How to Choose a Web Hosting?

Most business owners use their websites and blogs to stay in touch with their current customers and find more leads. Most of them understand the value of creating excellent web pages and great content, although often the importance of selecting a web hosting becomes secondary, as we do not know the differences a paid hosting and a free hosting.

What Happens When You Choose the Web Hosting Provider Incorrect?

The top priority for a business is to maximize profits. Do not make the mistake of believing that a hosting provider will not negatively impact your business. In fact, today can be one of the importance of your administration, as it can affect your income to the way you see your customers. Here are some things that could happen if you do not choose the right supplier for your needs:

Loss of Income

If your website falls, your potential customers will not be able to visit your site or read your blog and know your services. Worse still, if you have an online store, you will lose sales during the time you are not in the air, whenever your site is not available you will be losing money.

Negative Effects on SEO

When you are developing SEO or Content Marketing, and you are trying to “rank” better in natural searches so that your customers can find you quickly, your hosting can significantly affect you. If your site is offline or is too slow to load due to the hardware you are hosting, you will begin to change your positioning, making it more difficult to have good results from your promotion effort. Regarding this point, Google has already mentioned the importance of loading speed of your website and how it can affect your ranking in natural searches:

Security and Malware Attacks

There is no foolproof or perfect solution for maintaining a secure website, but a company that does not have high-security standards will put your site at risk as it is vulnerable to hacker attacks. However, a reputable hosting company will back up your information and give you the option of restoration in case a problem happens or your site is hacked. Here are some tips that can help you:

Selection of Insufficient Services

Many entrepreneurs find that their sites are very slow, or they can not use certain functions because their provider did not advise them adequately, either because of lack of experience or simple laziness of their executive. When you have to make changes or adjustments to grow the services of the website, everything ends up being more complex and expensive than it should have been.

Credibility with your Customers

If every time one of your clients tries to visit your website, you find it offline, you will soon think that your company is not very reliable, if you do not have a good hosting service.

That is why in this guide we will take you through the process of choosing the best web hosting service for whatever purpose you want to achieve, whether creating a website or many, a small business website or a corporate page.

Let’s See Briefly What is Web Hosting?

Web Hosting (also known as web hosting or web hosting) is the service for storing and maintaining information, videos, images, databases, or any type of content that can be viewed over the internet generally using a web browser. The term is an analogy to lodging in a hotel, where a client occupies a specific room.

Following the analogy, a computer connected to the internet is the “hotel”, where the clients’ files are “hosted”. In this case, the “web hosting” refers to occupy a space on this server, where we will place our files, emails, website, etc.

IN IT’S MOST BASIC CONCEPT, A HOSTING HAS THREE PARTS:

1. Domain Name

This is the key part of your hosting, without it there would be virtually no hosting. One would be the equivalent of the direction of your business or office: the address is not in your business, but the instructions of where it is. Therefore, you need a clear address (a good domain name) for your web page. Your domain name will be something like www.yourkeyword.com or www.yourbusiness.com

2. Web Hosting or Space

This is the space on the hard drive of the server that rents to place your website and receive your emails simply the space on the hard disk of a dedicated server with nothing on it. This is where your designer will place your files on your web page, images of your products, price list, etc. It will also be the space where your emails will arrive before receiving them on your computer or mobile device. (Connects to mobile phones).

Without this space, there is nowhere to place your files, and your domain will not work. It would be like having a direction that leads nowhere.

3. Your Files and Databases

• These are the files that make up your website, blog, forums or any other file you decide to use. They can be PHP, HMTL, mp3 files, etc.
• It is also the database of your email accounts and their contents. These basically the texts that come with your emails and attachments that you have received.

What Types of Hosting and Which Should You Choose?

Now that we have clear the basic concept of web hosting service, the next step is to decide the hosting Mexico we need for our page. These are the most common services we can find:

Free Hosting

• This is a service that some providers offer, which usually includes advertising on your website. As its name indicates, this service has no cost but has many limitations. For example, it does not include a domain name; Rarely include technical support; The size and type of files you can use is restricted.
• This is a good option if you are starting and want to do tests somewhere without disbursing yet.

Advantage:

• It costs you nothing.
• Good choice for testing.

Disadvantages:

• Lack of technical support. (Its weakest point)
• The resources they have are usually very low, such as low hard disk space, low memory, no email, etc. So you will not have enough to develop a complete web page.
• Lots of server crashes. For this model to work, providers saturate their servers with many more clients than they normally would, resulting in frequent crashes and slow sites. So this saturation causes your site is constantly offline or is very slow, giving a bad impression with both customers and search engines
• Security: Having so many users and so many security, these servers are easy targets for hackers. In addition, many users abuse free services to try to send spam (spam) causing your site to be labeled as spam because it is on the same server as them.

