Choosing hosting is one of the steps that you have to go through when creating a website. For some people, this stage is quite confusing because there are so many hosting service providers.
It must be admitted that choosing the right hosting is not easy. You must be observant in making choices. Why? Because each hosting service provider usually provides a variety of hosting package options and the features are almost the same between one package and another.
There are 7 factors that you should consider when choosing hosting for your website, which are as follows:
- Website Type
- Hosting Type
- Number of Websites
- Website Traffic
- Server Specifications
- Budget Availability
- Customer Support
Do you want to know the details of these 7 factors?
Below I will discuss in more detail the 7 factors that must be considered when choosing hosting for your website.
Website Type
The first factor you should consider is what type of website you want to create. Do you want to create a dynamic or static website? Do you want to create a website with a CMS like WordPress or just HTML?
A static website does not require large server resources and usually does not require a database either. Therefore, if you want to create this type of website, you don’t need to choose expensive hosting. Just choose a cheap package, the most important thing is that the hosting provides support for HTML/CSS.
It’s different if you want to create a dynamic website with a CMS like WordPress, Joomla or Drupal. You must choose hosting that supports the PHP programming language and MySQL database. In addition, make sure that the storage capacity (disk space) is enough to store the required files.
Especially for WordPress, Joomla or Drupal, try to choose hosting with a storage capacity above 500 MB. Why? Because besides storing CMS files, you also need space to store images or photos that will be used on the website. The more images used on the website, the greater the storage capacity you need.
Hosting Type
You need to know that there are many types of hosting nowadays. There are at least 6 popular types of hosting, namely shared hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, cloud hosting and reseller hosting.
What type of hosting to choose?
The answer depends on how complex the website you are creating and how much website traffic.
If you just want to create a simple website like a personal blog then shared hosting is enough. But if you want to create a website with complex features and serve a lot of visitors, for example, like a marketplace website, then you should consider VPS or dedicated hosting.
Number of Websites
How many websites do you want to make? If you have plans to create more than one website, then you should choose hosting that provides the Addon Domain feature. With Addon Domain, you can create many websites with different domain names on one hosting account.
Without an Addon Domain, one hosting account can only be used for one website. If later you want to create a new website, then you have to buy another hosting package for that website. That’s the advantage of a hosting package with the Addon Domain feature.
Website Traffic
How much website traffic do you expect each month? If you are a famous person, for example a public figure, then you need a hosting package with large bandwidth. Why? Because many of your fans will visit your website. If the available bandwidth is insufficient, your website will quickly go down and be difficult to access.
Do you have to choose a hosting package that provides the most bandwidth?
Of course not. What you need is a hosting package that can be upgraded if one day the available bandwidth capacity is insufficient. In this case you have to be realistic. If you choose a hosting package with the largest bandwidth capacity up front, the costs will be very high even though website traffic increases gradually, not immediately.
Server Specifications
What technology is needed to support the website you want to create? If it’s just a static website, you don’t need server specifications that are too sophisticated. It’s another case if you want to create a dynamic website with a CMS like WordPress, Joomla or Drupal. It’s also different if you create a website or web application with the .Net or Java programming language.
You have to pay close attention to the technical specifications provided by the hosting package you want to use. Is the technology you need available or not? If the hosting package specifications are unclear, you should ask the hosting service provider directly.
Based on the operating system used, there are two types of hosting, namely Linux and Windows hosting. Hosting with a Linux operating system is usually cheaper than Windows. If you want to create a website with a CMS like WordPress, Joomla or Drupal then Linux hosting is the best choice. However, if the website you want to create uses .Net technology, then you should use Windows hosting.
Do you need additional features such as email hosting, Content Delivery Network (CDN) or digital certificate (SSL)? Make sure that the hosting package you choose provides the features you need and of course at an affordable cost.
Budget Availability
How much budget do you provide for your website needs each month? You should know this so you don’t waste your time comparing hosting packages that are clearly not priced within your budget.
You need to adjust your budget to the price offered by the hosting service provider. Website hosting services are subscription services, so make sure you have enough budget to pay for hosting fees every month.
Customer Support
Before deciding to choose a hosting service provider, you need to make sure whether their customer support is good enough or not, whether they have staff who are able to understand the ins and outs of server hosting or not.
Never choose a service provider just because they offer lower rates than others. Why? Because website hosting services are long-term, the human resource expertise behind the website hosting service provider is more important.
You can test how they serve consumers by asking various questions about hosting and domains. If it turns out that the answers they provide are satisfactory, you can consider the website hosting service provider.
Conclusion
When choosing the right hosting service provider for your website, there are many factors that you should consider. Don’t be easily fooled by cheap prices because in general the price is in accordance with the quality of service.
