If you’re looking for the best web hosting for small companies, you’ve probably seen that there are several alternatives available, each with differing levels of service.
And, when you try to select which option is best for your organization, you’ll undoubtedly encounter a barrage of questions, such as:
- Do you want a hosted or self-hosted solution?
- What are the most important characteristics to search for in a web hosting provider?
- What is the distinction between shared hosting, dedicated hosting, and virtual private server hosting?
If that isn’t enough, switching hosting providers is, to say the least, a time-consuming procedure. As a consequence, getting the best website hosting for your small business the first time pays off.
That’s why we’ve compiled this no-nonsense guide to selecting the finest web hosting for small businesses in 2022.
By the end of this post, you should have a clear idea of what features to look for and the various types of hosting available to you. In addition, we’ll introduce you to some of the top web hosting options for small businesses.
Which is better for your company: a hosted solution or a self-hosted solution?
Before we look at different small company web-hosting providers, let’s first answer a key question: Do you want a hosted or self-hosted solution?
This is an important topic to address because the option you choose will have a significant impact on your business and maintenance needs. Unfortunately, many people don’t grasp the distinction between hosted and self-hosted websites until they’ve spent months creating one.
Website Hosting Services
Hosted website platforms are “all-in-one” toolkits that contain everything you need to establish and maintain an online business. For example, you may sign up for Shopify in minutes and enjoy the following benefits right away:
- A business website builder that includes free themes for customizing the look of your store.
- The ability to safely process credit card payments
- An inventory management system that includes order processing and shipping capabilities.
- A built-in point-of-sale system for in-person sales.
- Integrations with other major sales channels, such as Facebook, eBay, and Amazon.
- Built-in security, analytics, and so forth.
There are also over 6,000 Shopify apps that allow you to personalize the functionality of your website.
Self-Hosted Services
Self-hosted solutions require greater involvement. You must obtain server space from a provider for this form of small business website hosting. Following that, you must install, set up, and operate a content management system.
Not only that, but you’ll need to piece together the functionality of your website by connecting other tools and services. This is how it usually goes:
- Obtain small business web hosting from a company such as BlueHost or SiteGround.
- Set up a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress.
- Obtain and personalize a website theme from a marketplace such as ThemeForest.
- Integrate a commerce solution, such as WooCommerce, to accept payments and handle inventory.
- Install extra WordPress plugins for security, SEO, image optimization, analytics, and so on.
Typically, each of these services will require a monthly subscription, putting your total monthly payment to somewhere between $50 and $300.
Overall, self-hosted options offer a great deal of versatility since you may personalize almost every aspect of your website.
However, as Spiderman’s Uncle Ben once said, “with tremendous power comes great responsibility.” In other words, if you use a self-hosted service, you are in charge of developing, optimizing, administering, and upgrading every component of your website.
Which is better: hosted or self-hosted?
So, what kind of small business web hosting should you go with? Here’s the gist of it:
- Use a popular hosted website solution like Shopify if you’d rather leave the technical issues to the pros and focus on building your business.
- Self-hosted solutions are the way to go if you’re technically savvy and want complete control over your website’s backend.
Most people now use the term “web hosting” to refer to self-hosted services. As a result, from now on, we’ll delve further into self-hosted website alternatives.
Let’s take a brief look at three of the top website hosting services for small companies before we get into how to pick a host.
1. Bluehost
Bluehost is a well-known web host for small enterprises. It provides:
- Shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting are all options.
- Support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week by phone and chat.
- Simple website builder
- Unrestricted bandwidth
- Backups are performed automatically.
- For one year, you may get a free domain.
- SSL certificate for free
- Uptime of 99.98 percent
Having said that, fees skyrocket after a year, and customizing possibilities are limited.
Shared hosting with 50 GB of SSD storage starts at $2.95 per month.
2. Hostinger
Hostinger is another of the finest web hosting for small enterprises, with over 30 million clients. It provides:
- Shared, VPS, Cloud, WordPress, cPanel, Minecraft, and CyberPanel VPS are the seven categories of hosting.
- A massive knowledge base
- Chat help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- A website creator
- SSL certificate for free
- On the lowest shared hosting plan, you get 100GB of bandwidth.
- On the lowest shared hosting package, you get one email address.
- Premium subscriptions include free domains.
The monthly cost of a single shared hosting plan is just $1.39. However, in order to use the majority of the features, you must subscribe to a premium plan.