As you can see, this is not the kind of service you want to have for your business page. Since there is no guarantee in the service, your website may disappear from one moment to another and you will not have anyone to complain to.

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is one where several clients share a single dedicated server. Each one has its private space, and between them, they will not notice anything. The difference between this paid and free hosting is mainly the quality of the service. Here providers will be more careful of servers and will keep the number of clients on each server within a more acceptable number for everyone to perform well. In addition to essential services such as technical support and backups.

This is the most common hosting services and is generally sufficient for the vast majority of customers. It is the best choice to start your website project, for professionals or small and medium enterprises (SMEs) looking to have a presence on the internet, create your own blog or have your online store.

Advantage:

• This type of service already includes much larger amounts of hard disk space, bandwidth and email accounts.
• Almost always includes a free domain with the hiring of the service.
• It is a cheap hosting, because there is a lot of competition, and companies are looking to give more competitive prices.

Disadvantages:

• Some vendors can overload their servers, and provide poor service.
• Among so many suppliers it is difficult to decide which is the best (that is why this guide exists).
• The provider must maintain its servers very well and be strict in the usage policies, since some users can abuse the service (sending many emails and saturating the server, for example), causing problems for others.
• System Updates: That users should be responsible for updating their systems like WP, etc. (optional)

Virtual Private Server or VPS Hosting

A VPS is a partition within a real dedicated server. This server can have many VPS from a single computer. The advantage of doing this is that these VPS will have all the services of a dedicated server.

It is a good choice for companies that are growing but are not yet ready to hire a server of their own.

Advantage:

• You get the services of a dedicated server for a fraction of the price.
• It is easily scalable, so you can ask your provider to adjust it according to your needs, either to grow or to decrease it.
• The level of support is much higher than in shared hosting.
• This is a good service for hosting resellers, as they can create an unlimited number of shared hosting (as long as they are within the limit of the contracted resources).

Disadvantages:

• The price is already much higher than in shared hosting.
• You require more technical knowledge to take advantage of the features of your VPS or hire a managed service for better results.
• You can still have limitations, as you continue to share resources with several clients that are on the same server.

Dedicated Servers

A dedicated server USA is an exclusive equipment for your use, and only you have access to all the resources with which it counts, without having to share them. In this option, you can find both managed and unmanaged servers. That is, the managed include technical support from the supplier at all times, while the non-managed does not include a basic technical service.

This is the right service for big business, who need more control over their service, better security, and privacy.

It is also the solution to develop projects that require great control, configurations on the operating system or special installations. These services can only be achieved on these servers since shared hosts do not usually include these options.

Advantage:

• Exclusive use of computer equipment
• You get the best technical service and guarantees.
• You have complete control over what you do or install on your server.
• It is the option that offers the greatest security.

Disadvantages:

• The price increases considerably.
• You require more advanced knowledge of administration (or you can hire a managed server).

When Choosing a Web Hosting Provider?

Many guides to choose a hosting are based on the technical characteristics of the service, such as hard disk, Monthly Bandwidth, and a number of mail accounts. While all these are essential features of a good product, the reality is that many services are very similar technically. If you want to read more of these points, we invite you to read this guide: Types of Web Hosting and Features.

In my experience, there are certain points that are really important, the ones that make the difference when you are working day by day with a company, and you need support and solutions.

Here are the points that can really make the difference when it comes to hiring a hosting service:

Technical Support

This is really the main point that many customers complain about when they come to us. Because many providers do not have the necessary infrastructure, they do not have enough qualified personnel to provide the necessary quality of support. You must make sure that your provider can really provide the service under the conditions you mention, and that your staff is well trained, attentive and efficient in their work in order to provide the service you deserve.

Email Services

Although this is a technical feature, you should ask your supplier prospect several important things. The Email is the service that you will use most of your hosting, so it must be complete. Check that you have the option to configure your mail by POP3 and IMAP.

POP3 is necessary if you are going to use an email on a single machine, IMAP is necessary if you are going to use your emails on several mobile devices, such as Laptop, Tablet, and Smartphone.

In addition, you must have a webmail service, so you can check your mail from any computer connected to the internet. In the “cPanel” control panel, 3 webmail tools are included. Personally, my favorite is the Roundcube, for ease of use and speed.

Almost none offers you tools for Newsletter Mailchimp, but these can be purchased outside.

Control Panel

It may also sound simplistic, but when you bump into a non-friendly control panel, you will suffer just by creating an email account or uploading a file. It is preferable to be able to check the control panel before hiring. Many providers will be able to show you a demo so you can try their service. I personally recommend cPanel as the best in the market for all the features it offers and its ease of use.

In addition, being a popular control panel, in case you want to change suppliers in the future, it will be easier to find other suppliers that handle this control panel, or compatible products. This will make the handover easier between servers without affecting your site.

