How to Choose the Right Kind of Web Hosting for Your Business (Shared, Dedicated, Cloud, VPS)
Meta: Need to choose the right kind of web hosting for your business before you go any further? Here’s our guide to making the right decision.
One of the very first things you should do when you’re setting up any kind of new business is creating a website. But it’s not just about designing and building that WordPress website—the web host you choose can make a huge difference to your business going forward.
If you’re wondering how to choose the right kind of web hosting for your business, we’re digging into it today. By the end of his article, you should be able to figure out which one suits your business and understand the pros and cons of each one.
Here’s to business success in the future!
How Web Hosting Can Affect Your Business
Your web host is closely tied to a number of elements on your website. Web page loading speed, the level of security on your site, and even how your content is presented to the viewer.
Get it right and your visitors will be happy. But get it wrong, and your reputation could be ruined before you even begin… Not to mention potentially placing customers in a position of data privacy violations.
This is why choosing the right kind of web hosting for your business is so essential. This is an investment, not just a quick buy. So it’s well worth spending a little more than you may initially have budgeted for to keep your site safe, secure, and speedy.
Types of Web Hosting
Let’s dive into the types of hosting. This is the most essential thing to get right—and it relies on you having a good idea of the business you’re starting, your target market, and what your growth prospects are for the future.
Shared Web Hosting
Shared web hosting is common, but it’s not often the best choice for business websites. On each server, you’ll have multiple websites, basically renting space. They coexist together, but they all make use of the same resources… This means if your “neighbor” gets a sudden burst of traffic, it takes resources away from your site, making it slower.
While it’s often the most affordable of the options, you need to think hard about how this “shared space” could impact your site down the line. If your site is likely to grow, it may not be able to handle the amount of traffic it could be receiving in the future. It’s also less secure, which could leave your visitors’ data open to hacking.
Dedicated Web Hosting
Dedicated hosting is like buying a house on a plot of land. It’s all yours, so only you use the resources on the server. No sharing! It’s more pricey but a heck of a lot more stable, secure, and fast than shared hosting. Worth it in the long run for those high-traffic days!
Cloud Hosting
The most expensive, but to be honest, the best value for your money. Invest in this now if you can—it’s pricey but absolutely the best in terms of security and stability. Cloud hosting also has the ability to scale with your business, so no matter how much of an unexpected growth spurt you encounter, it can handle it. Excellent choice and well worth the price.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Web Host
Once you’ve figured out what type of hosting is going to work for you, there’s more to consider. You can’t just leave it there if you want to choose the right kind of web hosting for your business.
Even within each type of web hosting, there are tons of different companies offering hosting services. Don’t just pick WP Engine because they’re for WordPress, or GoDaddy because you know the name, or go for SiteGround because your friend uses them. The next step in making the decision on which company to go for is to consider cost, quality of service, features, security, and scalability.
What you choose needs to fit into your price range. Even if you need to scrounge a bit for cloud hosting, there are still vastly different price options, so we highly recommend getting a few quotes before settling on one.
Read as many reviews as you can to get an idea of the hosting company’s customer service. If you see red flags, avoid! Find one with happy customers. If you can, chat to customers on forums and get honest opinions. It’s worth taking some time on this step.
Each web host offers different features in terms of bandwidth, uptime, storage space, and other things. Compare multiple companies and make sure the one you choose offers what you need.
Security is extremely important. Your host should offer an SSL certificate and other security features—it shouldn’t be all up to you to download security plugins. This is something you can’t compromise on!
Lastly, find a plan that can grow with you and won’t hold your business back as you get bigger and busier.
How to Choose the Right Kind of Web Hosting for Your Business
Ready to choose the right kind of web hosting for your business? Here’s what you need to think about:
- Understand your needs: Make sure you have a great idea of the future of your business. It’s not just about NOW—take future growth into consideration as well.
- Know your options: Research and learn about web hosting types and elements. The more you know, the better decision you’ll be able to make.
- Devise a budget: Although we recommend cloud hosting for everyone, your budget matters. You may need to shuffle some things around to accommodate your hosting.
- Compare providers: Not all web hosts are equal. Do your research, including speaking to real people and getting their stories. Compare and decide.
- Don’t forget tech support: Don’t forget to research your host’s technical support. They need to be there and sharp when you need help… Or you may find yourself stranded alone with an unsolvable problem.
About the Author
Paul Wheeler runs a web design agency that helps small businesses optimize their websites for business success. He aims to educate business owners on all things website-related on his own website, Reviews for Website Hosting.