3. SiteGround
SiteGround provides web hosting for small enterprises. Although you cannot utilize the service to purchase a name, SiteGround does provide a number of appealing services, including:
- There are four types of hosting available: shared, WordPress, WooCommerce, and cloud hosting.
- The option to select server locations
- Bandwidth without a cap
- Outstanding performance
- Certificate of Encryption for Free
- Backups every day
- Customer service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week
SiteGround is a little more expensive than some other small business web hosting services, with monthly fees beginning at $3.95. Having said that, all of the plans are well-managed and well-supported. However, because there are no dedicated or VPS hosting options, it may not be the greatest alternative for rapidly developing organizations.
9 Qualities to Look for in a Hosting Company
Now that you’ve learned about the various types of hosting, here are ten things to think about when deciding which provider to use:
1. Ongoing Costs
When making any purchase, the cost is frequently the first priority. Still, as the phrase goes, “you get what you pay for,” so it’s important to recognize the downsides of going with a low-cost plan.
Many small company web hosting businesses offer low-cost plans in order to attract new customers. They’ll then raise the charges after a certain length of time or compel firms to upgrade if they exceed the bandwidth and disc space limits, which can happen fast for some consumers.
Bottom line: Choosing a low-cost hosting service may end up costing you more money in the long term. As a result, it’s advisable to base your selection on the characteristics you’ll need to run a profitable business.
2. Free Domains
When you sign up for a hosting package, some small business website servers will give you a free name for a year.
Again, while this may appear to be a tempting offer, it is critical to examine the long term. If you sign up for a plan that includes a free domain, make sure to check the renewal fee after a year.
Some web hosting companies include website-building tools.
When it comes to functionality, these tools are often fairly restricted. However, if you want to develop a simple website for as little money as possible, going with a hosting service that includes a quality website builder may make sense.
3. Ease of Use
Some small business website servers have clumsy interfaces full of adverts aimed to entice you to upgrade. Others are simple to use and designed in a plain manner.
Before making a selection, it’s a good idea to read platform reviews and see what other people say.
4. Uptime
Small business website hosting providers cannot promise 100 percent uptime – something will go wrong at some point, and your site will be unavailable. However, it’s a good idea to choose with a supplier who has a track record of dependable uptime.
5. Security
Some small business web servers demand extra costs for security measures. If you want to accept credit card payments through your website, for example, you’ll need an SSL (secure sockets layer) certificate.
Check to see if there are any additional security fees to consider.
6. Customer Support
It’s worthwhile to select a host that provides your chosen mode of assistance, whether via phone, chat, or email. Furthermore, some web servers provide 24/7 help, which might be useful if you have a website emergency.
7. Bandwidth
The quantity of data that a website can transport to users at any given moment is referred to as bandwidth. As a result, the more website traffic you have, the more bandwidth you will require.
Gigabytes of bandwidth are often sold (GB). Furthermore, several web hosting packages include “unlimited bandwidth.”
In truth, there is no such thing as infinite bandwidth – but hosts understand that tiny websites seldom violate the bandwidth constraints that are in place. Still, knowing the restrictions is important because if your site exceeds them, it will be shut down until you upgrade to a higher plan.
Make sure you choose a package with enough bandwidth for busy times, such as when operating a Black Friday flash sale.
8. Disk Space
The quantity of storage required to keep your website’s files is referred to as disc space.
If you intend to upload a lot of high-definition films and photographs to your website, you’ll need a lot of storage space. On the other hand, if you want to create a 1-page website outlining your freelancing services, you won’t need much.
9. Scalability
If your company expands as expected, you’ll most likely need to increase your web hosting. Before committing to a host, it’s a good idea to compare the rates and features of each plan on the market.
When searching for the finest web hosting for small businesses, you must first determine whether you want to utilize a hosted solution like Shopify or a self-hosted option like BlueHost, Hostinger, or SiteGround.
If you choose a self-hosted option, begin with a shared hosting package if your company is new, and then consider expanding to VPS or dedicated hosting as it grows.
When deciding on the finest web hosting for your small business, consider the following:
- What are the ongoing expenses?
- Is a free domain included with the hosting?
- Is it necessary for me to use a website builder?
- Is it simple to utilize the hosting service?
- Is there a high uptime for the service?
- What kinds of security features are there?
- Is customer service available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via my chosen form of communication?
- How much bandwidth will I require?
- How much disc space will I require?
- Is this a service that makes scaling simple and affordable?
Which hosting company are you currently considering? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!
