When you decide to start a website, whether it is for your business, to showcase your hobby, or a personal blog, you’ll need to choose a web host. This is the provider whose servers will host your content and make them accessible to your audience. There are dozens of services to choose from, all of which offer packages that are hard to differentiate. Here are three features that you should consider before making the big decision.
Hosting Type
Generally, there are three types of hosting: shared hosting, Virtual Personal Servers (VPS), and dedicated hosting. In shared hosting, your website shares server space with other sites and is not allocated its own server space, this is the cheapest tier. Dedicated hosting is when your website is assigned its own physical server, this is the premium tier. VPS is the middle tier where your site shares a physical server with others but has its own dedicated server space that other sites can’t access. This is perfect for sites that expect decent but not overwhelming traffic and IONOS offers one of the best VPS hosting services out there.
You are advised to get a hosting type that can accommodate up to 150% of your expected traffic. Also, choose a web host that will allow you to scale your server needs upwards or downwards depending on the traffic you receive.
Migration
At any given point, you may discover that your website needs can no longer be met by your current web host. This is why you should always use a web host that allows you to migrate your website, as it is, to another web host should the need arise. This is important for practical reasons, as your business grows, you might find that you need features that are not offered by your current web host.
Also, you should always allow yourself the flexibility to switch providers when a better deal is offered by a competing service. Creating a website independent of a host’s website maker makes it easier to migrate, and this might need some coding experience. It is never prudent to use a web host that locks you to their service, always look for the ability to export your website elsewhere.
Free Domain and Professional Email
Technically, these are two different features, but most providers often bundle them together. A competitive web host will always include a free custom domain (usually for the first year) and a professional email address based on your domain. These are features that add legitimacy to your business, but they are cool additions to personal websites as well.
There are services that offer domain registration and professional email without web hosting. Your web hosting should offer these either for free or at a much-discounted rate when compared to these domain registration services.
Conclusion
Choosing a web host can be a daunting task, especially if you don’t have prior experience. The hosting type is important as it determines how much you spend and your website’s performance. Shared hosting is cheaper but supports limited traffic, dedicated hosting gives you a whole server but costs much more, and a virtual private server (VPS) is the midpoint between the two. You should also ensure that you work with a web host that supports migrating your website to different hosting should you need to, and one that bundles free domain registration and professional email support.
