Matt James — April 14, 2020 The web hosting industry is growing rapidly. According to data from IBIS, the United States Internet hosting industry was growing 13.9% a year between 2014 and 2019. A more recent report by MarketWatch shows the market is growing closer to 20% a year.
The fact that businesses are paying more for web hosting underscores the benefit that this service provides. However, it also masks some of the challenges that companies face. There is tremendous variability between the quality of services different hosting companies provide. This can make it difficult for companies to make the right choice if they are not properly informed.
There are a number of factors that businesses need to evaluate when picking a hosting package. It is important that they review all of their options carefully, because they can be trapped with a subpar hosting service if they make the wrong choice.
What factors should companies look at when choosing a hosting plan?
It is going to take time to review your options if you’re trying to purchase a new web hosting package for your website. Fortunately, the process is going to be quicker and easier if you know what factors to evaluate. You can get started by analyzing the features listed below.
Pricing
I have written other articles on choosing web hosting plans. I used to make a conscious effort to avoid mentioning price as the first factor. My concern was that people are often tempted to opt for the cheapest hosting plan available, which can be a disservice to their company.
However, I’ve started to see things in a bit of a different light. I realize that I might have underestimated the importance of pricing in the past. This is not to say that pricing is the most important factor, but it is still quite important.
The issue is that hosting plans can vary tremendously in price. Some plans are available for less than $ 3 a month and some are even free. Others cost around $ 100 a month or even more.
The premium plans that cost $ 100 a month could come with lots of great features that are nice for certain companies. On the other hand, some companies don’t need all the extra bells and whistles. If they are a smaller business operating on a tight budget, then they may be overpaying for a lot of services that they don’t need.
By no means am I trying to disparage the pricier hosting plans. They can certainly be beneficial or even necessary for certain customers. They just aren’t right for everybody. Companies do need to look at the costs of a plan and decide whether the high-priced options are justifiable. Free website hosting could actually be the perfect solution for many companies. There is no reason to pay for something that they don’t need.
Bandwidth and storage space
You are going to need to make sure that your website has the bandwidth to handle the traffic volume that you are anticipating. How much bandwidth are you going to need? That is obviously going to depend on the number of people visiting your website every month. Consider the following websites:
- A local attorney website that is only getting a few hundred visits a month from prospective clients
- An AdSense site that is getting 1000 visits a day from social media
- A major e-commerce site that is getting half a million visitors a month
All of these websites are obviously going to need different levels of bandwidth. Storage space is also very important. The amount of storage space is going to depend on the number of webpages and scope of the content that is being stored.
It is difficult to predict exactly how much bandwidth our storage space is going to be needed, since they are going to depend on so many factors. However, it is better not to be too conservative, especially if your website is still growing.
Security
Security is another important factor to look at. Data shows that 60% of companies that suffer a security breach will go out of business within six months. It is important to choose a hosting plan that provides adequate security to prevent this catastrophe.
Choose Your Hosting Plans Carefully
There are a lot of hosting options on the market. Choosing the right one is going to take some time and research. You should follow the steps listed above to ensure you choose the right hosting for your business.
Business & Finance Articles on Business 2 Community
(27)
