With hundreds, even thousands of web hosting choices, it’s easy to assume that they’re all the same. But the reality is that not all web hosts are created equal. While one might be perfect for a small personal blog, it might fall short for a moderately trafficked business site.
Before you choose the first web host you find on a top web host list, it’s important to understand how to select the best one for your site’s needs. The right host can make a significant difference in your site’s success.
Cost Does Matter
Those cheap web hosts are tempting. Imagine cutting costs by choosing a host that costs about the same as a cup of coffee each month. It sounds great, but you get exactly what you pay for. Cheap hosts often mean fewer features, lower quality service, less security, and limited bandwidth. While they may promise the world, unbiased reviews often reveal these hosts aren’t what they claim to be. They’re suitable for small personal sites, but not for professional sites you want to grow over time.
Think of it this way: if you were looking for a physical location for your business, would you pick the cheapest building that could fall apart at any moment, or the higher-cost building ready to support a thriving business?
Powering Your Site
The biggest problem with cheap and discount web hosts is their inability to power your site effectively. Most of these hosts offer shared hosting, which is ideal for small sites with low monthly traffic. This type of hosting won’t handle 100,000 visitors checking out your products and services. Moreover, the more resources other sites on the same shared server use, the fewer resources your site has available at the same time.
When a host’s servers aren’t equipped to meet your site’s needs, their 99.9% uptime guarantees can quickly become meaningless. Instead of seeing your site, visitors might see error messages about your site being unavailable.
Support When You Need It
At some point, you’ll need to ask a question or resolve an issue with your site. Higher-cost hosts have a major edge over their cheaper counterparts – better customer service. Instead of waiting for long periods or having to wait for office hours, you get dedicated support to handle concerns quickly. For instance, if your site was hacked and you need help uploading a backup, you get immediate assistance to keep your site online. They’re also the best people to provide a backup service for your website.
Choosing Hardware and Software
Some web hosts skim over the topic of hardware and software. What type of servers do they use? What type of security features are available? How often is the software updated? Some web hosts won’t even allow you to use your own custom software, which might be crucial for your website. The cheaper the host, the less likely you are to have any control over the hardware and software used. Plus, much of the hardware isn’t top of the line. The last thing you want is your host’s hardware failing at the wrong time.
Adding In Extras
Take a look at what’s offered in cheap plans. You’ll quickly notice that things like backups, security features, dedicated customer service, higher bandwidth, and better uptime guarantees are usually extra. Add in all these extras and you’re essentially paying for a high-quality web host but still receiving sub-par results.
Security features should always be included. This is vital for keeping your site online and ensuring visitors aren’t turned away due to viruses or a hacked site. Poor security on the server end is one of the reasons websites are so vulnerable.
Speed Makes or Breaks a Site
Performance matters to your visitors. Cheaper web hosts get your site on visitors’ screens, but not quickly. After all, you’re paying for cheap, not fast. If you don’t want visitors to get bored and leave, you need your site to load as quickly as possible. Higher-end hosts understand this and take steps to optimize loading times.
Growing With Your Business
Many cheap hosts don’t offer any options for growing your site. You’re stuck with limited bandwidth and space. A scalable host may cost more but provides all the tools you need to grow from a new site with a few thousand visitors to a large site with over a million visitors. Plus, you don’t have to constantly move your site from host to host as your needs change.
Invest in Better Hosting
Your website is an investment in your business. Don’t let that investment go to waste by choosing cheaper web hosts. Make the right investment by choosing a host that considers your site as important to them as it is to you.
Choose Penguin Hosting for a reliable, secure, and scalable web hosting experience. Contact us today to find the best hosting plan for your needs.