Finding the best web hosting for your business

So, you’ve got your brand new website designed. It looks great, it functions perfectly, and all you need to do is get it live on the web. The good news is that this doesn’t have to take a huge bite out of your budget.

As one of the scores of new businesses launching on a modest budget, it makes sense that you’re on the look out for good quality web hosting that really serves all your needs, including those financial ones.

After all, when you’re just starting out, you need to be very careful with your money, and by starting small, you can always increase your web needs as your business grows.

To get the best value, you may be best served by registering for a shared hosting package, offering everything you’ll need to launch your website without spending a lot of money.

Fortunately, there are scores of companies offering shared hosting from as little as just a few pounds per month. Yet there occasions when having so many options at our disposal makes deciding on the right hosting provider for us a confusing, time-consuming endeavour.

To make life a little easier for you, here’s our guide to shared hosting and choosing a solution that’s right for you.

What is shared hosting?

Opt for a shared solution, and you’ll receive access to your own partitioned area of a large web server which also hosts a lot of other websites. Though this can have its drawbacks for larger sites with huge -and we mean really huge- amounts of web traffic, since sharing resources means you’re not always guaranteed the kind of bandwidth you may need, especially if another site suddenly gets a huge traffic influx.

That said, for most small and medium-sized businesses, the level of storage space, bandwidth and additional features are more than sufficient.

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When you’re on the look out for the best web hosting package that works for your business, here’s a few things you might want to consider.

Long-term pricing plans

Faced with an abundance of stiff competition, many hosting companies look to stand out from the crowd and lure in customers by presenting deals that, at first look, seem almost too good to be true.

Whilst they certainly stick to their word when you take advantage of one of these discount deals, when it comes time to renew your package, you may well find that you’re faced with fees that are more than double the original fee.

To avoid any nasty surprises, first take a look at the regular, non-discounted prices offered by your potential new provider. That way, you’ll know exactly how much you’ll be paying after the honeymoon period is over.

Take our word for it, this is a much easier option than transferring your website to a newer, cheaper option every time the hosting comes up for renewal.

Ease of use

Uploading and managing your website should be as easy as possible. To ensure you have no problems in doing everything you need to run your site, check that your hosting package comes with cPanel, a clean, simple user interface which makes managing your site a breeze.

Using cPanel, you can upload files, make changes, manage your email accounts and a lot more, all from one place.

Supported features

Planning to launch an online store? It pays to check what level of eCommerce support is available. Running your website on WordPress or another content management system? Again, take a look at how easy it will be to set these up on your shared hosting package.