Website Hosting

Sadly website hosting is often not understood by businesses or even website designers.  Why is a good website hosting provider important and what should you look for/avoid in choosing host?

Local Website Hosting

One of the most important aspects of hosting is locality.  I'm a big believer in choosing a local hosting company i.e in the same country you live in.  The reason for this is ping time and lag, although the effect on the loading speed of your website may not be noticeable to the average person, it will be noticed by Google and other search engines. Website load speed is a critical factor in ranking well on a search engine.

Website Hosting Price

Price is going to be a determining factor in choosing a website hosting company. Typically website hosting varies from $10 to $50 month depending on the site traffic and security provided by the hosting company.

Security

Security is a key component to choosing a good hosting company, they should be able to provide both secured and non-secured web pages.  Security is critical if you are running an e-commerce site, and it is not advisable to skimp on price if you value the data of your clientbase.

Support

How much does it cost your business for every hour/day your website is down?

Can you survive without email access for a day?

Depending on your answers to these questions will tell you what level of support or SLA (service level agreement) you should look for in hosting company.  Personally I would only accept 24hr support.

Support is another reason I would choose a local provider over an overseas company.  If there is an issue with my website I want to be able to speak to someone who understands me, and is available in my business operating hours and timezone.

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