Tips For Choosing A Cloud Hosting Provider

The latest tech to invade server hosting plans is the cloud. The cloud, here, refers to the internet. These plans allow websites to benefit from a network of servers connected via the internet. The perks of these cloud service plans are enormous. Your site can enjoy an almost guaranteed uptime, and traffic will be handled more efficiently. Plus, overall costs would be less considering fewer hardware needs.

While cloud hosting offers considerable benefits, choosing a good provider can be a bit of a challenge. There are a number of aspects of hosting that consumers should carefully consider before settling on a single provider. Because cloud hosting tech is rather new, it can be difficult to understand which specs to look for as well. Cloud servers may run different types of software as well. Considering that the choosing process can be confusing, here are several tips to help you pick a highly suitable cloud hosting service provider:

Know What You Need

First, you need to understand which requirements your site will need. It’s worthwhile to consider whether your site requires cloud hosting at all. If your site is small and still only gets a small number of visitors, then you may be overpaying for cloud. However, if your site is growing, adding more users and experiencing upticks in traffic, then cloud may be the best solution for your site. You will have to match your site’s needs with the benefits offered by cloud hosting plans. It’s advisable to make a checklist here, so you know which specs to look for.

Take Advantage of Free Trials

Do not jump headfirst in a cloud hosting service plan. Never, ever agree to a long-term contract at the beginning. Rather, you should first test the waters with a free trial of a plan. Many hosting providers offer free trials for cloud plans. You can then make sure that cloud hosting is suitable for your site, and get a feel for the hosting service provider. Afterwards, you would be in a better position to determine if this web host is the best for your needs.

Look for Excellent Customer Support

When choosing any web host, customer support services are paramount. Web hosting is a tricky business and you must anticipate problems before they happen. The hosting provider is usually the entity that can solve most problems. So, it’s important that the provider has excellent customer support to help you out if your site encounters problems. It’s highly recommended to only buy a hosting plan that comes with 24/7 customer support. Read online reviews to understand how well the service provider responds to customer inquiries.

Check for Backup

The hosting service provider must offer onsite site backup just in case a server or all servers go down. This scenario is highly unlikely, but it’s better to be prepared than be caught off guard in a disaster. The cloud web host must provide backup without an additional charge. For cloud plans, a load balancer should be present to redirect users between servers if one goes down. In addition, you must plan for your own offsite backup as well.

Last but not least, the check out all the security features offered by the web host. There should be antivirus protection, firewalls, encryption and everything else in place to protect your valuable data against malware and hackers.

Image resource: Hosting Australia