Things to Consider Before Choosing Shared Hosting for Your Website
Whether you are someone starting up with the web business, or are trying to have a website for your offline business to expand the business, it would be wise to choose a small and shared hosting package rather than any heavy one, because a shared hosting package is very much enough for you to start off and not spend much to begin it.
There are some excellent web hosts which provide a good web hosting on shared servers for a budget pricing but each of them would not have all the features which you as a consumer might be expecting. While you are trying to buy a low cost shared hosting package, there is a certain check list which you must make and check out while making a final decision.
Before Choosing Shared Hosting for Your Website
Bandwidth and Disk Space
Some of the catchy ads from the web hosts would drag you towards them but it is always suggested that you don’t rely on the ads, but actually try to make a table and take the details from each of the web host which is offering the shared hosting plans. There are freebies too provided by the companies, such as the add-on domains, email accounts etc. but that shouldn’t matter much when you are actually looking for a good number on Bandwidth and Disk space availability for the account.
Check whether the host is providing a good disk space and monthly bandwidth limit, and clearly read the Terms and Conditions page because there is a lot which is not directly shown on the package page, but there are conditions set by most of the web hosts.
Customer Support / Technical Support
Check if the web hosting company has got a good customer service team which addresses all your issues, before and after you purchase the web hosting package, may that be even the shared hosting which is one of the smallest package they are selling. It is important to check whether the web hosting company is able to answer the user queries or solve the issues within a few hours, and even better if the host has got a live chat or call section.
Number of add-on domains
The add-on domains option is very much important for the shared hosting users, because in the longer run you might want to have more domains hosted under the same account, and not get a new account for each of the website. You have to check for the web host company which gives a good number of add-on domains, as well as give the easiest options for a new user to add the domains as add-on domains.
Free website builder & templates
One of the reasons why one would choose a shared hosting is for putting up a website for the offline business, or to create a website for a client. For this, you should check if the web hosting provider is offering any free web templates and a website builder to start off, without needing a good knowledge on coding and designing. Most of the hosts provide them but you have to see how good are these, and how many templates are being provided by the web host.
Pricing
Most of the web hosting companies offer pricing based on the term. For a single month hosting on recurrent payments, the price is high while that for a longer time is lesser, i.e. if you are choosing a host based on all the features, it’s better to take it for a longer term at once because you end up paying less on average.
Reliability and reviews around the web
There are both positive and negative words about every web hosting companies but it could not always be about the shared hosting, thus you need to check for the reviews and understand about the reliability of the web hosting company before you make the final decision.
These were some of the important points to consider, although one of the best suggestions is to take personal feedback about the web hosts you have shortlisted, by contacting your network which is already having websites hosted, so that you get a direct word about the best shared hosting companies to choose from.