While creating a website most consumers just consider cost while shopping for Webhosting. However, there is more to hosting than meets the eye, and you should exercise caution when choosing to host.
Website owners often search for apparent features such as storage, bandwidth, email storage, number of email accounts, and so on. The webhosting services providers are aware of this, so they typically offer attractive packages to meet those needs. However, there are other factors to consider when selecting a provider, which can impact the performance of your website.
What should you look for in website hosting?
Of course, pricing is crucial, but there are several other technical considerations to consider. Nonetheless, we will begin with the cost!
Price
There are several hidden charges that businesses neglect to disclose. Some providers treble their prices for the second year and given the hassle of migrating your site to a different hosting company, we recommend that you always inquire about the price for the following years.
Options
Examine the options and what is included. Prevent costly surprises by referring to our list for essential features, often unavailable or expensive when added later.
Website SSL Certificates
This is now a requirement from Search Engines, and websites without ssl certificates will be penalised. Check to see if your SSL is shared or dedicated, which is required by the search engines. If it is not provided, check the pricing because you will undoubtedly need it!
CDN
The Content Delivery Network enables quick access to your website’s content. The principle is similar to “Browser Caching,” except it is implemented on local servers. For example, if your servers are in Berlin and your consumer is coming from Los Angeles, there is a significant time lag between the two locations. This causes the website to respond slowly. With CDN keep a local copy in Los Angeles, so your visitors are served locally, without slowing your website pages. This is critical if your clientele is not merely local, and it affects your SEO success for searches from afar.
SEO on the server
These are server-side activities you may do to increase the speed of your website. Such as browser caching, image compression, CSS compression, Javascript compression, and so on. There are plugins for these characteristics if you use WordPress. However, they can be expensive to build if your server does not support them. Even with WordPress websites, if these are put up on your servers rather than utilising a plugin, it can imply fewer security concerns, fewer updates, and faster server response due to a lack of plugin dependency.
Timeline Restore
Timeline backup creates a daily backup of your website (or anytime you make an update). It is then accessible if you need to restore your website or database. You should aim for at least 30 days, so you may restore your site within the last 30 days. This is crucial if you want to prevent tragedies, heartbreak, and lost time. Remember that the time it takes to manually transfer and restore your website is not trivial. Moreover, it is not always doable unless you have a chronological backup.
Site of staging
This is generally applicable to WordPress sites. If you’re having issues with WordPress or want to alter the theme on your site, you’ll need a staging site. This is a duplicate of your website that has been configured as a subdomain. It is inaccessible to the public since only you or your developer know the URL. Additionally, it is not indexed by search engines. WordPress staging sites should ideally be “One click”. Since the server handles all technical concerns and provides a full duplicate of your site for you. You or your developer may now experiment with it as much as you like!
This is particularly beneficial for updates since you can test any updates on the staging site. With that, you can identify and resolve any issues, and then deploy the update to your live website.
WordPress Optimisation
You can indeed operate a WordPress site on any Linux-based server. However, WordPress performance and stability are considerably enhanced if your server is tuned for WordPress rather than just the standard PHP and MySQL environment. Make sure to check if a hosting package is WordPress optimised before purchasing it, as this cannot be changed later.
FTP Access Control
The FTP connection is the most susceptible and least secure aspect of any website. Hackers use this method once they crack the FTP credentials. They have complete access to the whole site and can do whatever harm they want. FTP is usually insecure since it is always accessible. It allows hackers to connect whenever they want and make as many try until they get access to your server. The only method to stop them is to block the port and allow it when you or your developer require it. Hackers will be unable to access it since the port is closed and does not react to even the right credentials.
Malware Identification
The most prevalent motive for website hacking is the installation of malware. It not only causes mayhem for innocent website users, but it can also influence your Search Engine rating. Search engines are becoming more adept at identifying malware on websites. Furthermore, if they do, they will lower your website in their search results and some cases, completely erase it. Your hosting server with Malware detection might be your greatest final line of defence. So, if hackers manage to get past all your security measures, your hosting server detects and identifies the malware.
Summary
The quality of your website hosting may have a considerable influence on the performance of your website in search engines. Before you choose a supplier, you should analyse all aspects of your website hosting plan, not just the price.
