When looking to launch a website there are a whole host of web hosting providers out there to choose from. How do you pick the right one for you?

If you manage to choose the correct provider from day one, this will save you a lot of time, trouble and headaches in the future when trying to migrate your website to a different web hosting provider later down the line.

Here are our top things to look for when choosing a web hosting service.

1. At least 99% uptime

If your website is for a business, any time it’s not available could cost you money, leads or sales. If you’re spending money on marketing your website and driving people to it, it’s not a great experience if your website isn’t available. A good hosting provider will make sure that your website is up and accessible. Every now and again there will be maintenance that may take your website down for a short period of time but look for a 99% uptime guarantee. Not sure what uptime is, don’t worry we’ve got you covered in one of our other articles.

You can always check the status and performance of our servers here – and we guarantee 99% uptime too 😉

2.  There are different plans to choose from

You will need to choose a web hosting provider with flexibility, scalability and growth in mind. The package that you need right now may not suit you in 6 months or a year or twos time. Make sure you choose a provider with various packages so that you can scale your web hosting as you scale your website and business.

3. You can manage your domain name

To get started with your website you also need a domain name. You need to find one and register it – it’s important to keep your domain name updated as long as you would like your website.

Although you can register your domain with a different provider it’s much easier to keep it together with your web hosting. This means you can manage both in one place and makes it much easier to keep on top of everything.

4.  Security

It sounds like an obvious one but it’s so often overlooked. Security is so important to make sure that your website isn’t subjected to hacking and data breaches. You should look for things like SSL certificates and enhanced SSL’s particularly if you are selling online. Firewalls and other security software’s or add-ons will enhance your website security.