Let’s cut to the chase. If you’ve never had a website before, chances are you’ll only need a shared hosting plan.
Consider these factors when choosing a shared hosting plan:
- Website traffic limits
- How much you have to pay upfront
- Whether it’s managed or unmanaged
- Whether emails are included
- Customer service options
- Whether there’s a website builder
- Uptime rates
- Server response times
- Bandwidth limits
- Storage limits
- Whether it’s portable
Essential Web Hosting Features
Essential web hosting features will depend heavily on the type of hosting you need. A VPS, for example, will have very different specs than other types of hosting, such as a bare metal cloud server. But some features do cut across most types of web hosting.
- Bandwidth. How much data can you transfer to and from your website?
- Storage. You need to store your files, customer data and media somewhere.
- SSL Certificates. These put the “s” on the end of HTTP and encrypt data transfers.
- Security. Tools such as two-factor authentication, zero-trust protocols and distributed denial of service (DDoS) protections help prevent cyberattacks.
- Backups. Ransomware, natural disasters or even someone tripping over a power cord can tank your website. Backups help you recover quickly.
- Support. You need somewhere to turn when things go wrong. Even with your own IT team, you may need the help of someone with physical access to the servers.
Hosts on our list stand out in these areas, such as Mochahost’s determined support team, TMDHosting’s security features, and DreamHost’s strong uptime guarantee.
Value
Sometimes, cheap really is cheap, and you have to pay a little more for quality. Value is that fine point that balances cost, features and quality. Providers on our list offer reasonable value, but many require paying for one to four years upfront to achieve that balance.
Not every business can afford large upfront payments, so it’s wise to focus on the best-value monthly payment plans.
For overall value, Hostwinds, TMDHosting, and Namecheap offer strong combinations of features and comparatively reasonable plans.
Customer Service
Even if you have a great tech team, there may be times you need customer support. Billing errors occur, issues with the control panel pop up, or there’s a tech issue with the physical servers. Reaching someone quickly at your web host can mean the difference between no downtime and thousands of dollars in lost sales.
For quick customer service response times, look at hosts such as Mochahost and IONOS.
Portability
Even if you love your web host’s services, there may come a time when you need to move your website. Companies are sold, terms change, or you might outgrow the host’s offerings. Portability means your website files are yours and can be migrated to a new host.
For the best portability, look for cPanel plans from hosts such as Mochahost, TMDHosting and Namecheap.
Scalability
Regardless of your business type, you’re likely hoping for growth. As your company and website demands increase, you’ll need more bandwidth. Eventually, you may want to move from shared hosting to something like VPS, where you can increase or decrease computing power as required.
For scalability, consider hosts such as IONOS, DreamHost and Hostwinds.
