Table of Contents
- What Are Web Hosting Platforms?
- 5 Things to Consider When Choosing a Hosting Platform
- Amp Up Your Online Presence
- Creating and publishing your site is the beginning of your company’s online journey. With a well-planned SEO method (and the assistance of Poshwebagency.com), your new website will be the king of search engines, draw new customers and increase your market reach.
If you’re part of a small (but powerful) group, then this may seem like a daunting task. Even if you know how to construct websites, how can you ensure it’s able to adjust to the challenges of the future? This is why choosing the right web hosting service makes a huge difference.
What Are Web Hosting Platforms?
Web hosting platforms offer information storage to allow websites to run, which means website owners don’t have to handle everything themselves.
In short, third-party hosts manage servers that store information about websites such as video, code, text and image assets on their servers. When users attempt to access the website, the server will deliver this information for the user to view.
Self-hosted sites function similarly. The major difference is that they’re hosted on servers owned and managed by the website owner.
The Third Party. Self-Hosting
Self-hosting and third-party hosting offer advantages and disadvantages that largely depend on your technical abilities and the resources you have at your disposal.
The advantage of having your website is that you control your host and the framework more. If you require new features for your site, you won’t need to be concerned about whether your host can support them.
Self-hosting can be much more labour-intensive and requires more resources. A few potential drawbacks
- You are responsible for all updates and maintenance of devices and software.
- Because it will require an enormous amount of power which can lead to a higher cost of electricity
- Based on the resources you have depending on your resources, your website could run slower than a professional hosting service.
Types of Hosting Services
If you’re looking to utilize an online hosting service to host your website, you have the following options for you:
- Host sharing: an affordable alternative where many users are sharing the same system and resources
- VPS: Virtual Private Servers (VPS): a hosting service in which users save their information in a designated storage space that is shared by hardware (e.g. physical servers)
- Dedicated servers Hosting service gives users an individual server for storing the data on their websites, which could improve the functionality of their site while also ensuring security and maintenance requirements.
- Cloud hosting is a newer web hosting option that can store data across several servers, allowing for greater server capacity.
- Managed Hosting: an alternative to the typical dedicated server, users save their data using a designated server while hosting services manage the security and maintenance of the server rather than the user.
The best host for your site considers your site’s requirements with risk and cost.
For instance, a small-sized business with little traffic on its website could choose to cut costs by using shared Hosting. While sharing resources like this could increase the chance of disruptions to smaller businesses, the savings could make it worth it.
In the meantime, other companies might require the security and stability of a managed host platform as they grow, even if it means more expensive costs.
Consider your present and future needs when selecting the right host.
5 Things to Consider When Choosing a Hosting Platform
Selecting a new host is a major decision whether you’re building a brand-new website or moving your existing one. In the end, your hosting service plays a significant part in keeping your site operational and up-to-date, allowing you to continue growing.
Five important considerations for selecting the most suitable hosting service for your company.
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- Technical Requirements
Take a look at what your site requires at a technical level. That is, what is it that your website requires to be able to function? What do you think you’ll require in the future?
Traffic
The volume of traffic your website gets can affect how it can serve your customers. This is a major aspect to consider when choosing a web hoster.
It might not be much of an issue if you’re only starting out. As you expand, you may need the ability to increase or decrease the size of your site to accommodate the changing requirements. What happens, for instance, if you’ve got massive advertising campaigns in the pipeline that could cause abrupt spikes in traffic? If you’d like these campaigns to be successful, you’ll require a hosting service capable of handling the task.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the quantity of data transmitted via the internet within a specific period. For web hosting, it’s the quantity of information your site can transmit to its users.
The more users visit your website simultaneously, the more complicated your site is and the more bandwidth you require. As an example, are you planning to host lots of videos of high-quality or run complicated programs? This all needs the bandwidth.
The quantity of bandwidth that you use determines the cost of the hosting plan you choose to use. In most cases, hosting providers offer tiered plans with the amount of bandwidth you can use throughout a billing time. You will be charged an additional amount if you use more than that and exceed it.
Applications & Coding Languages
Consider how you intend to develop and run your website. For instance, will you use more advanced programming languages like PHP or Java or something less complex like HTML? Do you plan to create and maintain it using Drupal, WordPress or an e-commerce platform? Are you considering using the Content Delivery Network (CDN) to improve the speed of your website?
When choosing the hosting service provider, you will need to take an in-depth inventory of your current technical requirements and what you could add shortly. Make sure that your chosen host can meet the requirements.
Server & Data Center Locations
A little some background on technology. The word “server” refers to the physical hardware used to store the information on your website. Web hosts typically maintain many servers in a single location. They also rent space on those servers to users similar to you. In this case, your “central location” in question, where these servers reside, is called that of the data centre.
