The performance and security of a website rely heavily on that of its hosting server. Hence, as a site owner, choosing the right hosting service, with adequate resources, is paramount to ensuring uninterrupted services to your website users. While there are various hosting platforms available, in recent years, Cloud Hosting Services have evolved as a preferred hosting solution for all kinds of websites. While Cloud Hosting offers a range of benefits to sites, choosing the right plan is essential too. Today, we will share five must-haves in your Cloud Hosting plan.
In Cloud Hosting, your website resides on a shared server backed by a robust cloud storage network. It allows the provider to offer a range of features and benefits like instant scalability, better reliability, data mirroring and data redundancy.
However, before you buy a plan, ensure that the host offers the following five features.
1. Scalability limits and charges
Most Cloud Hosting providers advertise instant resource scalability as a prominent feature of their service. However, if you look close, you will find that each provider sets different limits to the resources available for scaling up and the associated costs. Research your options and try to find a host that offers the most cost-efficient plan with maximum available resources to scale up.
2. Security measures
Security is the most critical aspect of any hosting service. While the Cloud Hosting architecture allows providers to ensure utmost data security, it is vital to check the security measures implemented by them to ensure that they are using the best tools. Look for features like a firewall, processes for identifying and managing viruses, malware, data encryption and the frequency of security audits.
3. Uptime Assurance
In today’s times, every minute that your website is down can prove to be costly, and not just financially. It can lead to a loss of business, reputation, and even crucial SEO points. Hence, before buying a hosting plan, it is vital to check the uptime assurance provided by the host. With Cloud Hosting, anything below 99.9% uptime assurance is open for reconsideration.
4. Site speed
Online users have no patience for slow-loading websites. Many studies suggest that if a site takes more than two to three seconds to load, users tend to abandon it and look at competitor sites. Search engines don’t like slow sites as well. With social media driving more and more traffic to websites, traffic spikes are a common occurrence nowadays. If a site has fast loading times, then such spikes can be managed efficiently too. While Cloud Hosting offers better site speeds, look for a host that integrates a caching solution like Varnish Cache along with a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to ensure a blazing-fast website.
5. 24×7 technical support
Even if you have purchased the best hosting service for your website, it takes one technical glitch to bring everything to a grinding halt. Sometimes, the glitch is minor, and a little troubleshooting can solve it in no time. With a 24X7 technical support team to back you, such minor issues can be tackled with ease ensuring uninterrupted availability for your website.
Summing Up
Remember, don’t buy a Cloud Hosting plan just because it can offer certain benefits. Ensure that the provider that you are buying from offers all the assured benefits by assessing the infrastructure and policies put in place by them. Research thoroughly and consider all aspects before buying. Good Luck!