Web hosting services may be a dime a dozen, but every site owner will want to get maximum value for their money. Nowadays, most web hosting companies will guarantee a high uptime and several customer support channels, but will they be worth the money you’re putting in?
Here are 5 things you’ll want to look into before committing to a web hosting platform.
24/7 Monitoring, Plus Software and Hardware Maintenance
Web hosting gives web owners a way to make their sites available 24/7. This is usually done via computer, or ‘servers’ in data centers.
Sometimes something will go wrong with a computer or software running the web hosting service or storage, and your website will inexplicably go offline. Customers can get peace of mind when the hosting service maintains their own hardware or software and monitors them 24/7. It’s worth noting that this feature is not available on all web hosting companies, so it’s best to do your research beforehand.
Free Migration Offers
Migrating from one web hosting brand to another can be difficult, as it’s time-consuming and requires a lot of things to process. Also, the onboarding can cost you a lot in what’s called a ‘migration fee’.
Great web hosting companies will offer to migrate your domain name and everything that comes with it to their servers free of charge. In very few cases, they will even take care of the migration process and make it so that you experience zero downtime.
High Hosting Uptime
A website experiencing downtime will be unavailable to visitors, which can also mean that you’re losing money along the way. Most web owners will want a guaranteed 99 percent uptime from their hosting services, but not everyone can deliver on that.
Website availability is crucial if you’re running a business, and you’ll want your online platform to run as smoothly as possible. Picking the best hosting service is easy if you factor in hosting uptime- the higher the number they offer, the better it is for their customers.
24/7 Customer Support
Website owners do not like being left in the dark when it comes to web hosting, and they expect several channels of communication open whenever they want to inquire or submit a complaint or a request.
Customer support availability is roughly the same as hosting uptime- you’ll want somebody to be able to pick up the phone, respond to your email or chat whenever you’re having difficulties with your website. Aside from 24/7 customer support availability you’ll also want to have several options, such as email, instant messaging or chat, and phone, among others.
Includes SSL and Modern Security Solutions
With all the hacks and data leaks happening today, you’ll want to make sure your website is protected.
Great web hosting firms will have a number of security measures to protect their customers, including the latest SSL technology and encryption, firewalls, auto-detection and removal of malware, blocking access and preventing DDOS and DOS attacks, among others. The more security features and functions, the better.