4 Most Common Mistakes When Choosing Web Hosting

Choosing the right web hosting provider is essential for your website's survival.

The web hosting service is the backbone of your website. Nowadays, owning a website means that people can and will locate you online, and since a lot of people spend most of their time on the web, it's only logical that businesses should be available to them there. Therefore, every business simply needs a website today, and choosing the right hosting service can mean the difference between success and failure. 
A lot of business owners make a mistake when choosing their web hosting service, either because they want to cut costs or simply because they lack proper knowledge. Nevertheless, if you want to run a successful website, whether for business or personal reasons and have the opportunity to grow it properly, you should know how to choose the right web hosting service. Here are a few mistakes you should avoid making when choosing the right one.

Know what you need

The first mistake many people make when looking for a web hosting service is not knowing what they really need. It's important to identify those needs before you start looking for a hosting provider. For instance, are you building a small website or do you plan on growing it in the future? Will you support your website with a blog?
Will it involve eCommerce or other kind of shopping cart software for online transactions? Also, do you need 100% uptime and what kind of web traffic do you expect? These are just some of the important questions you need to ask yourself before you go looking for web hosting. 

Don't skip the reviews

There are many hosting services to be found on the Internet and all of them offer something great. However, you shouldn't fall for an offer that sounds good straight away. Instead, take your time to check out user reviews and customer complaints about the hosting provider in question. If you find too much criticism in the reviews, it's usually the first sign that something is wrong. 

However, unhappy customers can be highly vengeful when writing reviews, so instead of simply taking their word for it, you should check out other sources of information as well. For instance, check if there are any customer support complaints and try to find reviews from someone that has tried the services of that hosting provider. That way you'll know for sure whether both the hosting provider and the offer are right for you.

Avoid free hosts

Free web hosting services may tempt you, especially if you're running a startup business with a limited budget to spare. As convenient as free hosts may be for small websites with not many visitors, there are issues that come with free service. For example, if your website starts to experience a growth in traffic and visitors, or when your business gains enough fame, you won't be able to properly scale your website because free hosts aren't adequately equipped to support it. 

Moreover, you will not own your website and the hosting provider may impose advertisements on your website. Basically, it's not free per se, because you allow the owner of the website to flood it with ads and pop-up ads. Also, your host provider may shut down your website if they want to, forcing you to pay extra to keep your website going. That's why it's better to buy domain name from a reliable hosting provider than to risk your domain name and register your website on free hosts.

Don't forget to test the customer support

It's important to know that your hosting provider takes care of your website accordingly. After all, there will be times when your website experiences downtime, malfunctions or other issues, and you need to know that those issues can be resolved immediately. The best way to find out if your provider is up to speed is to test their customer support. If you're satisfied with their responsiveness and quality of service, chances are you have found the right hosting provider for your website.

Things you should be on the lookout for when testing out customer support is whether they're offering 24/7 support or not. Also, check how politely and how fast they respond to your questions. If they respond well, check how fast and efficiently they tend the issue. Furthermore, don't forget to check out every contact option they provide, such as phone calls, emails, live chats and so on. 

Choosing the right web hosting provider is essential for your website's survival. Not only will your website need good maintenance and uptime, it also needs a secured domain that will help customers find you online more easily.