# Difference Between Hosting Companies ![](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ByvsI2FWT.jpg) Your web host is your website’s digital home. It’s where it keeps all its stuff and does all its work, so if you really want to be sure your site is in good hands when you’re not actively working on it, choosing a reliable web host is necessary. However, the difference between hosting companies is vast. They’re not all equal, and making a hasty choice can end up coming back to bite you later. Take a few minutes and read through our guide to understanding the differences and choosing the right thing for your site. You’ll thank us later! ## Key Differences Between Hosting Companies Choosing the right [web host](https://https://reviewsforwebsitehosting.com/a2-hosting-review/) is a pretty important decision. It’s not just about picking a server to house your site—there’s so much more to it, and your choice can make or break your site’s success! Here’s a deeper dive into the differences between hosting companies. ## Type of Hosting Offered The type of hosting is probably the most crucial foundational decision to make in your quest for the perfect web host. The difference between the two ends of the spectrum is HUGE, so make sure you have a good idea of what’s what and which one suits your biz before you leap in. * Shared: Your site will have a bunch of roommates on the same server. Everyone shares resources, so this is best for small, static websites or blogs. * Dedicated: Your site will have an entire server to itself, plus all the resources on it. Good choice for bigger, busier websites but more expensive. * VPS: A mix between shared and dedicated. Your site will be allocated space and resources on a shared server, but it’s more stable than shared hosting and more affordable than dedicated hosting. * Cloud: The top of the pops. Your website’s data is spread across multiple servers, making it exceptionally reliable. Easy to scale and highly secure, but its pricing may put smaller companies off. Secondary to that is managed vs. unmanaged hosting. Managed hosting is a more convenient option, where the company does all the management and maintenance, including things like updates and server configurations. If you opt for unmanaged hosting, you might save a bit of money, but it’ll be up to you to back up, update, and keep everything in order on the backend. Unless you’re a tech whizz, managed hosting is the better bet. Specialisations or Niche Focus Some web hosts specialize in certain types of websites or apps. If your website falls into one of these categories, you might want to consider choosing a host with specialized knowledge. ## E-Commerce Platforms Some [website hosting](https://https://reviewsforwebsitehosting.com/siteground-hosting-review/) companies have a strong focus on e-commerce websites and offer special features designed for online stores. While you can still get by quite fine without choosing one of these niche hosts, the special features help you to streamline your business and invite more success, provided you make use of them. WordPress Sites Considering how popular the platform is, [WordPress hosting](https://https://reviewsforwebsitehosting.com/wp-engine-hosting-review/) is something most website hosting companies offer. It’s not much different from regular hosting but comes with certain tools to help you optimize your WP site to the max. You may be surprised at what a difference this can make. ## Different Levels of Support Customer support can range from simple “wait your turn” ticket-based systems to 24/7, always-on, ready-to-fix-it support. A good host will offer multiple ways of contacting them for help, like email, phone, or chat-based systems. Also, check if they offer documentation and tutorials on how to troubleshoot. You may also be able to find community forums in which you can chat to other users and get advice. ## Features and Functionality Different hosts offer different features, which is why it can be so tricky to find a good website host in the first place! All of them offer the same basic functionality, but consider what your website needs before shopping so you know what to look for. Featured offered can include: * Email Services: A website-specific email address, multiple connected email accounts, spam filtering technology, email marketing tools, etc. * Domain Management: Keep your site and your domain in the same place for convenience. This feature usually includes registrations, renewals, and transfers. * Mobile App Support: If your site is the type that might work well with an accompanying app, some hosts offer building and maintenance support for the app. ## Pricing Pricing can vary wildly, but keep in mind that you get what you pay for. Cheaper hosting is usually a shared server and sparsely spread resources, lackluster security, and fewer features. As the price goes up, so does the quality of the host, but it’s still essential to double-check first. Cloud hosting is often disregarded because of its price, but in many cases, it can end up being affordable because you only pay for what you need. On the other hand, while shared hosting might come with a lower price tag, its