How to Choose the Best Web Hosting For Your Start-Up

For most startups, the phase where you just launched your business can be one of the most difficult times because cash reserves have to be managed properly. Your funds are limited but your startup website has to be one of the most important things at the top of your list.

Your website is the platform that creates some awareness for your brand and it also functions as the key access point for reaching clients and customers. The online presence is necessary for you to get your brand or product seen, and quickly too, so you can concentrate on growing your business.

These days, the expression “startup” can be interpreted to mean anything from fashion designers selling their creations online to multimillion-dollar businesses. Indeed, startups all seem to revolve around innovation, ideas, and the drive to make things happen.

The best hosting solution for startups should reflect the same ambitions held by an ambitious businessperson in search of the next big things, which are speed, innovative technologies, and scalability.

In reality, the web hosting needs of the different sizes of startups is quite different from that of casual bloggers and people who design for fun.

We have compiled this list of the best hosting solutions for startups, so they can choose the most cost-effective web hosting service for their businesses. But before we go into that, let’s look at the different types of hosting solutions available today.

Types of Hosting Solutions

There is a myriad of web hosting solutions out there, but you need to determine which one will best serve your needs, and this depends largely on your requirements as well as the kind of service that allows you to showcase your product or service.

Bluehost and Wix have some of the best web hosting packages. To learn more about these hosting providers, read this detailed comparison of Bluehost vs. Wix on Mamboserver.

For an entrepreneur, here are some of the things you need to be familiar with when choosing a web hosting service at the startup phase of your business;

What is Web Hosting?

A web hosting solution is a service that allows individuals and organizations to post a web page or a website on the internet. A web hosting provider or web host provides the services or technologies required for your webpage or website to be visible and seen on the internet.

There are three different types of web hosting solutions; dedicated hosting, shared hosting, and VPS hosting. Even though each one has its pros and cons, they all provide the same solution – a server environment that allows you to host your website.

Understanding the differences between the three types of hosting solutions will be of benefit to an entrepreneur trying to choose one. For the success of a startup business, you must have the best hosting package to match your needs.

Shared Hosting

This is a web hosting solution that provides a single server hosting numerous websites. Costs can range from between $3 to $6 per month. A shared hosting service offers the cheapest means of creating a web presence for your business, however, most times, it may not be adequate for a website with high traffic.

This solution works well for a website with a low volume of web traffic. The resources of the server are shared with the other accounts provisioned on that server, so performance may be impacted and website load times could be slow.

This is the most recommended solution for startups as it affords entrepreneurs the opportunity of an online presence to showcase their brand to the world at low prices.

Dedicated Hosting

In this web hosting service, a website has its own dedicated or devoted server. For this reason, the dedicated hosting service is the most expensive amongst all the web hosting solutions, going for about $100 per month in some cases. So, this may not provide the most cost-effective solution for a startup especially when you’re trying to reduce costs.

However, the steep price comes with its own benefits, such as total control of the server, and enough capacity for your website to handle a lot more web traffic.

It is important to note that as your company grows, you can decide to upgrade from a shared hosting package to dedicated hosting.

VPS Hosting

VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. With this hosting solution, you can rent a portion of a dedicated server. It is an ideal solution for websites that have high web traffic.

VPS hosting provides some sort of midway point between shared and dedicated hosting solutions because you only pay for what you require and you can easily expand if you need more resources. However, it is usually costlier than shared hosting and requires more website building knowledge at your end.

VPS hosting can provide that bridge between moving from a website with small amounts of web traffic to one with heavy traffic. For this reason, a VPS hosting solution can be considered once your startup business gains some traction.

Here are some great shared web hosting solutions available out there for startups.

1. GoDaddy

As a longstanding and well-respected player in the web hosting space, GoDaddy has a portfolio that can boast of millions of domain names. This means the company has a lot of experience and expertise under its belt, so your website will definitely be in safe hands.

GoDaddy’s economy package is priced at $4.33 per month, and if you feel you need to, you can upgrade to the deluxe package at $7.99 per month.

On the economy package, GoDaddy offers to transfer whole current websites to their hosting platform and provide a 1-click app installation for those who want their website to be linked to an app like WordPress.

You’ll also get 100GB of storage. On the Deluxe plan, you get the same services, in addition to unlimited storage and unlimited websites.

Also, GoDaddy provides a CMS which makes page downloads easy and allows users to access their content regularly. In addition to a 99.9% uptime guarantee, the company also offers free backup and restore services.

2. 1&1

1&1 is a German web hosting giant that offers both Windows and Linux packages starting at just $4 per month. Their packages come with a variety of services such as phone and email support, free web design software, a graphics archive, and a remarkable 300Gbps network connectivity.

Besides, you get a hybrid platform; placing your webspace and web server on the same platform. This is great for startups that want a package that is all-inclusive and stable.

However, in comparison with other providers, 1&1 offers just a fraction of the online storage on offer at GoDaddy; 10GB compared to GoDaddy’s 100GB, and you do not get free website domains.

3. EasySpace

EasySpace is a UK company offering several UK data centers as well as online and telephone support. Their shared hosting packages start at $3.20 per month, providing 3GB of storage, unlimited bandwidth, free domain name, and unlimited sites.

EasySpace has a lot of added extras and incentives like yearly discounts of as much as 35% off the cost if you purchase a hosting plan for multiple years. Plus no setup fees. Besides, you also get extras like WordPress hosting, free email marketing credits, and email filter trials.

4. SiteGround

SiteGround’s web hosting plans are very affordable with the Startup plan coming in at $0.33 per month. The company offers both Windows and Linux hosting packages guaranteeing reliable security, and a great customer service in addition to a range of valuable tutorials, which makes this hosting provider perfect for first-timers.

On the Startup package, you get 10GB of storage, one website, and 10,000 visits monthly.  The GrowBig plan, priced at $5.95 per month offers 20GB of storage, multiple websites, and 25,000 monthly visits.

With SiteGround’s shared web hosting solution, you have the option of choosing any of the data centers in Europe, the US, and Asia-Pacific.

5. Bluehost

Bluehost’s shared web hosting plan starts at $2.75 per month for the Basic package. On this plan, you get one website, unlimited bandwidth, and 50GB of storage space.

Bluehost has other packages on its shared web hosting service, such as the Plus package, which comes in at $4.95 per month offering unlimited websites, unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth, and a host of other benefits.

Final Thoughts

No web hosting service is perfect. The recommendation for startups is to take advantage of the low prices and start with a shared hosting solution. Once your business gains some traction and your web traffic increases, the smart move would be to upgrade to a VPS hosting solution.

For an eCommerce startup, it would be advisable to take up a dedicated hosting solution right from the start, but if you’re tight on funds, then you’ll need to start from somewhere. A VPS hosting solution will be a better option in this case.

Deciding on which web hosting service to choose can be a very daunting task, especially when you’re on a budget. However, if you can study the differences between the three types of hosting, then the selection process should be a lot easier. And if you can find that sweet spot between great performances and affordable costs, then your startup is ready to hit the ground running.