traffic, and specific needs.

Plan Your Budget: Divide your budget and choose the features and resources that you need the most, avoid overly cheap options that may lead to additional costs later— ”A Cheap Man Pays Twice”

Reliability and Uptime are underrated: Always ensure that your hosting provider offers high uptime and is reliable— Always keep your website up and running.

Check Bandwidth and Storage: Choose a provider that offers sufficient bandwidth and storage for your current and future needs.

Evaluate Technical Specifications: Look for flexibility in technology and customizations, and look for additional features like SSL certificates and unlimited business email accounts.

24/7 Technical Support: Opt for a provider that provides 24/7 technical support, and has a library of comprehensive documentation for common problems, seek for providers who can offer trial periods or money-back guarantees in order to test the provider before making any financial decision.

Research Reviews: Go through online reviews provided by platforms like clutch, G2, trust pilot, etc. To better know your hosting provider.If you select your hosting provider by following these steps then I'm 100% sure that you will get a reliable hosting provider who will ensure that your website loads quickly, is secure, and is always up.