limitations may hold your biz down and prevent you from reaching that next level and increasing your income. ## Terms of Service and SLA (Service Level Agreement) This is where the fine print is important. Check what each host’s uptime guarantee is, how they handle downtime, and who owns the data, and make sure you understand any legal bits and pieces. If in doubt, ask someone you know and trust to look through the agreement with you before signing anything. ## Other Factors to Consider Every little thing is important when it comes to choosing your host. Consider these things as well to make sure you’re fully covered. ## Performance & Uptime 99.99% uptime is the industry standard. You can still find hosts that offer 99.9%, which is substantial but not as good. With a 99.9% uptime guarantee, that leaves you with 1.44 minutes of downtime every day. That might sound pretty good! Just one minute down every day, what’s wrong with that? Well, it all adds up, and by the end of the year, your website could’ve been down for more than 8 ½ hours in total, which is plenty of time for you to lose out on sales. On the other hand, choosing a host that offers 99.99% uptime means you’ll have around 8.6 seconds of downtime a day at the most. That equals less than an hour per year, and the more time your site is up and running, the more chances you have to make sales! Also, choose a host that uses up-to-date hardware and software. Outdated systems can wreak havoc on your website’s performance by reducing its loading speed and the user experience. ## Security Features Don’t compromise on security. Double-check upfront what security features your host offers, and make sure they include all the norms—firewalls, regular malware scans, SSL certificates, and other security measures. It’s worth noting that if you choose an unmanaged hosting plan, you’ll be responsible for managing your own site security. Make sure you choose managed hosting if you want the most robust security features possible without having to put extra effort into it from your side. Backups are another important part of security. Your host should back your site up regularly in case something goes wrong and it crashes. Again, don’t compromise on this—while crashes don’t happen often, you NEED to have backup if it does happen, or you’ll need to start your site from scratch. ## Infrastructure and Data Center Locations Know where your host’s data centers live and make sure they’re close to your target audience. This is especially important for businesses targeting an audience in a specific location; for example, a service-based business like a dentist that caters to people in a certain area. If someone from across the world pops onto your site, but they’re thousands of miles away from your server, data can take extra time to travel to them. This can increase page loading speed, making your site appear slow! Businesses that cater to people in multiple locations may want to choose a host that uses a CDN, a content delivery network. This spreads your website’s data across multiple servers worldwide, so no matter where your visitor is from, there’s a server with data on it nearby. ## Maintenance and Downtime Protocols Make sure the host does regular maintenance on their servers. Servers need TLC, so regular maintenance is a very positive sign that the host is aware of the needs of their servers and stays on top of it. It’s also a good idea to find a host who communicates with you about their maintenance schedule so you can plan ahead. Check user reviews to find out more information about this. ## Scalability When your site begins to grow, will your host help or hinder you? Make sure they can scale up with you and keep providing all the resources you need. New, small sites generally need minimal resources to keep running. But once your site begins to grow, you’ll have to consider scaling—getting more resources to fuel your site so it can handle the traffic that’s coming in. Most good web hosting companies offer an easy way to scale from one package to another, but make sure the upgraded packages offer enough resources for your needs. Cloud hosting is the most scalable, with the ability to add pretty much exactly the resources you need and avoid paying for any resources you aren’t going to need. ## Environmental Considerations If you’re eco-conscious, look for a host that’s “green”. These hosts make an effort to offset their carbon footprint and give back, so you can feel good about using their services. You may be shocked to learn that 4% of greenhouse emissions globally come from internet pollution! That’s about a billion tons of greenhouse gases every year… All because energy is required to transfer data from one server to another. Servers need constant maintenance and cooling. They need to be run in a cool, controlled environment, and these “website apartment blocks” give off a LOT of carbon dioxide. Between electricity used to power them, energy used to cool them, and deforestation to make space for data centers, web hosting can be an environmentally damaging business. Choose a green web host if doing your bit for the environment is appealing to you. ## Ease of Use Nobody wants to