What type of hosting is right for your business?

By Jamie Hoyles, Clook Internet Accounts Manager

We are often asked this at Clook Internet and the answer can vary from a small hosting package costing a few pounds per month through to a Dedicated Server costing hundreds of pounds… For most users however, a solution at the lower end of this scale will generally suffice.

Why does your choice of web hosting matter so much?

Your web presence should be given the same level as importance as any other area of your business. I am often left feeling unimpressed when visiting a poor performing website or one plastered with banners and adverts for other services. A web site is an important platform to promote your business, if it underperforms or looks cheap this will give an immediate negative impression to any potential clients.

What hosting options do I have?

Shared Hosting Shared hosting is the most common and affordable out there, providing an excellent platform to get personal sites and small businesses online without much expense. Typically it will be a single, very powerful server running multiple sites from a single environment and operating system.

Cloud Server Cloud Servers have taken over virtual servers and use software to make a single large machine run multiple “virtual” servers, each with their own operating system and specific resources. Having your own server allows you to customise, choose your operating system, increase security and control access.

Dedicated Server If you want to be on your own computer then a dedicated server is for you. This is a single machine run just for you and can then be setup for you alone. They are powerful computers and are often used by large ecommerce sites or organisations with a high number of smaller sites.

Which hosting is right for me?

As a start-up you may have a small website with just the basic information about you and your services. If so a shared hosting option would be perfect for your needs.

However, if you have an ecommerce site you may need something more powerful and should consider a Cloud / Dedicated Server that will have more resources to keep your website running under heavy loads.

Another option is reseller hosting. Typically these services allow for the hosting of multiple websites under the one package – ideal for a web developer or digital agency providing a one stop shop for users – design, web hosting and email packages.

What about support?

It’s important to know that you can contact your web host when you need them. Whether your site is mysteriously offline, or you need help setting up email, or just want some advice on managing an expected increase in traffic that will take you above your bandwidth limit, can you get hold of them easily?

A good web host will be available to customers 24/7, by a variety of means – from email to telephone and even online chat. Other important factors to consider are server uptime figures (check that your host provides a near 100% uptime record) and whether regular back-ups are carried out. If your website was compromised you should have the option to roll out a back up – be that daily, weekly or monthly.