Managing an e-store is not an easy task. Even so, creating and maintaining your WordPress online store can be painless using the right set of tools. For instance, using the WooCommerce Order Export Pro plugin developed by Jem Products, you can easily save time. With this plugin, you can effortlessly export all the data you need or even make multiple automatic exports daily or monthly.
Tools like Table Rate Shipping Pro can also be of great help as they allow you to create custom shipping rules in countless zones and based on a variety of different criteria. But what about your hosting service? When searching for a better web hosting alternative, what should you keep in mind? Listed below are 6 key things you should look for in any web hosting service. Once you have a good idea of what you want from a WordPress hosting provider, head to hostadvice.com/wordpress-hosting to find the best one for you.
Data Storage
One of the main aspects to look into when choosing your hosting service is their offered data storage. Online stores are heavy-imaged websites that sometimes face slower load time. High-resolution images, PDFs, and videos are some of the factors that are slowing your website down. Your hosting plan needs enough bandwidth and data storage to support your files and keep your website running smoothly. Even a low-cost shared hosting plan can provide you with one GB of data storage, which is enough for most small business websites.
Hosting Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the amount of traffic circulating between your website and other computers online. So what exactly uses your website’s bandwidth, you might ask? Firstly, it depends on how many you have on your site. The more visitors you have, the bigger the bandwidth usage. The size of photos used on your pages and page views per visitor also contribute to bigger bandwidth usage. It is important to always check the bandwidth usage of hosting plans before enlisting them to your site.
If you are a smaller business owner with 6,000 monthly visitors or less on your site, there are still plenty of hosting providers like HostGator that provide unmetered bandwidth on all of their shared hosting plans.
Server Location
Although the internet is now globally available, server location still plays a vital part in your website’s loading time. The closer a user to the server’s site, the better the website will perform and vice versa. If your user is further than your website’s server, your site will be slower. When looking for hosting services for your WordPress site, be sure to see which ones are providing servers on numerous locations across the globe. Some hosting services like A2 Hosting offer server locations on three continents at a low price.
Customer support
Professional and trustworthy customer support is the next important thing you should look for in web hosting services. Difficulties will occur, and if your web hosting provider doesn’t have professional customer support, then the overall experience can be quite demanding and exhausting. You should look for two things in your hosting service: whether their support is available 24/ and how easy it is to contact them. Nowadays, most hosting companies offer email and chat support in their most basic plans. Some companies like HostArmada offer 24/7 phone support even in their cheapest plans.
Uptime
Website downtime makes your e-store inaccessible to your customers and often leads to more difficulties. Your website’s downtime can cause you a huge loss in sales. Moreover, if your website is also experiencing a longer loading time, it will surely negatively affect your overall SEO ranking. Therefore, it is mandatory to have a fast website with almost no downtime. This is why you should choose only hosting services that can guarantee you 99.99% uptime. So no matter which hosting plan you choose, be sure to read if the hosting service can deliver the required uptime to keep your e-store online.
Security
Last but not least important is how secure your hosting service is. Many factors, such as using the same passwords or adjusting incorrect file permissions, can affect your website’s security. No matter how well everything is adjusted, if your web hosting provider doesn’t pay attention to security, your website might be at great risk. There are many web host services and with that many levels of service.
Some hosting companies are more expensive and provide more security features, while others use the same overall security throughout all of their plans. Preferably you will want to pick a hosting service that provides higher security with lots of features to keep your website guarded and secure.
No matter which hosting service you choose, be sure to check the following two aspects:
- What kind of built-in security features are included in the plans
- How are backups managed
Conclusion
All things considered, for your e-store to be more successful, you need a good and professional web hosting service. One that can be reliable, fast, and deliver an ideal uptime for your website. Just follow the above-listed criteria and find a hosting provider that ticks all the boxes.