Web hosting is a service that gives businesses and individuals the ability to publish their website or web page on the World Wide Web. The companies that provide this feature are called web hosts. Think of this function as renting digital space where you can display your products and services.
In today’s modern world, where a majority of consumers can be found online, having a website can help you reach your target audience easily. One problem that may arise when you build a site for your brand is finding the best web host that has the necessary functions for your business’ needs.
Look for resources that provide comprehensive appraisals on various providers. You can check out hosting comparisons on Hosting Foundry for reliable evaluations of different web hosts.
Meanwhile, here are the common features that you’ll find with all top web hosts:
1. Bandwidth Allocation
Bandwidth pertains to the number of web visitors that your website can handle. If you’re planning to reach an international consumer base, you ought to think ahead and get a web hosting plan that provides a substantial allocation for scalability.
On the other hand, if you’re starting a blog as a passion project, you can always begin with the regular web hosting package. You can get an upgrade when you find that your site is slowing down due to web traffic.
The bandwidth allocation has a significant impact on site speed, so make sure that you find a web host that can provide you with the best deal. Nowadays, it only takes a few seconds for a web user to decide whether they want to continue exploring your website or abandon it for the next blog.
The rate by which the elements of your site loads is crucial to keeping your target audience on-site. The more time they spend in your domain, the higher the likelihood that they’ll purchase something because you got to market your products and services to them directly.
2. Storage Space
All web hosts also offer storage space for you to save the media and other files you have on your website. The difference lies in how much allocation the service providers offer with their various packages.
Some basic plans offer 5 gigabytes of space, which is sufficient if you only publish text and images on your site. However, you have to remember that most web users prefer videos nowadays, so you may want to get more substantial storage space.
A2 Hosting and HostPapa are two web hosting companies that offer considerable disk spaces to their users. One is unlimited, while the other allocates a whopping 100 GB, respectively. This is the reason why these are the best website hosts according to MangoMatter.
3. Email Function
Email continues to be a primary form of communication for businesses. That’s why web hosts support this channel.
This feature is also valuable for branding. Receiving an email from your domain, like company@companywebsite.com, looks more credible and authoritative than continuing to use a generic or, worse, your personal email address for business transactions.
Bonus tip: find a service provider that provides a webmail interface with POP3 and SMTP access. With this, you can open your email on your mobile devices, which makes responding to customer and supplier queries more convenient.
4. CMS Integration
Your web host plan should also allow you to integrate a content management system (CMS) into your website. It’s essentially a one-stop-shop for everything that’s published on your domain.
Popular ones like WordPress, Wix, and SquareSpace are valuable for beginner website owners because these platforms simplify the process of creating and managing content. The core functions of a CMS are indexing, publishing, search and retrieval, editing, as well as format management.
Moreover, even if you’re already proficient in running a website, using a CMS is still beneficial because it makes maintaining your blog or e-commerce site more manageable. This gives you more time to focus on other more crucial aspects of your business, like your relationship with your customers.
5. Tech Support
While digital tools have definitely become more sophisticated, they are still machines or programs that require maintenance. Make sure that your web host guarantees 24/7 support in case you encounter technical issues with your website when it goes live.
Conclusion
Web hosting is a service that enables you to publish your website or web pages on the World Wide Web. These providers offer bandwidth allocation, storage space, email function, CMS integration, and tech support. The difference lies in how much their packages provide to their users and whether it’s the best solution to your business needs.
