5 Factors to Consider When Choosing A Web Hosting
Setting up a website is not difficult, but some terms and concepts related to hosting can be confusing.
Web Hosting makes the files (such as code and images) that comprise a website available for viewing online. Every single website you have ever visited is hosted on a server.
A bad web host could cause:
- Negative effects on your search rankings
- Waste of money, hardwork, and other resources
- Affect the online authority in the long run
Before choosing your web host, there are 5 things you need to consider:
Web host’s uptime
Different web hosts provide different functions, and low-cost hosts may not provide all the functions you need. There are no site which can offer you a 100 percent uptime. So, how do you measure a Web host’s uptime? According to the Hosting Manual, this can be often measured by “Nines”. Below is how they translate downtime for 30 days:
- 99 percent – Two nine equals seven hours and 12 minutes downtime
- 99.9 percent – Three Nines equals 43 minutes and 12 seconds
- 99.99 percent – Four Nines equals four minutes 19 seconds
- 99.999 percent – Five Nines equals 26 seconds
- 99.9999 percent – Six Nines equals three seconds
Storage offered by the web host
The storage offered by the web host refers to the amount of the storage you get for your website. Another way we called it the web space. When you need to get your website up and running, you must have a web space to store the images, emails, and other web files. The storage space which offered by the web host affects the content you can have on the website, and the performance of the website.
Security Strength
A web host with strong security is definitely what you want, especially if you plan to provide existing customer with the information they need through a website.
Here are some security features you should seek from a web hosting provider:
Domain Privacy Protection
WHOIS ID Protection is usually called as ID protection or domain protection. Owning a domain name does not mean you need to sacrifice your privacy and this is where WHOIS privacy protection can help you solve this problem. WHOIS ID Protect works as same as “unlisted”. It prevents people from accessing your phone number, email address, physical address, and other private information.
SSL Certificates
With the existence of SSL certificate, your website URL will start with https:// instead of http://. Besides, your website visitors or potential customers will see the green [Secure] word in the website address bar. The SSL Certificates basically can protect your login details, file transfer and personal information.
Daily Backups
Backup refers to copying data to obtain a copy of information so that it can be used to recreate content in the event of data loss. If you do not have a backup, once you lose the content of your website, everything will be lost.
Location
The location of the server plays an important role in affecting the speed of the website and the way it ultimately competes with users and search engines. As an example, if you wanted to target the user in a country, the hosting company that stores their servers in that country will provide you with the best website loading speed and is likely to be the best choice for your business.
