Selecting a Web Host : Basic Questions Answered

In this short article I have tried answering some basic questions that might be important for you to know before you go for purchasing any Web Hosting plan.

If you have noticed you might have seen that there are almost all web hosts sell similar kind of features in somewhat similar fashion and it becomes a trend to sell a feature in a certain manner like “Unlimited bandwidth” etc.

In this article you will come to know that which features can really be impactful to your website and which features you should really look for while you are selecting any web host.

Apart from features, in this article you will also come to know some practical questions answered that might prepare you mentally before taking any steps in favor of any Web Host.

So in this article I have tried giving short and clear answer to all above questions. I hope it will be helpful to you.

So let’s begin :

1) Which one to select ? Shared hosting, Shared Cloud or managed WordPress hosting ?

The answer depends on your patience level and your preferences.

If you prefer higher performance and Uptime then Cloud and Managed WordPress plans are for you.

If you are doing experiments with your website and performance and Uptime really doesn’t matter for you and you are on a tight budget at the beginning then you might like shared hosting.

Most of the times people start with shared Hosting only and then gradually upgrade to higher plans like Cloud and managed plans.

Here are some of the best Hosting providers : Shared Hosting, Managed Hosting and Cloud hosting.

Super Affordable Shared hosting :-

Hostinger (affiliate link), Namecheap (affiliate link),

MilesWeb (affiliate link) and HostGator (affiliate link)

Some other affordable shared hosting :-

GreenGeeks (affiliate link), DreamHost (affiliate link), InterServer (affiliate link), TMDHosting (affiliate link).

Super affordable Cloud Hosting :-

TMDHosting (affiliate link) and FastComet (affiliate link) .

Best Managed Hosting :-

Kinsta (Full Review), LiquidWeb (Full Review), WP Engine (Full Review)

2) Does “Unlimited Bandwidth” really matter ??

Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transmitted between the host(website) and the user in a specified period of time.

Generally it is believed that “Unlimited Bandwidth” will give you greater performance and uptime and these days “Unlimited Bandwidth” has become a great selling factor in the web hosting business.

But the truth is that without powerful processing power or CPU the “Unlimited Bandwidth” factor doesn’t seem impactful at all.

Even if there is unlimited bandwidth provided by the hosting providers there are other resources which cannot be provided unlimited like CPU, RAM etc and that is why if you get higher number of visitors to your website it might be possible that your website’s performance might get affected even if you have unlimited bandwidth.

So the thing is that at the time of peak traffic hours you have “Unlimited Bandwidth” so you will not be charged for extra data used or overuse of data but it can be possible that you might cross the CPU limits way before you cross the ” Bandwidth limits” and that will eventually cause reduced performance.

So make sure you get a Web Host that give you sufficient CPU or processing power also so that your “Unlimited Bandwidth” can be utilized efficiently.

To get more efficient website performance generally users upgrade their plan because more resources like CPU, RAM and bandwidth are provided in higher plans.

Generally you get more CPU or processing power in Cloud plans rather than in Shared plans.

Here are some better performing Web Hosts that you might like :

• TMDHosting (Full Review) can be a great choice if you want greater Performance. You can begin with TMDHosting shared plans and then gradually upgrade to cloud plans.
  
  
• DreamHost (Full Review) because of their Nginx servers are well known for their greater Uptime and superb performance.
  
  
• InterServer (Full Review), MilesWeb (Full Review) and GreenGeeks (Full Review) shared plans are also there that you might be looking for.

All these above listed Web Hosts will give you better performance not only because they give “Unlimited Bandwidth” but also because of their superb Nginx or LiteSpeed servers.

3) What is the impact of “Unlimited SSD storage” on performance ?

It is not the “Unlimited” that brings more performance but it is the newer technology called Solid State Drives (SSD) that brings optimum performance to your website.

Due to SSD your website becomes more accessible to visitors and that is how the performance also increases.

These days almost all web hosts use SSD technology to bring you greater performance and it is always better to go with the web host that uses SSD in their plans.

Web Hostings that use SSD :

GreenGeeks (affiliate link), DreamHost (affiliate link), TMDHosting (affiliate link) cloud plans, InterServer (affiliate link), BlueHost.com (Full Review), MilesWeb (affiliate link), HostGator (affiliate link), BlueHost.in (affiliate link), Namecheap (Full Review), Hostinger (Full Review).

4) Why there are renewal charges and why on renewal I have to pay more ?

There are certain Web Hosts like MilesWeb (affiliate link) that at present are giving some schemes that you can enjoy same promotional prices at the time of renewal also. This can can be great for beginners but at some point in future you might think of growing your Website on bigger platforms no matter how costly the plans are. Right !

So Affordable plans with promotional prices are great for beginners. And you get to pay higher after renewal because it is like that this could be the price when you started your Online Journey. But Web Hosts are giving you the rate cuts or discounts showing a good business gesture. So that in the beginning you don’t have to face difficulties like financial limitations to run your website.

Generally Renewals come after 3 years of purchase. So in three years everyone including your Hosting provider would be expecting that you have achieved some amount of financial success that you can now pay prices at regular pricing levels also.

So this is how prices are discounted while you are beginning. Then as you grow along with your website you will also tend to pay more for better features.

In the beginning it’s all about how we will save money and after growing up it’s all about how to spend money wisely.

About three years web hosting plans :

So three years promotional plans are good and have become a standard these days. If you see good features and overall best things that you need with any web host. You should go for it.

Furthermore, if you are not sure about any web host going for three years. Then going for one year deal is also not bad. HostGator (Full Review), DreamHost (Full Review) also gives good one year or monthly deals too.

Best Web Host with Three year plans :

• TMDHosting (affiliate link), GreenGeeks (affiliate link), DreamHost (affiliate link).
  