fight through their hosting. Choose something that’s easy and intuitive to use. You’ll get the best info on this by browsing through user reviews—real people’s experiences. A user-friendly web host offers handy features like one-click installations and transfers. Not everyone finds it easy to do technical things behind the scenes of their site, so the ability to do important things with a single click makes a huge difference. ## Control Panel The control panel is your dashboard to control everything on your site. An easy-to-use control panel is essential, especially if you’re going to be logging in often and using it to check your stats or make changes. cPanel and Plesk are two popular control panels that are known to be user-friendly. Many web hosts opt for one of these to make life easier for their users. It’s a good idea to check out which host uses what control panel and familiarise yourself with it before signing up to a host. This is important whether you’re using managed or unmanaged hosting! ## Resource Limits Some hosts place restrictions on resource usage, throttling your usage once you've reached a certain point. This can wreak havoc on your site's loading speed, user-friendliness, and storage space, making life difficult for you and your visitors. Other hosts are a little more flexible, allowing you to purchase extra resources when you need them. Yet others offer unlimited resources, although most of these are actually capped, just at very high levels. The resources you need will most likely depend largely on your site, how interactive it is, what sort of content you’re hosting, and what files it needs to store. It’s worth doing a bit of an audit on your site to figure out what it needs in terms of resources before opting for a host with a resource limit. Take note, though, that you might only find this information in the fine print—it’s not always out here for everyone to see! ## Bandwidth While website speed is how fast your website receives and displays information, bandwidth is the amount of information that can be transferred in a specific time period. The more data that can be transferred in a shorter time, the faster your site will end up being. It’s measured in Mbps—megabits per second. To give you an idea, a minimum of 25 Mbps is required to stream Netflix. But if you want your site to transfer stuff as quickly as possible, you can opt for a host offering 100 Mbps or more. ## Migration Services Switching from one host to another can be annoying, but it happens often. If you’re currently looking to change your host, find one that offers easy migration services. Many hosts offer one-click migrations, which is convenient and takes a lot of stress out of the process. If they don’t offer one-click migrations, it’s worth doing a bit of research on each host to find out how their migration processes work. Regardless of the host, it should be a seamless process that doesn’t take long. Some hosts also offer free migration services, while others ask for a small fee. Generally, this isn’t enough of a priority to be a deal-breaker, but it’s good to know this upfront when you’re searching for a new host. ## Development Tools This won’t be a need for everyone. But if you’re a developer who wants to work on your own site or have a developer you work with, you might want to look for hosts that offer things like Git integration, staging environments, and support for various programming languages. Some web hosts also offer server access (dedicated servers) and customization options for developers. This is something that might be of interest to more technically-minded users and won’t really be something the average website owner needs. ## Renewal Costs Web hosts often have promotions on the go, which is the perfect time to begin with them. But keep in mind that the promotional rates you signed up with might stick around for the year, but when it comes time to renew, you’re probably going to be bumped up to full price. Some hosts won’t communicate this explicitly, leaving you caught off guard when your renewal fee comes off! It’s also often communicated in the fine print, so double-check this carefully before signing anything. If you’ve done your homework and researched the difference between hosting companies, you should be looking to get with one host for the long term. Make sure you know what you’re expected to pay when renewal time comes so you’re not left shocked and disappointed! ## Conclusion The huge differences between hosting companies are what makes choosing the right one a bit of a chore for some. But if you know what to look for from the start, the comparison and decision become a whole lot easier. Don’t forget, before you even consider the difference between hosting companies, you need to know what your own website needs. Figure out your needs, and you’ll have a great foundation for a great web host to build on. ## About the Author Paul Wheeler runs a web design agency that helps small businesses optimize their websites for business success. He aims to educate business owners on all things website-related at his own website, [Reviews for Website Hosting](https://https://reviewsforwebsitehosting.com/about/).