Finding a good web host company/package is one of the most important tasks for your internet business and can literally lead to the success/failure for your business.
A website host is an internet service that allows you to make your website accessible to users on the internet. Without a host, you have no website. Basically, your website will be stored on a computer at a data centre and ‘hosted’ to the work on the internet.
Why is a Good Web Host Important?
How would a taxi driver fare if they were given a 15 year old Nissan Micro to do their job? They would only go so far before the car can’t take any more (except in extremely rare cases!!). The more people the driver takes on board, the sooner the car will become unworkable.
However, a taxi driver who is given a new Merc will last years without facing the slightest issue (no matter the number jobs completed).
A host is similar to this. A bad, low spec hosting package will only go so far before breaking down (something that must be avoided at all costs for an internet business). A host going offline means your site will become inaccessible, thus users will not be able to purchase from your site.
Now, there are millions of different hosting packages available across at all levels and you need to ensure you choose the best for your business. Yes, the best for your business, not the best out there. If you’re looking to purchase a car, do you go and purchase an R8? No, you would first look at your budget and then your requirements and whatever fits within the two, you choose.
The same goes for hosting. You don’t need the greatest but be sure to go above your minimum requirements (as traffic on the web can change in an instant).
Traffic and users are one thing, the platform your website is built on is another. Some platforms require high resources and trying to host them on a low spec hosting package will inadvertently take the site down.
So, estimate the traffic to your site and look at the requirements for your cms platform. Research this well and you’ll inevitably choose the ideal host for your internet business.