Hostess with the Mostest
Editor’s Note, February 2020: The information in this blog is still perfectly valid and more relevant than ever. We’ve reached a point in the web world where many of the larger hosts like GoDaddy are starting to lack the functionality and personal attention that are now offered by smaller hosts.
I won’t name drop any hosts specifically in this blog for one reason: as time progresses, companies may not be doing what they should to keep up with the pack. It’s important to look at the host objectively and compare them to get the most bang for your buck.
Build a House
When you’re building your website, you should have a destination for it, in terms of hosting and domain name. Hosting is where your website is located and housed; it needs to have the bandwidth behind it to support the number of people who visit your website. Your domain name is your website’s address; it needs to have a name that is relevant to you, your business, or your product so people can find it easily.
You need both a domain and a hosting provider in order to have a functional website. The code that you, or someone else, has developed comes together to form all aspects of what your website looks like and how it functions. That code needs to live somewhere; it needs a power source to keep it up and running as you have planned. That is where domain name and hosting come together to give you the website that you’re hoping to present to your audience – even perhaps the world!
If you are interested in having a website at all, it will have to be housed somewhere. That is where hosting comes in to the equation. A good hosting provider should be able to keep your website up without much difficulty. Obviously, it is not desirable for your website to go offline. What have you spent your time on designing and developing unless you can have people see it at any time of day? You want a good, reliable hosting provider to make sure that the lights in your metaphorical internet house stay shining brightly for all to see.
A hosting provider should also be able to allow your website to see as much traffic as is reasonable. A popular website like Facebook needs to be able to handle more visitors than the average smaller local business. The more people that visit your website, the more your website needs to be able to handle.
To add to the above, hosting in 2020 is much more than just a place to house your website. A good host will come with an SSL certificate, One-Click installations for all your favorite CMS programs, and perhaps even free email support. Good hosts will include these programs in their base cost for even their most basic hosting programs.
When It Comes to Web Hosting, Cheap is Not Your Best Choice
As a web designer, I encounter trouble when a website is hosted by a provider that is not so reputable. I love finding the greatest deal on Cyber Monday, but sometimes the cheapest option, in terms of hosting especially, is not always the best option. If it seems too good to be true, maybe it just is. If a hosting provider is not so reliable, not only could your website go offline with greater ease, but also it could become incredibly difficult to make edits to your website itself.
The key is doing a little research before jumping head first into whatever hosting provider seems to be the cheapest option. In the age of internet reviewing that we live in, it is easier than ever to find out what people think about a business, and this case is no different. You need to think seriously about the things that are important to you, like consistency, customer service, ease of use, and more. Just consider that the offer that seems to be the most fiscally responsible might actually end up being more headache than that saved money is worth.
And if you’re just starting your new website and need a bit of marketing advice, check out Roundpeg’s Digital Toolbox platform for helpful tips for your web and strategy.
