In this article, we explain what distinguishes a good from a less good hosting provider and what essential aspects are to pay attention to and to base the choice on.

Choosing a good hosting provider is very important.

Many customers who turn to me to create a website have already registered a domain name or have even purchased a hosting package from a hosting company. And sometimes there is already a beginning of a website on that domain name. You can go to the best hosting reviews there.

It is not uncommon for the choice of hosting to be based on price. It is often underestimated the importance of choosing an excellent hosting party. The speed and security of a website depend on it, and good service is also essential. It often turns out to be cheap than expensive.

If you do consider having your website made by a professional, it is, therefore, better to immediately ask for advice about the hosting. That can save extra costs.

Do not make a choice based solely on costs.

Too often we notice that the choice for a hoster is made solely based on costs. And that is a pity because unfortunately there is a lot of chaff between the wheat. With cheap hosting, there is simply less money to invest in the technology and security of the servers, as well as in the service that is offered to customers.

Price fighters place as many websites as possible on one server, which certainly does not improve safety and speed because what if your neighbour does not have the security of his website in order? Then your site is also at enormous risk. You don’t want to think about that, do you? The right choice for a good hoster can prevent many later problems and is, therefore, one of the most important decisions if you are considering making a website.

How to choose a good hosting provider

But what is a good host you will ask yourself? That is a good question and not to answer 1, 2, 3. However, some criteria are important and worth, including in decision-making.

First of all, it is good to read the experiences of others on the internet. Now, this is of course not the only and most valuable indicator, because we see hosters score high in the ranking with which my customers and we have less good experiences, so it is not entirely reliable. Still, it certainly does not hurt to delve deeper into this.

Where are the servers located?

If you have a website in the Netherlands, it is not wise to choose a host with servers in another country. This slows down the loading time. And that is not good for the ranking in the search engines. Therefore choose a host whose servers are located in the Netherlands. Every second count.

Support and accessibility

What is also very important is how the hoster arranged accessibility. Can problems or questions only be contacted via chat or email? Or is the hoster also available by phone and not on a paid 0900 number but via a local phone number? This is always preferable to waiting for an answer to your email.

And how quickly do you get answers to your questions and does a host respond adequately and helpful to problems? The better and more expensive hosting providers generally also have the service in better order.

Many hosters choose not to be available by phone, and there would be nothing wrong with that as long as they respond quickly and adequately to the other forms of communication they offer. A chat function can also be beneficial and useful if there are employees behind it who are knowledgeable and immediately respond to your question. Often you read a lot in reviews about how customers experience the availability of the host in question. If the common denominator is negative, choose another one.

Quality of the servers

A second important point is the quality of the servers that the host uses to host the websites. Do they meet the most modern standards? Are they well protected against hackers or external attacks? A good host will have these things in order and have invested in them. And as a customer, you pay a little more, but then you also have something.

The minimum requirements recommended by WordPress are a PHP version of 7.3 and a MySQL version of 5.6. With these software versions, the expected problems with updating and the like are minimized in any case. If all goes well, a host will mention this on his website with the qualifications of the various packages.

Ask a professional for advice.

As a non-specialist, it is, of course, difficult to estimate whether a hoster has these things in order. That is why we are in favour that if you still want to have a website made by a professional, ask for advice on which hoster can best be chosen. Most web designers have a good picture of, but also experience with, hosting providers and can provide excellent advice. Often they already have contacts with good hosters where they have already accommodated customers.

And that also applies to Care-align Web design. In the meantime, we have a good idea of ​​what makes a hoster an excellent or lousy provider, and we can certainly give advice and help with closing a hosting package and registering a domain name. We have good contacts with several excellent hosting providers.

Loading speed

And then there is the point of the website loading speed. The better and faster the servers on which the website is hosted, the quicker the loading time, in general, will be. Of course, there are other important factors, but if the base is not good, you can add or set so much in WordPress, it will not be possible to reach the maximum achievable speed. And for the search engines, loading speed is one of the most important ranking criteria.

Https instead of Http

Have you seen them often, the green locks in the browser that say that the website is safe? These websites have an SSL certificate. There are various forms of these certificates. For most websites, the free form, Let’s encrypt, will suffice.

But not every host supports this option. Sometimes they have agreements with providers of paid certificates and therefore have no interest in offering the free version. Find a host that provides let’s encrypt. This certificate is sufficient for most websites and not too large webshops.

If you have a large webshop or a site that contains a lot of customer data, a paid certificate could be a safer option. For the hosting reviews, this is important.

Switching service

If you are not satisfied with your hosting provider, it is essential to switch to an excellent another party. Some hosters move websites for free when purchasing certain hosting packages. This can save a lot of time and frustration.