If you’re in the position of choosing a new web hosting provider, you may be feeling overwhelmed at all the options you have, especially if it’s been a while since you’ve changed hosts. There are literally hundreds of companies that offer hosting services and figuring out which one is right for your needs can be challenging. While there are probably some factors that are unique to your company that you’ll have to consider before choosing a host, there are other factors that are common to everyone looking for a provider. These factors should weigh heavily into your ultimate decision.
Average Uptime
Your website won’t do you any good if it doesn’t load when people visit it. The average uptime of a host is the amount of time during a set period of time when its websites are available for users to visit. The number should be as close to 100% as possible and if a host’s average uptime is below 99.90%, move on to another provider.
Load Time
People simply won’t wait for your website to load. They will search for another website that offers similar products, services, or content that loads quickly when they want to access it. Research indicates that over half of mobile site visitors will leave the website if it takes longer than three seconds to load. That’s not a lot of time, but these days, any host that is worth using can meet or beat the three-second-or-under load time.
Support
When you have an issue with your website, you need it corrected quickly. A host’s customer support is critical for these times. Every second that your website isn’t working the way it should is another potential lost visitor and if you’re running a business, you can’t afford to wait for support to help you. Most web hosts offer phone and chat support, but the most important aspects of a host’s customer support are how quickly you can get the answers you need and how knowledgeable the representatives are.
SSL
Visitors to websites want to know that they’re on a secure website and an SSL certificate is evidence of that security. An SSL adds an “s” and a padlock to the end of the http of your domain and it means that any information that passes through your website is encrypted. This is particularly important if you’re taking payments through your website or visitors have to enter personal information such as their address, phone number, and other data.
Bandwidth and Storage
Most websites don’t come near the bandwidth and storage limits of modern web hosts, but if you have a large website with lots of images, animations, and videos, you may need to worry about this factor more than static websites. The more bandwidth and storage space a web host has, the better it is because you’ll be less likely to run up against limits that slow your load time down.
Conclusion
Other than price, these are the five most important factors to consider when choosing a web host. Don’t make the mistake of selecting a host that doesn’t meet your needs because as you know, switching providers can be a real hassle.
