What should a start-up look for in a hosting provider?

Benjamin Franklin was definitely on to something when he uttered the now infamous phrase, “time is money”. And in today’s ever-increasingly competitive world, there really isn’t a second to waste when it comes to ensuring your start-up stands out online.

When it comes to choosing a hosting provider, therefore, you really want to find one that is the most efficient across the board. And, in the interests of practicing what we preach and helping you save time, we’ve outlined the most important things to look for when it comes to choosing the digital home of your business.

Speed

Customers care about little more than how fast a website loads. It can be the differentiating factor between converting sales and converting to another company, so make sure the hosting provider you choose offers a bandwidth large enough to accommodate expected traffic. As Piers Moore-Ede, head of digital at Company Debt tells us, “with speed a recognized ranking factor by Google, a slow host is literally costing you money via engagement and sales.”

Support

One of the worst things that can happen to your online business is for your website to go down. There is nothing more annoying for a customer who will think nothing of simply going elsewhere. Having said that, nothing and no one is infallible – it’s one of the very principles we stand by in our refusal to call ourselves ‘unlimited’. That’s why it is absolutely imperative to choose a hosting provider with 24/7 support.

Security

One of the most important ones, rest easy knowing that all communications between the browser and your website are encrypted with an SSL certificate, which both authenticates and prevents information from being shared externally. Opting not to use a provider with SSL is also an SEO own goal, as Google has been penalizing this practice in its ranking since 2014.

Backup

Imagine a world where the worst thing you could ever do – such as losing an integral part of your website – was fool-proof. Imagine no longer – any hosting provider that is worth a dime will provide adequate backup – just make sure you know exactly what it is before you sign on the dotted line. And now for the abilities …

Accessibility

Don’t choose a hosting provider that doesn’t allow you to make changes to your site easily. You want to have the ability to log in for yourself – wherever you are and whenever you want.

Blogability

A staple of almost every company website these days, you should ensure that your hosting provider meets the minimum requirements for WordPress – the industry leading blogging platform.

Scalability

Every business wants to go viral – until they do and they simply cannot deal with it. Look for a hosting provider that offers different tiers of service, for example, Emerald, Ruby and Sapphire (like us!) – that way, as your business grows, you can opt for higher storage, bandwidth and additional features, such as analytics. A website should always be able to deal with spikes without crashing, and it’s better to be paying more upfront than having to deal with inflated add-on charges for additional usage after the event.

We offer all of the above – and more! Interested? Check out our business packages here.