Best Web Hosting with one year plans :

• Namecheap (affiliate link), HostGator (affiliate link), DreamHost (affiliate link).

5) Are Money back guarantees important while selecting any web host ?

Yes. Why not.

Money back guarantees on the first go doesn’t seem important but it is always better if you get more time to think on your decision. isn’t it !

Generally making a website becomes so over whelming that 30 days time is not enough.

There are web hosts which are giving more than 30 days to reverse your decision and they should be admired for that.

Generally people don’t reverse their decisions but a longer money back guarantee always helps.

Moreover a longer money back guarantee shows that how much confidence the company itself has in their own product or service.

Web Hosts that have longer money back guarantees :

• DreamHost (Full Review) provides the longest money back guarantee of 97 days.
  
  
• TMDHosting (Full Review) provides more than sufficient money back guarantee that is of 60 days.
  
  
• HostGator (Full Review) and FastComet (Full Review) provides 45 days long money back guarantee.
  
  
• WP Engine (Full Review) is also famous for providing 60 days long money back guarantee.

6) Does inode limits make any difference in my website performance ?

Yes, inode limits do make a difference and it can affect your website performance but not immediately.

Here is an article on inode limits and which web hosts can provide the best inode limits to you.

The thing is that it is better if you select a web host that is giving greater inode limits or larger amount of inodes to you so that in future you don’t have to worry about it.

Generally in case you cross the inode limits your web host will tell you to upgrade your hosting plan and everything should be fine.

Web Hosts with Best inode limits :

• DreamHost (affiliate link) is the best with no inode limits. So be tension free with DreamHost (Full Review).
  
  
• Kinsta (affiliate link) as it is fully managed hosting you will not have to worry about inode limits. You get tons and tons of inodes with Kinsta (Full Review).
  
  
• Hostinger (affiliate link) gives more than enough inode limits. Hostinger (Full Review) is ideal for those who are expecting a rapid growth in their website.
  
  
• Namecheap (affiliate link) is another great web host that brings more than sufficient inodes. So no worries about inodes when you are with Namecheap (Full Review) as well.
  
  
• With LiquidWeb (affiliate link) and WP Engine (affiliate link) managed hosting also you will get tons of inodes.

7) Which features are really important while selecting a web host ?

Affordability, Performance features and security features are important while selecting any web host. These factors can directly affect how smoothly you can manage your website.

Performance

Regarding Performance it is always better to go with the newer technologies. The Nginx or LiteSpeed servers are considered to be better and newer technology.

The web hosts with Nginx or LiteSpeed technology are considered to be giving greater performance and Uptime.

So one should go for Nginx or LiteSpeed based web hosting.

Hosting providers with LiteSpeed –

InterServer (affiliate link), TMDHosting (affiliate link), GreenGeeks (affiliate link), MilesWeb (affiliate link), Hostinger (affiliate link).

Hosting providers with Nginx –

DreamHost (affiliate link), Kinsta (affiliate link), Nexcess (affiliate link), WP Engine (affiliate link)

Now about Security features :

Regarding security features different web hosts have their own security features. For example DreamHost has DreamShield, FastComet has FastGuard and InterServer has Inter Insurance.

So while seeing security features make sure you get all the necessary features for security of your website.

Moreover, Account Isolation technique is used by many Web Hosts that is proved to be very compact and reliable security feature these days.

Isolated accounts on web hosting means that your website will not get affected by neighboring websites at all. So eventually it brings higher performance and security to your website.

Here is a list of all those Hosting providers which provide better security features :

• InterServer (affiliate link) might give you the best security features in the business. InterShield and InterServer will win your hearts.
  
  
• TMDHosting (affiliate link) and GreenGeeks (affiliate link) provide account isolation which means you get greater security matching with any VPS hosting.
  
  
• FastComet (affiliate link) is known for FastGuard which is the best security feature in the business.
  
  
• Apart from all these managed hosting like Kinsta (affiliate link), LiquidWeb (affiliate link) and WP Engine (affiliate link) are highly secure.

Affordability

For the beginners the cheaper or affordable Web Hosts can really be handy as they give you a chance to at least make a start with your website. Then along with time you can move to higher plans or better plans.

Almost all Web Hosts that are mentioned earlier are giving web hosting in cheap or affordable rates but HostGator (affiliate link) is a champion in giving Super Affordable web hosting.

So HostGator (Full Review) can be a Web Host if you are just looking for a super affordable beginning.

Apart from HostGator there are web hosts like Hostinger (affiliate link) and Namecheap (affiliate link) as well that will serve you super affordable web hosting.

The other Web Hosts that can be a good affordable deal are :

MilesWeb (affiliate link) with their buy and purchase at promotional rates deals on shared plans can be handy.

TMDHosting (affiliate link) can also be a great affordable deal along with their shared and cloud plans. Plus you will get better performance and Uptime for sure.

FastComet (affiliate link) and GreenGeeks (Full Review) also offer affordable web hosting.

InterServer (Full Review) gives the best security features and Inter Insurance is the feature that will win your hearts. Moreover InterServer (affiliate link) gives free web hosting to Non Profit organizations and their student plans are also great. So do not miss out on InterServer as well.

Conclusion :

So concluding this article I would say that don’t get mad after the word “unlimited bandwidth” or “unlimited SSD”. It is just a marketing push.

If you really want to compare the hosting then seeing their security features, the technology and servers the hosting uses etc might help.

Instead of checking the “unlimited bandwidth” you can just check how much longer money back guarantee the hosting is giving and that would help you better.

While selecting any web host the reliability, affordability, security features and performance matters the most rather than its popularity.

So while selecting web hosts make sure you see all these kinds of features.

I hope this article will be helpful.