Your choice of web host is crucial for the success and growth of your website. A professional-looking website hosted on a reliable hosting platform will attract potential customers and get you more sales.
A low-quality web hosting can impact your business by affecting your site’s performance and could jeopardise your site’s security. There are many web hosting providers out there, each with different hosting solutions and features.
How will you know which company offers the best hosting service? There is no sure shot way to know that. But you can at least avoid the common mistakes while choosing a web host.
Read this Bluehost review to learn why it is the most trusted web hosting provider.
What are some of the common web hosting mistakes?
If you are a new business owner with little or no knowledge of web hosting services, then selecting the best web host for your business can be a tough task. Apart from the numerous hosting providers, there are also different web hosting packages with attractive features. Each has its pros and cons, but which is best for your website would depend on your website needs and requirements. Some of the mistakes that you might make when choosing a web host is opting for free hosting, not testing the customer support or choosing the wrong hosting plan for your website.
Biggest Web Hosting Mistakes You Should Avoid
1. Choosing Free hosting services
Free hosting services are good, but for a new blogger or an artist. It is not great for a business website as you may encounter various issues like:
- Sluggish website speed and load time.
- Your website may not be able to run certain scripts and files.
- The web host may place third-party ads on your website without permission.
- Your website will have a subdomain name. Learn more about domain and subdomain.
- You won’t be able to scale your website with added resources as your plan is free.
- Your website won’t get featured easily in the search ranking.
- It might impact your SEO campaign.
If your budget is tight, you can choose a Shared plan or Basic plan instead of free hosting. Also, with Bluehost coupons, you can easily purchase hosting and domain at an economical price.
2. Not comparing different hosting packages
If the hosting package looks too good to be true, you need to make a quick comparison. Most people choose hosting plans based on features and pricing. But, it is important to determine which plan will suit your business needs. You can do that by comparing different plans available with the web hosting provider.
Read: Shared web hosting vs VPS web hosting
For example, if the plan comes with unlimited bandwidth, you need to dig deeper to know what is truly unlimited and what’s not. Some plans offer restrictions like software installation, no SSH, or multiple POP accounts. You can compare different plans on the internet and choose a plan that offers excellent web hosting features.
3. Choosing the wrong plan
All the starter hosting plans are for start-ups and small business websites. It is advisable to start with a good hosting plan if you are aiming to expand your business in the future.
For example, for an E-com website, the most feasible option is VPS hosting as the resources can be scaled based on traffic. Basic plans will not support free data transfer, unlimited bandwidth, or security functions.
Site security is an important aspect of a website. Whether you need dedicated or VPS hosting depends on your business needs. If it is for a blog, you can stick to a basic plan or Shared hosting plan, which is easy to purchase at a budget with Bluehost hosting coupons.
4. Not testing the customer support
Customer support is an important feature of web hosting. You need to have a backup if you are stuck with any issue related to your website.
Most hosting companies claim to have 24/7 customer support, so try testing the customer support feature before buying the hosting plan. Make a list of questions that aren’t in the FAQs section.
Test each contact option with the list of questions to know about the reliability. Also, check through the support message board to see how long the web hosting company takes to respond.
Read these hosting reviews to know the different types of customer support offered by various hosting providers.
5. Falling for Sign up offers
Most hosting providers offer attractive sign-up packages to lure customers into purchasing hosting and domain. However, while the initial cost may be low, some companies may charge you two times extra for renewal. So, always check the web hosting renewal costs before you sign up for any hosting package.
6. Trusting big brand names
Choosing a popular web hosting is simple, but don’t blindly trust the company’s claims. Before buying a web hosting plan, you must analyze all the hosting features.
- Don’t fall for blank claims; ask the company what is included in the hosting plan.
- Check for the uptime, loading time, and bandwidth feature.
- Check the security features offered and scalability options.
- You also need to check website storage and backup options.
7. Choosing a hosting package without a refund
If a web hosting company does not provide a refund guarantee, it may be difficult to trust the company. Even after reading the reviews, there is no guarantee that they will be good. A refund policy gives you a guarantee that the host is reliable.
It also provides an added sense of security that you can switch to another plan if your website needs expansion. Read the refund policy and understand the terms and conditions of the policy. Some hosts provide a refund only for some time – that is a month or three months. Others may offer a pro-rated refund on hosting plans.
8. Choosing a new company
The experience of a web hosting company goes a long way. It is important to choose a company with a good reputation and experience. There are many web hosting companies – some old and some new. But new ones may not offer you the same reliability as old companies do.
New companies may provide minimum server space as it’s a new venture, so if you plan to scale your website in the future, stick to a popular hosting provider. New companies also offer a lot of discounts and promotional offers. But, if the hosting company decides to shut down its operations after a few years, your website will have to bear the brunt of closure.
Here are a few reviews that compared Bluehost with relatively new web hosting providers.
9. Not choosing an SEO friendly hosting
Website optimization is important for marketing and sales. The visitors will not reach your website if your website is not optimized. So, choose a web-hosting plan with SEO-integrated features. Also, choose a hosting plan that offers a 99.9% of uptime guarantee and faster servers. With SEO-friendly website hosting, you can improve your site’s traffic and ranking.
10. Not reading the reviews
Before you decide to buy a hosting plan, read the review about the company or the plan you choose. Reviews give you a real account of the features of the hosting plan. You need to check at least ten to fifteen reviews before you decide.
If the reviews are positive, go ahead and buy the hosting package. But, if the reviews are negative, research some more to find the best option. Also, check for recent reviews to know about new features and updates to hosting plans.
Here are some comparison hosting reviews of popular hosting companies.
Final Words,
Avoiding these common web hosting mistakes can help you pick a quality and reliable hosting provider that helps boost your website’s performance. Always read reviews to learn about a hosting company that you plan to sign-up with. Check the features they offer, customer support, security options, and the renewal costs of the hosting before you make a purchase.
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