Getting your business off the ground requires a significant amount of time and work, and that’s before you even consider the time and effort required to host, build, and launch your website. Your website is likely to be one of the most essential components of your business.
First-time site builders often don’t know what to look for (and more significantly avoid) when it comes to web hosting. Here, we’ll help you figure out what kind of hosting is ideal for your website.
Dos and Don’ts of Website Hosting
The early stages of starting a website can be stressful. You could easily make a number of blunders that require work and attention to correct. If you’re new to web hosting, familiarize yourself with a few of the dos and don’ts listed below.
DO Dedicate Substantial Thought to the Selection of Your Website’s Domain Name
It’s easy for people to forget that a website and a business must have a name before they can even begin to build their online presence. Sometimes the name you want is already owned by someone else, and their asking price is just too high. The first thing you should do before signing up for a hosting plan is to shop around for a decent domain name. Pick one that is easy to remember, available, and affordable.
DO Get Proper Guidance
You should have an idea of the core content of your website. You should be able to describe your target audience, the site’s structure, and the capabilities it requires. You should also have some understanding of how big and scalable your site needs to be. The hosting firm will be able to give you more specific guidance if you have all of the details worked out.
DO Obtain the Most Appropriate Package
If you run a small retail or accounting firm, you probably don’t require 7TB of bandwidth and 400GB of storage space, with several cores. Unless you’re planning on expanding swiftly, you won’t need these services. They’re more suited for complex web apps and several high-traffic websites, and they’ll cost more than plans that ideally suit you. However, don’t underestimate the size of your business and take up services that cannot handle your site’s traffic.
DO Take the Safest Route
A new business owner has a lot on their plate. Website security may not be at the top of their priority list. Perhaps they think no cyber-criminal would ever bother with their website. Think again! Personal information and customer details can be vulnerable to attacks regardless of a business’ size. If you’re looking for a web hosting provider that has skilled cloud hosting staff and free SSL security for your site, go no further than Group6Interactive.
DO Look into the Web Host You’ve Chosen
Not all web hosts are created equal. There are countless thousands for you to choose from. Before choosing one, make sure you do your research and look up reviews to see what other users have said about each of your possible choices. If you are uncertain what you’re looking for or just want help making a choice, talk to a local web hosting provider like Group6 Interactive about your options.
DON’T Make a Hasty Choice
Choosing a web host solely based on a list of the ‘best web hosts’ could be a mistake. Some unscrupulous list-creators on the internet take payment for including service providers in their lists. Instead, turn to industry-specific websites, evaluations with varying points of view, and the advice of people you know.
DON’T Cheap out on quality
You shouldn’t always choose the most affordable option. While it may be tempting to cut costs by signing up for the lowest service plan available, there should be some sort of quality control in place here. Those that offer specific services for less than five dollars per month are likely to be unreliable.
DON’T Disregard the Terms of Service
Your hosting provider’s cancellation rules may not be one of your considerations while setting up a new business, but they should play a significant role when selecting a host.
Quicklink: Where and how your website is hosted matters! Get the best hosting with Group6 Interactive.
Web Hosting Best Practices
We want to ensure that you get the most out of your web hosting plan and provider, so keep the following recommended practices in mind:
Read the Terms of Service
Legalese isn’t something most people enjoy reading. However, doing so is critical to ensuring you are getting the correct service to suit your needs. You can find the following policies and terms in your agreement with your web hosting provider:
- Principles of Confidentiality
- Code of Conduct
- Terms and Conditions for registering a domain name
- Spam Policy
It is true that the policies might be lengthy, tedious, and time-consuming to read.
For both corporate and personal reasons, risk management is essential. That’s why web hosting firms takes the time to establish terms of service policies or terms of use for their customers.
These policies might be lengthy, tedious, and time-consuming to read. Still, it is important for businesses to be as knowledgeable as possible about the terms and conditions so that they can get the most out of their hosting plans.
Understand the “Unlimited” Aspect of Hosting Packages
Some web hosts may offer unlimited plans. “Unlimited” refers to a variety of benefits that you can take advantage of when you sign up for a hosting plan. However, these plans are not always quite what they appear to be.
Under a so-called unlimited plan, a host may still restrict how their customers use their services. For example, a host might impose strict limits on a website’s storage and bandwidth usage.
Even though a host calls something an unlimited plan, read the fine print carefully. Make sure to learn what the limits of an “unlimited” plan actually are.
Keep Up With the Latest Developments
A well-informed consumer wins; web hosting is no exception. It’s worth noting that web hosting businesses are always improving their uptime guarantees. Choose a web host that is aware of your specific requirements and offers packages that meet them. You must have a variety of solutions at your disposal and be prepared for the adjustments to be made.
Don’t Pay Extra for Services You Don’t Use
Web hosting services should only be purchased if they add value to your current package. There’s no point in spending more money if you don’t have to. Many “upsells” can be found on the checkout page. A few include:
- Protection of the confidentiality of a domain name
- SSL or dedicated IP certificate
- Services for Data Protection
- Website design, SEO, or business consulting
However, even though some of them are truly beneficial and vital, you should always double-check that you aren’t purchasing stuff that you don’t need at the moment. In the end, you should always have control over what you want as a customer.
Consider Taking Advantage of a Free Domain Deal
Businesses with an established presence looking to expand online may already have a domain name or would be fine paying a premium to purchase one.
However, if you are building your first site you might be more flexible about what domain you use. In that case, consider a web hosting company that includes a free domain with your hosting package. Several hosts offer free domain names and easy-to-use features to help you get the most out of your website.
Consider Hosting Your Site on a Dedicated Server
In a shared hosting bundle, several sites are hosted on the same server. While this may reduce the expense of web hosting, it may create problems for your business. For example, an unhappy customer who receives of one of the other sites hosted on your sever blacklists your shared IP address. You will be unable to send emails because other servers will block them as well, resulting in a bounce-back effect. To avoid problems like this, exclusive hosting on a dedicated server is always preferable to a shared one.
Quicklink: Group6 Interactive is a cut above the rest when it comes to web hosting, providing a specialized service that will make your company stand out from the crowd.
Wrap
Choosing a web host isn’t final, but you’ll be dependent on whichever provider you choose to keep your site up and operating. You should be wary of companies with a poor track record. Group6 Interactive provides secure web hosting to meet your business’ needs at any scale.
