What are the key e-Commerce features?
- Do you want to operate an online sales site?
- Are you using specific shopping cart software?
- Do you need to process transactions on your website?
- Do you need special technical support (eg PrestaShop guide , or other)?
If so, it is important that you choose a web host that has the necessary best e-commerce Magento web hosting features . SSL certificate, Dedicated IP, and one-click shopping cart software installation are some of the essential features and support that you might find useful.
1. An easy-to-use hosting control panel
A user-friendly control panel with extensive functionality is very important because it is the brain of your hosting account.
It doesn’t matter if it’s cPanel or Plesk or even a third-party control panel (as offered by Infomaniak ), make sure it’s user-friendly and all the necessary functions are there. Without a proper control panel, you are going to depend on technical support staff, even if you only need basic service.
Control panel of some web hosts
2. Account suspension: what are the limits?
Here’s a tip that most analytics sites won’t tell you: hosting companies will unplug the plug and suspend your account if you overpower your CPU usage (yes, unlimited hosting is limited) or break the rules.
So, before signing up with a web host, it is important that you read the rules.
The point is, they don’t like to advertise the power of their servers, but in ornate language, they’ll tell you somewhere in the terms and conditions of use that your account may be suspended or terminated due to use. Excessive resources. They just don’t want to tell you that limit.
It is also certain that almost ALL web hosts will not tolerate hosting illegal files and / or services. So if you are intending to launch a website that allows people to download pirated files, you probably won’t stand a chance.
By knowing the limits of your account, you will understand two things:
- How generous (or stingy) are the hosts you have shortlisted, should you continue with the host or look for another with less restriction?
- How transparent is your hosting company? Can you trust what they tell you? Honest hosting companies normally have very clear guidelines on account limitations and their terms of service.
3. Respect for the environment
Having an eco-friendly host is the main concern of some webmasters.
According to scientific studies , a web server produces on average more than 630 kg of CO2 (that’s a lot!) And consumes 1000 KWh of energy per year. An ecological host, on the other hand, theoretically produces zero CO2. There is indeed a huge difference between an ecological host and a non-ecological host.
If you care about the environment and would like to reduce the carbon footprint attributed to your business or yourself, choose a web host whose primary power source is renewable energies (or at least one that offsets its consumption of energy via green certificates).
4. [email protected]
Do you plan to host email accounts with your site? So, you must check out the messaging features before signing up. Most hosting companies give you the option of hosting your own email ([email protected] ), but it’s best to always check and be sure.
In the event that messaging features are not provided, that’s okay. There are several ways to have an email account on your own domain. G Suite, for example, is a service offered by Google. It allows you to have your own emails, hosted on their servers. It is accessible from 5 euros per user per month.
5. Subscription period
Don’t be surprised if you discover that some web hosts are forcing their customers to take on contracts that are a little too long. For example, lunar pages changed its pricing structure in June 2009 to attract customers with its 5 year hosting contract for $ 4.95 per month. Lunar pages no longer offers such an offer, a case that can still serve as an example.
Will you need to commit to long term hosting contracts? No! NEVER sign up with a web host for a hosting period longer than two years, unless they offer a money back guarantee at any time.
6. Site backup
Computers and broken equipment are common occurrences, as are death and taxes. Your site will be no exception, or it could be that a hacker entered your WordPress blog and replaced your index.php. Maybe your database has been deleted.
If your host performs regular site backups, you have nothing to worry about if these incidents occur. Your hosting provider will need to be able to completely restore your site in no time (or at least a large part of the site).
When it comes to backups, here are some key questions you’ll need to ask your web host:
- Does your web host regularly provide full backups?
- Can the backup be done manually through the control panel?
- Can automatic backups of your site be scheduled through cron jobs or other programs?
- Can you easily restore your backup files without having to wait for support staff to do it for you during a disaster recovery period?
7. Online chat or telephone support
Depending on your personal preference, you can choose email support, or phone support, but maybe also live chat added with full documentation (like that, you can just read and fix the issues yourself. ).
But at the end of the day, we all want someone who can throw a life jacket at us right away once we hit the SOS button.
Reference
A test technical support via live chat several web hosts, showed that Site Ground, Plaenthoster in Motion distinguished themselves.
Site Ground – Amazing live chat support system with very helpful support staff.
8. Server responsiveness
What it is not about here is whether your hosting company responds quickly or not. Reactivity is the time it takes for the server to recognize a user’s request when entering the domain name.
Often known as Time to First Byte (TTFB), your server’s response speed is more important than satisfaction with having the site with the fastest load time. The point is, the longer a person waits for a site to load, the more likely they are to leave the site before it has even finished loading.
The speed of your site also affects how Google and other search engines rank you in search results.
But that’s rarely a point a web design Australia Company will tell you. But it can be detected by the price. High-end equipment and infrastructure are quite expensive. If the host can afford to charge you 2 euros / month for hosting, it’s a bit sketchy.
