What You Should Be Looking for in a Shared Hosting Provider for Your Business

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Shared Hosting Provider for Your Business

Shared hosting has become a popular option for businesses today, largely because it can significantly reduce the cost of running a website compared to using dedicated hosting. It’s a very cost-effective solution that is useful for businesses recovering from the pandemic, especially since it still offers everything you need in a hosting provider. 

Shared hosting also makes it easier for business owners without as much technical know-how in IT to properly grasp every aspect and manage them well. It’s easy to just base your choice on the price of a provider’s services, but there are many factors that you need to look for when choosing your shared hosting provider. 

Top-Tier Security

Cybercrime continues to grow, with Forbes’ breakdown of cybersecurity trends in 2023 revealing that the cost of cybercrime is expected to reach $8 trillion within the year. The reality is that 91% of the source code used by organizations is outdated, which makes the entire ecosystem that much more vulnerable to exploits. 

Top Security

There’s even the added complication of ‘Preventing Insider Threats’, with employees putting your data at risk because they either lack knowledge of best cybersecurity practices or are purposefully conducting illicit activities. These factors, on top of the fact that you share your server with unknown entities with behavior you can’t monitor, make it all the more important to pick a provider with top-tier security. 

Bluehost stands out as one of the most trusted providers that also has shared hosting options. Their suite includes malware detection and daily backups to ensure that your data is secure. They also have free SSL certification, HTTPS protocols, and anti-spam tools. 

Reliable Speeds

Digital.com ran a survey of online shoppers that revealed how 53% of consumers expect a page to load in 3 seconds or less. If your page doesn’t load fast enough, around half of your potential customers will simply leave and look elsewhere. 

In a list of best managed WordPress hosting providers, GoDaddy is the marked option for ease of use and speed. Because of their content delivery network (CDN) integration, they ensure that hosted websites (both shared and on WordPress) run faster. In fairness, they do pass speed tests with flying colors and even show faster load times than other providers in the same tier. GoDaddy websites will usually take around 171 to 292 ms to load, which are very good numbers if you want to keep your audience’s attention. 

Scalability

In Alex Rode’s article on entrepreneurial trends to watch for in 2023, sustainability is noted as seeing an increased emphasis in the future of entrepreneurship. With this in mind, you must consider the scalability of your website in terms of making room for analytics, AI, and localized performance. 

HostGator has affordable shared hosting tiers that already come with free domain registration. More importantly, these plans already come with unlimited bandwidth and scalable resources. This means you can easily adjust the scale of your site to suit more or less traffic as needed. It’s more cost-effective and gives you added flexibility in the long run. 

Consistent Uptime

Uptime is a non-negotiable for businesses in a digital landscape, especially now that e-commerce has become one of ‘3 Must-Have Technology Solutions for Businesses’. As you use e-commerce to boost your online visibility and credibility, users will also have the expectation that your platform will always be reachable. When your system is down, you lose potential conversions, it affects your daily operations, and you can leave a bad impression on consumers. 

Web.com offers WordPress and shared hosting plans whether or not you’ve used the web builder offered on its platform. Among its many features, the 99.99% uptime guarantee is the one that makes the package attractive. The results in uptime testing for this provider are excellent, but you may also find comfort in the fact that you get your money back should you have downtime issues. 

Reachable Support

What good are a host of features if you don’t have a dedicated support line? When issues arise, you want to make sure you are using a provider that is responsive and can actually tackle your concerns in an efficient manner. Without support, you are left to fend for yourself when problems occur, and this only reflects on your brand if you fail to find a solution. 

Even if you think you’ve got it all covered, it’s better to have a provider with ample support. After all, Moneyzine’s statistics on small business websites reveals that 30% of SMB owners find it hard to keep up with the latest tech developments. With that, a fourth of SMB sites only get updated less than once a year. 

Hostinger excels in the support department. Although there is no direct phone line, online support is available 24/7. The online support system is very efficient, so you get the help you need in a timely manner. Perhaps even more importantly, their customer service is actually helpful and knowledgeable. 

Alex Rode
WRITEN BY

Alex Rode

I am founder of Just Create App. I have extensive experience in writing about apps, softwares, IT companies. Done Master of Science in Computer Science from Yale University, I am a passionate tech enthusiast and dedicated writer. I delve into a diverse range of topics, from AI and software to app development, and keep a keen eye on tech firms and emerging trends. My expertise enables me to break down complex topics and present them in an engaging, accessible manner, making me a trusted source for insightful analysis in the realm of technology.

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