So, you finally decided to start your online business. This is possibly one of the best seasons for you to take this step because you can start your journey without breaking the bank thanks to Black Friday web hosting deals.
But it can be hard to make sense of all the different plans offered by hosting providers. Perhaps you’re wondering what is shared hosting, what you should look for in an eCommerce hosting plan, or what are the advantages of VPS hosting. That’s why, in this post, we’ll explain which hosting plans tend to be best suited for different types of online businesses.
We’ll be covering:
- How coaches and those promoting expertise-based businesses can save up on hosting while delegating their website’s maintenance.
- What we should look for in a hosting plan for an online store.
- The best hosting for eLearning platforms, SaaS, and complex web apps.
- How reseller hosting plans help web services providers grow their business.
The Best Hosting Plan for Coaches, Agencies, & Consultants
If you’re a coach, consultant, or agency, your website will probably be a series of pages and posts. Your heaviest content (videos, for instance) will probably be hosted on third-party platforms. It’s also unlikely your users will be entering information outside of a contact form or your posts’ comment section.In this case, you probably won’t spend much on hosting since your website won’t have resource-consuming functionalities. A simple shared hosting plan could be more than enough to get your website up and running.
Of course, not all shared hosting plans are created equal. Managed shared hosting, for instance, includes support and maintenance services. Managed shared hosting makes it possible for you to run your website on autopilot. You won’t have to worry about updates, potential security vulnerabilities, or performance issues.
You may also want to take a look at shared WordPress hosting. Shared WordPress hosting is a service designed for WordPress site owners. It relies on servers optimized to meet WordPress’ requirements in the most efficient way possible. If you decide to buy a WordPress shared hosting plan, you could use WordPress, its free themes and plugins to create a professional-looking, fast, and functional website with a very frugal budget.
The Best Black Friday Web Hosting Deals for eCommerce
Choosing the right hosting provider and plan is vital for your eCommerce website. Your website’s performance, speed, and availability can make or break your business.Your website will require more resources than a blog or a simple website. But you may not have a volume of traffic that truly demands a dedicated server. High-tier shared hosting plans are the ideal solution for small and growing businesses.
When purchasing a shared hosting plan for your eCommerce website, you should consider speed and security features aside from bandwidth or storage. For instance, your hosting provider should probably offer you an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate.
It’d be reasonable for your users to be reluctant to submit their credit card information to a website without an SSL certificate. On the other hand, many payment gateway providers demand that you have an up-to-date SSL certificate. So, not having one could prevent you from being able to receive payments altogether. One of the most visible benefits of having an SSL certificate is that your website will be recognized as secure by web browsers, showing customers that your business is legitimate and trustworthy.
Ensuring that your website delivers its heaviest resources through a CDN (Content Delivery Network) is also extremely important for speed and performance. So you should probably choose a hosting provider who works seamlessly with a CDN.
The Best Hosting for eLearning Platforms, SaaS, and Resource-Intensive Web Apps
Have you ever created a partition of your hard drive to install another operating system on your computer? Virtual private servers work similarly. A VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a virtual partition of a shared server. Using a VPS, you have complete control of your website and guaranteed resources. Running your website on a VPS is also extremely secure.Another benefit of VPS hosting services is that they’re incredibly versatile. If you suddenly need more resources, the hosting provider will be able to grant them to you at a very cost-effective rate. This is rarely the case for shared hosting.
A VPS hosting plan is great for websites with a very high volume of traffic. It’s also an amazing option for eLearning platforms, online games, Software as a Service (SaaS), and other resource-intensive web apps. In these cases, moving from a shared server to a VPS produces very noticeable performance improvements.
The Best Hosting Plan for Web Services Providers
Are you a web designer or developer looking to grow their business? Offering your customers hosting, along with your usual services, could set you apart from your competition and strengthen your client relationships. It could also make managing the websites you create a lot easier.Reseller hosting plans allow you to host and manage several websites for a very affordable price. Meanwhile, the hosting provider takes care of all the necessary security tasks. So, you can offer hosting services without having the workload (and costs) associated with running a hosting provider. These are usually white label services, so the hosting provider’s brand remains hidden. The best reseller hosting plans offer everything from a branded control panel to branded name servers.
How to Compare Black Friday Web Hosting Deals
In this post, we examined some of the most common web hosting options out there. Simply put, if you’re just starting out, shared hosting is the best and most cost-effective option for your business. High-tier shared hosting plans are a great fit for eCommerce websites. And those with high-traffic or resource-intensive sites will find very significant performance benefits in a VPS hosting plan. It’s also worth noting that if you’re a web services provider managing multiple client websites, becoming a hosting reseller could be a very wise business move.When comparing hosting plans, you should look for options that guarantee security and speed. An SSL certificate and a CDN are your greatest allies in this area. Free domain registration and one-click app installers are perhaps less crucial but very beneficial and time-saving features that you should look for.
Another important factor is who your hosting provider is attracting as a potential customer. Some hosting solutions are designed for developers to build very versatile and technically complex web apps. Some hosting solutions target small business owners. This isn’t something you can dismiss. Who the hosting provider aims to serve will affect how your dashboard looks, how the service’s support documentation is written, and the type of conversations that the customer support representatives are used to having. If you run a small business, it’s best to look for a hosting provider that focuses on serving small businesses.
Remember that, while this is the season for cheap web hosting, price isn’t the only thing you should consider when evaluating hosting plans. And it’s always wise to gravitate towards reputable companies. Hosting providers with a solid track record of customer satisfaction and 24/7 customer support should be at the top of your list.