Choosing a web hosting company can be tough.
There is no shortage of companies available that all offer similar features. 99% uptime, unlimited bandwidth, and fast support are among the many selling points. A quick search for “web hosting Australia” literally has millions of results:
So how can you possibly choose the right one?
One thing to immediately point out right now is that your website is a valuable asset. Cheap web hosting plans may seem appealing with their low price point, but what happens if your website is down for any reason? Chances are you won’t be able to get immediate support or get answers right away. This is why it is important to first do your research before making a final decision.
Here we look at some of the most important factors when choosing a web company company.
1. Pricing
Price shouldn’t be the deciding factor. While there are plenty of low cost packages that are available for a few dollars a month, they may not be that great of a deal when you take a closer look. Just remember that you always get what you pay for and web hosting is no exception. Look at the features that are you getting along with what kind of customer support you can expect should any problems arise (and they most definitely will).2. Tech Specifications
The web hosting company you choose should be a good fit for your site.If you run a major online store with thousands of products, you want to choose a company that can handle all that bandwidth and assist with any problems. Cheap hosting packages may seem appealing until you realise that there are numerous limitations. Dealing with downtime or loading issues is simply not worth the headache when you need your site to be up at all times.
3. Customer Support
This is perhaps the most important factor.Most web hosting companies offer 99% uptime but problems can still happen and you could find your site suddenly down for a few hours. Downtime can have a serious impact on your revenue which is the last thing you would want. So choose a company that offers 24/7 customer support. That way if anything goes wrong, you can immediately reach someone from the company and have them fix the issue and provide updates.
4. User Interface
How user friendly is the web hosting company? You may not be a very tech-savvy person which is why you should also look at the control panel to see how easy or hard it is to set up basic things like email accounts, WordPress, etc. Most web hosting companies have free demos that are available. Give these a try first before making a decision.5. Scalability
You may have a small product line now but there’s no telling what the future holds.Your business could have explosive growth in the next few years and you could be carrying hundreds, even thousands of new products on your site. The hosting company you choose should be able to easily accommodate this growth. In some cases, they may move your site to a dedicated server for better performance. Be sure to ask about this to help with your decision.