Three Steps to Choosing the Right Hosting for Your Website

Choosing the right hosting company for your website is an important decision, not only for the first timers but also for the experienced ones. There are so many hosting companies offering various packages that choosing the best one seems impossible. Following is a three-step approach to choosing the right hosting company for your website.

Know Your Needs

Many beginners do not know what they really want from their hosting provider. Server uptime, reliability, and good customer support are the things that every customer wants. Apart from that, how much space do you want, how many domains and subdomains you are planning to host, and how many email addresses you will need in the future are some of the questions you should ask yourself. In most cases, a couple of GBs of space would be enough for your website – unless you want to host a lot of videos. If you do want to host a lot of video content, ask your hosting provider about their fair usage policy regarding storage and bandwidth.

Server Platform

There are two popular server platforms: Linus and Windows. If you are planning to install specific software to your server, make sure that you choose the right platform. You cannot install a Windows software on a Linux server and vice versa.

Read Reviews

There is an active online community talking and sharing their views on different hosting providers. However, separating authentic reviews from unauthentic ones is not easy. Only consider trusted review sites like Web Hosting Talk and few others. When looking at reviews, pay attention to uptime, speed, cost, and customer service. Read the opinion of the past customers of your chosen web hosting provider. Before you choose the right hosting, ask a couple of questions to the support team. If they are available to answer your questions, you can expect a nice support when you need it.