In the instance that you are using the case of edge computing or cloud hosting, it could instead be a cluster of data centres that work together. In this scenario, your data would be distributed throughout that network. Your site’s information is closer to many of your customers and can accelerate the speed of your site.
When selecting a web hosting provider, consider the type of arrangement you want. Are you adamant that your website is hosted in the cloud and that the servers you use are located near you? Do you want to host with a provider that can provide important additional services for a reasonable price, whatever the distance you are?
Management
Then, think about the possibility that a controlled or unmanaged server is the best choice for you.
Managed servers generally cost more than non-managed servers. However, they offer a range of advantages. For instance, our partnership, Cloudways, which is a managed hosting service, gives users:
- Fully managed to host services for PHP applications based on PHP such as WordPress, Woocommerce, Magento and Laravel with the top cloud service providers (DigitalOcean, AWS, Google, Linode, and Vultr)
- Preconfigured and optimized stack that will ensure the highest performance for your website.
- Management of servers, which includes operating system security updates, patches and firewall
- A managed platform for the deployment of web applications, no-cost SSL certificates, customizing and carrying out tasks
- Automatically scheduled daily backups
- Support for applications and customer support round the clock.
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These services offered managed to host lets you concentrate more on building the content on your site and assisting your clients.
If you have a server that is not managed, it is possible to save some money at first, but in the end, you’ll need to perform more work by yourself to keep it running. In particular, you’ll need to set up your control panel, software, and security system, then keep the entire system with regular updates.
Additionally, in addition to saving money, it can allow you to have more control over the way your server is configured. However, you’ll need to spend more time and effort to maximize its benefits.
- Support
Your host’s customer service (or the absence of it) could have a significant impact, not just on your website but also on your entire business.
For example, suppose you launch an exciting, highly profitable digital campaign. Just as you begin to notice incredible results, your site is taken offline, and none of the potential customers accesses it.
If you don’t have reliable customer service, how quickly do you think you can solve the issue? How many sales might you lose through this process? What about your data? Has it been stored in a backup? Are they able to help you restore it?
Choose a website hosting provider with the help you require. For instance, Cloudways offers:
- 24/7/365 SupportSupport via live chat as well as a ticketing system
- Tickets for normal and high-priority online purchases.
- Help with the customizing of your server and troubleshooting
- Monitoring proactive
- Alternative contact options, such as phone support as well as Private Slack channels (with an advanced support add-on)
After you’ve verified that your hosting provider provides SupportSupport for channels that are suitable for you, examine the quality of the support. For instance, Tom’s Guide recommends calling SupportSupport directly for conversations with them. You can also read customer reviews or speak with former or current customers to inquire about their experiences.
In addition to customer assistance, ensure that your host can keep up with your demands. For instance, if you suddenly discover that you require more bandwidth or paying excessive amounts, is it possible to alter your plan in the future easily?
With a reliable hosting plan, it will be possible to grow your business quickly and with less stress.
- Security
Once you’ve dealt with the technical and SupportSupport requirements, It’s time to consider security. How secure will your website’s information be when your hosting service provider hosts it? What steps will they implement to ensure security?
Certain companies have an easier approach to this, allowing users greater control over the security they desire for their website. This could be the right choice for you if you’re looking for total control over your server’s security features.
Other providers, especially those with managed hosting plans such as Cloudways’ Cloudways, offer more extensive coverage, and users don’t need to worry about it.
For instance, Cloudways offers:
- Firewalls are specialized on the operating system level
- Web application firewalls
- SSL encryption
- IP allow listing
- Two-factor authentication
- Protection against malicious bots as well as Direct Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks
- Security patches that are regularly distributed directly to servers
When considering hosting companies, look at their security options before choosing one that provides the most suitable options for your company.
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- Reputation
Support for customers, technical capabilities and security options are all important aspects to consider; however, so is the reputation of a host in the business.
Find third-party sources like reviews written by experts from industry publications, awards, and reviews on review sites for users.
Cloudways, for instance, is a good example. It has a 4.6 stars rating from Trustpilot and has three prizes of G2from the winter of 2022: Most Ease to Use, Most Users Likely to Recommend and Top Performer (Europe).
Alongside high-rated ratings and awards, you can read reviews from users to get a complete view of how it uses the platform. In combination with TrustPilot and G2, you can try TrustRadius and social networks.
- Budget
The last thing to consider is your budget.
Web hosts generally charge their services based on a monthly subscription, and these rates may differ greatly based on the plan you select and the options you choose.
In general, you should look for:
- The perfect equilibrium between savings you’d like along with the functions you require
- There’s enough flexibility to add more features to your plan in the future without breaking your budget.
- Services of high quality to justify the expense
Amp Up Your Online Presence
If you wish potential clients to visit your company online, The initial step should be to create an appealing and reliable website powered by a platform you can trust. If you want simple, quick and efficient hosted hosting that can be scalable to your particular needs, look into Cloudways.