For many beginning Web designers, the importance of quality hosting is often overlooked, primarily because the world of hosting can seem intimidating at first. Hosting plans come in all shapes and sizes to fit the needs of sites with a wide range of hosting requirements. The problem is many novice designers may not be sure of their site’s hosting requirements.
In any case, now that you’ve gone through the rigorous planning stage for your website, it’s time to find a home for your site. For the uninitiated, web hosting refers to a service that allows users to rent space for their site’s data. Data can then be managed and distributed via the hosting service. Without a proper hosting service, nobody will see your site.
Choosing A Host
When choosing a host, it’s important to go with an established hosting service. Why? For starters, it’s impossible to gauge if a provider is able to handle your data unless they have a track record of providing stellar service to their customers. In most cases, just one or two people run many of those too-good-to-be-true, low-priced hosting companies. This usually means they don’t have the proper bandwidth to handle massive datasets, which translates into an increased risk of downtime. Don’t gamble your site’s success on a faulty hosting service; know what you’re getting into before you get into it.
Consider Popular Search Habits
Once you’ve settled on a high-quality hosting provider, it’s time to settle on a domain name. When selecting a domain for your site, it’s important to leverage popular search habits that have been determined by search engine optimization (SEO) experts over the last 10 years or so. This is where business fundamentals come in handy. For instance, if you run a small electric guitar repair shop, search engine users may search for your site under the term electricguitarrepair.com. This is why it’s helpful to purchase – in addition to your company’s established domain – several domains that relate to your site’s industry. Keep in mind that each landing page will require extra design. Try not to create more work for yourself than you can realistically complete.
Ensuring Your Hosting Company Provides Quality Service
Now it’s time to test the waters of your hosting company. One easy way to know if you’ve gotten yourself into a terrible hosting situation is by monitoring the quality of service in real time. Keep a close eye on your site’s performance. If the site keeps timing out or the server keeps going down, kick the hosting provider to the curb. The modern Web user is increasingly impatient. If there are repeated server outages, you might as well say goodbye to a segment of your visitors forever. No online business or site can afford repeated server outages.
Don’t make the mistake of taking the hosting decision lightly. A quality hosting service provider will make your website shine, and with careful research you can avoid some of the pitfalls of choosing the wrong provider. You will have a high-performing site, and your users will ultimately thank you for it.