Updated Servers

A good hosting company will have the updated versions of the various services that are used (Apache, PHP, MySQL) to the latest stable versions.

If you are eventually going to install a blog, forum or any other tool it is important that your provider has the right versions of your programs to work well. Eye, it is neither necessary nor desirable to have the latest version, but one that is stable, this tested and free of failures.

Security and Backups

There is no 100% secure server, but a good provider will try to keep your operating systems up to date and protected as best as possible. In addition, you will have backups of your files (web page and email accounts) to be able to restore them in case something happens with your site. It is also possible that some providers sell this additional service, however, the important thing is that there is the option.

Return Guarantee

An easy way to know if a company is serious is to offer a refund of your money if you are not satisfied with the service after a trial period. Thus, you will have the opportunity to test them with the assurance that, if you are not completely convinced, you will be able to request the cancellation of the service and the return of your payment, within the policies of the company. The common thing that you can find in the market on these guarantees goes from 15 days to 60 days of testing.

Reputation and Testimonials

This is one of the best points to decide for a service. A company that has a good reputation in the market will have good testimonials on its website or on service analysis sites. Do not expect to find only positive comments, it is impossible for a company that handles thousands of customers never have a complaint. But try to weigh the comments you find, both positive and negative to give you an idea of the quality of service.

This is an example of the testimonies shown on the website of thenhost.com: You can also request the reference of some clients, and even their contact details to talk with them about their experience working with this web hosting provider.

Scalability or Growth Capability

Finally, something very important is the growth capacity of your provider (and the plan you choose) and know if it fits your plans for the future. That is, you should consider whether your hosting company may or may not grow with you when your web page grows and you need more complex resources and solutions, what happens when your traffic increases considerably and you have an online store with thousands of transactions? Can your provider help you at that time?

Every business should have its goals in growth, so if the web hosting company you chose may have difficulty keeping up, it should be a consideration for you. Does this provider have VPS options and dedicated servers? Do you have the staff to assist you with these advanced problems? Can you easily upgrade your plan to a larger one?

Transferring a site from one hosting to another takes time and effort that can be avoided or diminished if your company has planned such situations. As with all other factors, research, get some opinions and make an informed decision.

So What is the Solution that is Right for Your Needs?

In order to answer this question, you should consider what you are trying to achieve with your web hosting: What type of site or sites are you going to manage?

• What is your budget?
• Will you need your own server now or later?
• Do you have special technical considerations?
• What Type of Site or Sites Will You Manage?

Hard disk space is no problem for most websites, but bandwidth is the first thing you notice when a site is growing. If you expect users to download and or upload heavy files, watch videos or stream on your site, you are likely to consume your allocated bandwidth capacity quickly, and even more so if your page becomes popular.

What Type of Sites Do You Have?

Here is a list of site types, with some estimates of the resources you might need, identifying what kind your project falls into to know what you can tackle:

Sites That Require Low Bandwidth:

• Blogs with some articles (2 or 3 a month), which are mostly text.
• SME Websites
• Small online stores
• Web directories
• Small to medium forums.

Sites That Require a Lot of Bandwidth:

• Social Networking Sites
• Networking Sites
• Video Sites
• Online Game Sites
• Large forums with many users
• File sharing sites, photo galleries
• Online radio sites (streams).
• Radio9 is an Internet radio station that uses a dedicated server to broadcast.

Another way to classify what type of web hosting you need:

What is Your Budget?

The only real option for a serious business site is paid to host. Plans can range from $ 5 per month to hundreds per month, depending on which plan you choose.

Many web hosting companies charge extra for some services, such as backup, dedicated IP, minor RAM, and Processor. The simplest is to choose the basic options and one or two extras that you are sure you need (consult your executive), but not more. As your website grows, you can add additional services that you require, this way you only spend on what you really need.

Will You Need Your Own Server?

For the vast majority of users, a shared hosting is more than enough for their needs. However, dedicated VPS and servers are required for certain applications. The three most common ones I have encountered are:

Security: When a company handles sensitive data, a dedicated server gives you greater security and control over everything that happens on your computer.
Full Use of Resources: If you already have contemplated that your page will require great resources in bandwidth, processing, databases, etc. A dedicated server is the most suitable option.

Freedom of Configuration

If the project you are developing requires the installation of special libraries, own programs, access to the root, then you need the freedom offered by a dedicated server. The dedicated managed server is a very common variation in this service, where you get technical support at all levels that concern your team. This is the best option, and it is worth hiring. Because although it may cost a little more, it can help you solve many problems.

What is the Best Hosting?

Excellent services are not free, but a good investigation will make you find the service that best suits your needs and your budget. You can see, many elements to make this decision, but in this guide, we have planted the most valuable information so that you can make a well-informed decision. I hope it helps you make your selection better.