As a small business, few things are more important than your website and how potential customers use the platform.
After all, with more people going online to visit companies before ever stepping foot in a store, you have mere seconds to capture a visitor’s attention. You can’t capture attention without a reliably performing website.
Lagging sites, slow load times, and glitches can make for disastrous outcomes.
That’s why picking a reliable hosting provider is crucial for your online success. You want to ensure that the company that hosts your website works as hard as you do.
To help get you started, here are the top three web hosting companies for small businesses:
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Bluehost
This hosting provider is known for easily integrating with WordPress, making it a one-click installation.
However, they aren’t specific to that platform with WooCommerce, reseller, dedicated, shared, and WordPress hosting available. All Bluehost options are available on a monthly basis, making payment simplified.
With a cPanel control panel, users will receive the perfect combination of advanced functionality with a clearly laid out panel for beginners.
Customers will also receive unmetered bandwidth and free SSL certificates. It’s important to know that the disk space is limited (50 GB), which can cause surges in web traffic.
HostGator
As a beginner, you want a hosting company that holds your hand, which this provider excels in doing.
It’s a beginner-friendly platform with several features that small businesses need. The most notable feature is the integration with Constant Contact, an email marketing platform.
Currently, they offer shared hosting, WordPress, dedicated, cloud, and VPS packages. These packages are more expensive than other hosting providers, but the company offers a 99.99% uptime.
When it comes to features, HostGator doesn’t disappoint. Unlimited storage, free SSL, unmetered bandwidth, and easy installation of WordPress are strong selling features.
For those needing the Constant Contact integration, users will enjoy the service free for three months (with the option to cancel or pay the monthly fee afterward).
GreenGeeks
There’s something to be said about a company that works to give back, which is precisely why this hosting provider is perfect for small businesses.
Giving back three times the power it consumes (in renewable energy), this company wants to make a difference.
This hosting company currently offers reseller hosting, VPS hosting, private servers, WordPress hosting, and shared hosting.
Each of their options is available at monthly rates instead of locked-in contracts. You’ll be able to quickly scale your hosting as your business grows without having to jump through hoops.
When it comes to features, they’ve pulled out virtually everything a small business needs. Free website transfers are available for any business that currently has a website with another hosting provider.
They now offer unlimited email accounts, free daily backups, and unlimited bandwidth and storage.
Things to Consider Before Choosing a Hosting Provider:
When it comes to choosing there are a lot of things to consider, we’ve actually written about this before in this article 7 Things To Think About When Picking A Web Hosting Company which is worth checking out if you’re looking for a new host, but here are some of the most important factors.
What Is the Average Uptime?
The average uptime is how often your website stays online and accessible in a given time. Ideally, choose a provider that offers between 90-100% uptime, such as the aforementioned GreenGeeks.ca.
Remember, even an hour down daily can add up to significant income loss throughout the year. Always check online reviews of hosting platforms before committing to a website hosting provider.
Pricing and Renewal Options
Paying exorbitant fees and monthly expenses isn’t always ideal for small businesses. For a small business, paying for dedicated servers may not make sense.
This starting point is particularly true if you don’t expect a lot of web traffic when you’re first starting.
Try to find a company that can grow with your business, with multiple levels of hosting options, instead of a company that tries to sell you more than what you need.
