When most people start blogging, they are only thinking about content and want to start building a community as quickly as possible. In doing this, they skip the crucial aspect of making sure their blog is secure and will always be in their control. The web host is accountable for ensuring that your blog is functioning as it should.
You are essentially buying a house for your blog in one of the data center servers when you sign up for a web hosting plan. However, there are some things you need to look for when considering web hosting. We have compiled the top 10 things you need to consider before buying a web hosting for your blog. If you are a Malaysian looking for best web host, you must consider these.
1. Check to upgrade options and prices
Hosting deals, mostly shared web hosting is usually very cheap when signing up. However, these deals usually come up with significant higher upgrading and renewal prices. So before clicking ‘buy’ on the web hosting plan that offers you a signup price at an 85 percent discount, check the ToS to make sure you are okay with the upgrading and renewal rates.
2. Ability to add domains
Are you planning to host email accounts with your website? Then, you need to take a look at the email features before signup. Although most hosting firms will give you the option to host your email, it is always better to check and make sure of it.
3. Simple hosting control panel
A simple control panel with a wide range of functionality is essential when running your website on a web hosting space. It doesn’t matter if it’s Plesk or cPanel, as long as it comes with all the critical features and is user-friendly.
4. Select a host with which your site can grow
You want to make sure your host provider is capable of allowing your website to grow. You should be able to upgrade your account. While several providers will enable you to improve, some make it easier to upgrade than others. We recommend Hostgator and BlueHost for shared hosting – moreover, BlueHost will also be available at a discounted price while MT and Known host is perfect for VPS hosting.
5. Site Backup
Equipment fails, computer crash, and even hackers can get into your blog and replace your index.php file. So, you need to ensure your potential web hosting provider does site backups regularly. And your web hosting provider should be able to restore your full site or at least most of it in no time.
6. Server reliability, security, and uptime scores
An unstable network and weak server connections can push your site offline. Paying for web hosting with reputable uptime scores, preferably, not less than 99.5%, is key to your website success. In addition to making sure your data and website are accessible at all times, it is vital to ensure you have a secure and trusted hosting solution.
7. Improves SEO
When it comes to SEO, the details are vital. And one of the most ignored aspects is the web host. However, your hosting provider has a significant impact on your SEO. Although this may vary with the traffic and size of your website, as your host could either damage or support your rankings, the faster your website loads, the higher it’s ranking will be in the search engines. Since your web host ensures your website is up and running, and loads quickly, you need to put SEO into consideration when buying web hosting.
8. Technical support
Technical support is vital. Your host provider should have a good reputation for their support. You should be able to speak to the customer representative on 27/4. And the hosting provider should offer multiple support like live chat, toll-free phone, email, and more.
9. Understand how web hosting pricing works
While costs should factor into your decision, don’t sacrifice performance and support. Web hosting itself can cost as little as a few cash monthly. Most web host providers will give you a discount for signing up – check deals here for best offers. Moreover, don’t forget to plan for services such as domain name registration and any plugins or themes you might need to add.
10. Storage
Although most of the hosting plans will provide unlimited storage capacity, they are bound to come with restrictions. But for blog sites, a low-cost shared hosting plan will be enough for your storage needs. As a blog site, it is unlikely you’ll require more than 1GB of storage space unless you have lots of music files or videos on your website.
