Choosing the right hosting for your business can be tricky. Particularly when in some instances the options for choosing a package are more complex than the self assembly instructions for an IKEA kitchen. There’s shared hosting, VPS hosting, Cloud Hosting and Dedicated server hosting. So how do you make the right decision?
Well, first up avoid the super cheap option. There are hundreds of web hosting firms with shared hosting out there, which offer monthly plans for a few pounds. And whilst it may look economically tempting, it will only give you a headache. That’s because this type of web hosting can only offer this sort of rate, because around a thousand or so websites share a single server. And as a server can only handle so many requests for web pages at a time, this can slow down a website’s loading time. Search engine Google doesn’t like websites that load slowly, and neither will your potential customers who, with a click of a button, will head off to your competitor’s site, no doubt one that doesn’t have these sorts of delays.
And despite what these hosting providers claim regarding unlimited disk space to bandwidth, this is simply a marketing technique. A read of the small print, and there always will be small print, will prove that what you’ve signed up for has limitations. This can include details on how you can only use so much of a percentage of a resource before breaching your contract. That’s not to say there isn’t a place for shared hosting; there is. Just not when it comes to hosting your business site.
Dedicated hosting offers sole access to the web server. This is beneficial if, for security reasons, you want the server exclusively, or you need some pretty hefty resources to run your website. Either way, this is an expensive option, and not ideal for small businesses, who are looking to get value for money.
Most small businesses websites will be happily accommodated by the relatively cheap Virtual Private Server which typically comes in a variety of hosting packages offering a sliding scale of resources. You can pick the package which will provide you with enough CPU usage, RAM, disk space and bandwidth as per your requirements and be safe in the knowledge that your site will load quickly when visited by your customers. Perfect if you expect a steady stream of traffic to your website.
But if you’re a small business that has a global appeal and you’re looking to scale up quickly, then there is another alternative. Cloud Hosting offers the necessary resources but is suitable for businesses that don’t want to overspend on a dedicated server or a high end VPS. British web hosting firm Memset is in a position where it can offer either. And in addition to hosting a client’s main website, it offers other services including additional MySQL databases, a variety of programming languages such as Python and PHP, email and managed backups. Everything you need to effectively help represent your firm online.
Bio: Ben Jones is a tech writer, particularly interested in how technology can help small businesses. He’s been assisting businesses in getting IT setups maximised, and is sharing experiences along the way.
