The digital age is characterized by a significant dependence on the internet and on the many web solutions found therein. Any business and brand needs to establish a reputable online presence in order to optimize their earning potential. Most people are already aware of how the quality of your web hosting service will have a direct impact on your business. If you want to ensure that you don’t hurt your business by choosing the wrong web hosting, here are some mistakes that you should avoid.
Choosing Free Hosting
Web hosting is expensive, and the prospect of getting free hosting may be tempting, especially when you consider the amount of money you’re bound to save. However, this is only going to cause problems because free hosting services tend to embed third-party advertisements on the sites of their clients.
Free web hosting packages are also notoriously slow and they may limit the functionality and scalability of your website. Free web hosting packages will save you a lot of money, but you’d lose security, control, and growth potential in the long run.
Not Reading Hosting Reviews
It’s easy for hosting providers to make great claims about their service, but the best way to ascertain whether a web hosting provider can really deliver on their claims is to check their reviews. To get a good idea of how the provider actually performs, you’d have to look for customer service complaints, downtime and slow loading speeds, and security issues.
If all you find are positive reviews, it’s also likely that these reviews are fake. It’s important to learn how to differentiate genuine reviews from those that aren’t.
Forgetting to Read the Fine Print
If a company’s package sounds too good to be true, it’s likely that there are restrictions on the use of those features. There’s a lot of information in the fine print that details these restrictions. Some companies may offer unlimited bandwidth only up to a certain limit, at which point, they begin to throttle your site.
It’s also important to look out for restrictions that prevent you from using your own software, SSH, and multiple POP accounts as these restrictions will significantly limit what you can do on the site you’re having them.
Not Testing Their Customer Service
Customer service interactions are more an eventuality than a mere possibility. While many web hosting providers claim to provide their clients with 24-hour customer service, you’d be far better off by testing these claims. You don’t want to encounter a problem only to find that their customer service department is unavailable.
Before signing up with a web host, it’s important to test out their customer service by reaching out to them and asking them questions about their company that aren’t answered on their website. If their customer service is satisfactory, then by all means, work with them.
Choosing a web hosting provider is an important detail that should be approached with care. It’s important to fully understand what you’re paying for. Fortunately, the internet is replete with information on web hosting. This Website Hosting FAQ is one of the best sources of information for those who do not yet have a basic understanding of web hosting.