Not all website hosting is created equal, so make sure you know what to look out for when choosing a web hosting provider.
What is Web Hosting?
Web hosting is a service that essentially acts as a home for your website, providing a place for it to ‘live’ on the internet. You may be tempted to think that it does not matter where or by whom your website is hosted, so long as it can be found on the web. However, there’s a little more to it than that. Here are a few important things to consider when choosing a web hosting service provider:
Secure & Trustworthy Websites
It’s important your users know your website is secure, as businesses need to protect their customers’ information as it is being sent across the web. One way to do this is to obtain an SSL certificate, which indicates to users that any information sent between the user and the website is encrypted and secure. Users are able to see that your website is SSL authenticated and can use your site with confidence. Not having an SSL certificate can result in a pop-up warning for people visiting your website on many popular browsers. A certificate is especially crucial if your website processes sensitive information, such as transactions, customer data or bookings. What’s more, Google now favours secure sites, so having an SSL certificate can actually help increase your search engine ranking.
Website Updates & Security
While it may seem that only large corporations are at risk from hacks, over 40% of all cyber attacks are actually aimed at small businesses. Hackers will seek out websites with vulnerabilities, so ensuring your website’s security is well worth it. Another service offered by some web hosting companies (including Dubzz) is ensuring all the latest software versions and plugins are installed and updated on a regular basis. All website platforms and plugins have new versions released as technology advances. Outdated software and insecure passwords are actually among the top reasons for sites being hacked, so at Dubzz we always make sure that our websites have the most recent software versions installed and utilise secure authentication.
Backups
It is always important to regularly back up (copy and archive) your website data, in case it ever becomes lost or corrupted. Experiencing data loss can be more common than you think, with some studies recording up to 66% of respondents globally having lost files, mainly through deletion or corruption. While online data can be secured, there is always some degree of risk, so backing up your website regularly will give you much greater peace of mind. Furthermore, as backups work as an archive, they can also be used to simply recover data from an earlier time if it is ever needed. Backups are a large part of our web hosting service, but not all providers give it the same amount of importance.
Reliability & Flexibility
Unreliable hosting servers can mean that websites crash more often, and can become inaccessible for long periods of time. This can often be caused by servers with limited disk space or bandwidth. If a hosting provider has put limits on how much data your website can store or how many visitors can come to your website, an overload may cause your website to crash. Dubzz utilises trustworthy servers that have the flexibility to support high traffic levels and store ample data, meaning your website won’t experience any interruptions, even if there is an unexpected spike in traffic or data on your website.
Website Speed
Speed is a major factor to consider in web hosting. In order to display a single page, the server must execute thousands of interrelated codes, which takes time! Therefore, the faster the server, the faster the website. Often, cheap, shared hosting can result in sluggish server response time – meaning your website takes longer to load. Not only is this is a pain for your users, but when you consider that Google looks at loading speed in its ranking algorithms, it becomes all the more important!
Support
When choosing a web hosting provider, it is ideal to find one that provides instant support if you ever need a question to be answered or a problem to be solved. It is a real bonus to have a team of knowledgeable people that you can call right when you need them, instead of being left on your own if anything ever goes wrong. Many hosting providers will only offer e-mail support, which can take much longer and cause frustration.
At Dubzz Digital Marketing, we provide all these services as part of our web hosting. While there may be many options out there, not all of them include the same kind of support and service. Make sure you consider all of the variables before deciding where to host your site, so you don’t find yourself in trouble.
