How To Choose a Web Host

What’s important in a web host provider?

Finding the right host means looking at speed, support, and security. A host should be able to rapidly scale your website as your target audience grows and should be able to handle sudden bursts of high traffic.

How much help will you need?

Basic customer service provides access to email, ticket and phone support. Turnaround time on requests, however, will vary. Some service providers even offer 24-hour phone support.

How much traffic do you expect?

Hosting providers generally charge based on storage and bandwidth usage. If you are expecting only a few visits to your site, then your bandwidth will be low. However, if you are suddenly featured at the top of Google or your product goes viral then you can expect bandwidth requirements to surge.

Understand server types

The very cheapest hosting is available on shared servers, and one box may run hundreds of websites. Your site performance depends on the load all the other sites are putting on the host.

Choose a portable content management system to avoid lock-in.

Most hosts are pretty good, but times change. For your own best interest, make sure you aren’t locked to any one host.