Five Things to Look for when Buying Web Hosting

Credit: infocux

When you are building your website for your business, it can be so easy to get caught up in the design that you do not give much thought to the actual hosting of your website. However, this is an essential part of getting your site up and running and there are several important factors that you need to consider before purchasing web hosting.

Amount of storage

It is important that you have enough storage capacity for all the data that you need on your site. As a minimum, you will want to ensure that you have several gigabytes as this should allow you to add to the site when needed. Even if a company offers unlimited storage they may charge you for exceeding a set limit that they consider to be normal use, so you should make sure you know what this limit is.

Amount of bandwidth

The amount of bandwidth that you need is closely linked with the amount of storage. It is important to remember that any data that you upload to your site will count towards the amount of bandwidth that has been used. It can be very easy to reach the bandwidth limit quickly if it is not set high enough and if this happens visitors may not be able to access your site or, again, you may face extra charges.

Tech support

Sometimes things can go wrong with your site and you will need to access tech support. If this does occur then you want to be able to get in touch with them as soon as possible and receive a reply quickly. You should find out how the company can be contacted in the event that they are needed and whether any support is available out of business hours.

Back up of the site

As much consideration needs to be given to how your site will be backed up as is given to the backup of the rest of your data. It is important to find out what policies the hosting company has for the backup of your site and whether this meets your requirements. It is also worth finding out whether they can also offer backup protection for your databases as well. If no backup services are offered, then you will have to make your own arrangements.

Uptime and reliability

For your website to be truly effective, customers need to be able to access it whenever they want to. If they find that they cannot access your site too many times they may give up and go elsewhere. Any hosting company that you are considering using should be able to provide you with statistics regarding the uptime of other sites that they host.

Finding the right web hosting company is crucial to the success of your website and, therefore, for your business. You should give yourself enough time to find a company that you are happy with and offer all the services that you require. If you wait until your website is ready to go live then you may rush into a decision which may not be the best choice for your company. It is a good idea to begin to consider which web hosting provider you will use as soon as you start designing the website.