Choose the Right Website Hosting and Maintenance

In order to reach out to potential customers and interact with existing clients, smart business owners use blogs and websites. While business owners recognize the importance of creating great content, the thought of choosing a good web host is often put on the back burner. In fact, many small businesses make the wrong decision in the very beginning because they were not able to properly evaluate their needs.

Website hosting, domains, and maintenance can often become confusing to many people. How do you know what's what, and what's right for you? First, let's break the terms down by comparing them to car ownership.

Think of the website as your vehicle, the domain name as the license plate, and the hosting as the type of parking which can either be on the street or in a garage. Street parking is going to be the cheaper hosting option and is provided by many of the commonly known shared hosting platforms. Garage parking would be premium hosting, hosting that fits your needs whether you are setting up a blog or a sophisticated website.

While you do not technically have to do maintenance or have a security system on your car, if you expect it to keep running smoothly and keep it safe from being damaged or stolen, it really is necessary. You should have the same kind of mindset when it comes to your website.

You probably want to maximize the profits of your business, right? Well, if you put maintaining your website on the back burner and don't do your research to choose the right hosting company, you will be sorely missing out. Here are some of the problems that may arise from choosing the wrong web hosting company or slacking on your website maintenance:

1. Loss of Revenue. Customers will not be able to learn more about you or your products and services when your site is down. Even if your site is up if it has slow loading times and old content, people are not likely to stick around. Not only will potential customers be lost, but potential sales are lost as well.
2. Malware and Security. While there is no perfect solution for a completely secured website, having a good hosting company that will do regular data backups on a remote server is your best option. This allows the hosting company to restore your site if it ever does get hacked. Also, a good hosting company will help you with maintenance, technical support, and security upkeep at all times.
3. SEO Ranking. If your website is constantly going down and search engines can't reach it, it will most certainly hurt your site ranking.

So, now that you know the basics of what web hosting, domain names, and maintenance are, as well as adverse outcomes of choosing the wrong hosting company, it's time to learn how to choose the best hosting provider for you. Here are some tips:

1. Uptime. Make sure your hosting provider takes every precaution to ensure your website is up at least 99% of the time on average.
2. Reputation. Do your research and find a hosting company with a stellar reputation. The best way to do this is to do a background check and see if they have enough testimonials from current clients. Also, look to see if they have regular maintenance schedules and what their average downtime statistics are.
3. Customer Support. While you may go to sleep, the internet never does, so make sure your hosting provider offers 24/7 support and is fast and knowledgeable.
4. Cost. What you pay for is what you get. While it may cost you more up front, a reliable and reputable hosting company will be the best option for you in the long run. Not only will you experience minimal downtime, but they will also offer a lot better technical support as well.

Choosing a web hosting company based solely on price is not worth the hassle and stress if your site is constantly going down. There are a lot of hosting providers to choose from, and it is vital to do your research and find the right one for your business.