10 Secret Things to Know Before Buying Web Hosting

You have found a web hosting plan offering everything unlimited and are buying now. Wait! Don’t get trapped. There are at least 10 secret things you must know and check before buying web hosting.

Nothing comes for free. There are many restrictions on standard web hosting that you must abide by and follow. Even the host doesn’t display them on the web page to let you discover easily. I have vast experience with different types of hosting including shared, cloud, and VPS.

So I’m telling you 10 secret things you must consider before buying web hosting. Believe me, none else would tell you these, and none of the web hosts would like to disclose. You must check each with the plan you’re purchasing and decide further.

1. Inode Limit in Shared Hosting

Inodes are the total number of files and folders you can have in your hosting plan. This includes emails, temporary files, session files, directories, and many others. A typical WordPress installation consists of around 10,000 files. Further, you can have additional thumbnails of images you upload there.

Bearing this into mind, ensure that you have a pretty high inode limit. If you can’t get this on the hosting plan page then better ask the web host.

Also read: Easily move a WordPress site from the localhost to the live server. Or the same for CodeIgniter.

2. Consider Entry Process Limit Before Buying Web Hosting

An “Entry Process” is how many PHP scripts you have running at a single time. Usually hosting companies offer from 20 to 40 processes on shared hosting. Further, an “Entry Process” only takes roughly a second or lesser to complete.

However, it doesn’t mean only 20 people can access the website at a given single time. Because the likelihood of all 20 people hitting your website at the exact same moment would never happen. Multiply the number of entry processes by 3 to get a rough idea of the server capacity to handle visitors simultaneously. 

Also, if you’ve many Cron Jobs or resource-hungry scripts, prefer web hosting with a higher Entry Process limit. Buying web hosting with a 30 or more process limit is a good idea.

3. Renewal/Upgrade Cost of Web Hosting Plan

Setting up DNS configurations, websites and databases are quite tedious tasks. It’s not something you would love doing again and again. Further, if you change the host in the future, migrating websites needs considerable time and effort unless your new host is offering you this facility.

If you renew the same plan or upgrade with the same host, you won’t face those future hurdles. So it’s wise to inspect renewal prices as well as checking other plans.

4. Know Hardware Configuration

CPU, RAM, and disk storage type along with capacity fall in this classification. Undoubtedly, the higher the configuration, the more powerful the server will be. So if you’re planning to purchase, compare hardware from different hosts.

The major things to know are CPU cores, RAM capacity as well as disk type (HDD/SSD), and size.

5. Know the Reputation of the Host Before Purchasing Web Hosting

This is the biggest mistake I did in the early days. I didn’t research which hosts are well-reputed. So while I paid for more than a year, I could use the service for only a few months. I had the kind of poorest service ever.

If you’re investing money for a host you have never heard before, check if that is really worth it. For that check web hosting reviews and the companies they recommend. You can also drop a message in chat support there if it is available and you don’t see your preferred host.

6. Moneyback Guarantee Period

The moneyback guarantee period is the duration in which you can cancel the order if you aren’t satisfied. And the host will refund your money back. I prefer 30 days moneyback guarantee period. Since it let me truly understand how are my sites performing. Additionally, most well-established hosts offer this period for 30 days without any question asked.

7. Check Technical Support

Support is important. You should ensure that the support is available 24 hours. Chat as well as email support are desirous. Also, ensure that you can talk to a real person rather than a bot when needed.

One more secret I would like to share. Most support guys are able to answer hosting-related queries. But not each web hosting company has adequate staff to assist in technical questions. So it is necessary to consider that are you capable to solve any technical trouble.

Unreliable hosts would ask you to talk to your developer or look into the log every time. I have faced HTACCESS related issues many times with changing server configurations. I had to convince them that my code was working successfully on the previous server. It was unpleasant to see they weren’t offering any help even in such cases.

Additionally, support varies with the type of hosting purchased. For example, a VPS can have managed or unmanaged support. You should know what type of support the host would offer and what is included.

8. Features and Add-ons 

A close inspection of what features are the company offering additionally is worth. Free domain registration, Free SSL certificates for all primary and add-on domains are a few to name. SSH access, as well as the type of control panel available, are also worth consideration.

Some companies offer a customized control panel for easier hosting management. Whereas you might feel comfortable with a standard full-fledged panel like cPanel. So carefully check these features and add-ones before buying web hosting.

9. Consider Full Specification

Knowing full specification is a part of your smart purchase. It consists of server configuration, OS, and software available along with supported versions. Ensure that the resources meet the requirement to run your applications.

Usually hosting companies don’t show full information in the primary area of the product details page. You may have to scroll to the bottom of the page to get this. If you can’t find this, it is better to ask customer support there.

10. Server Location Before You Buy Web Hosting

Honestly, if you have a well-configured server and optimized code that gives higher performance and speed, the location of the server doesn’t matter. However, this rarely happens in reality. So choosing the server near to your targeted countries is a good idea.

But remember that server location should be your minor priority. Server strength and tuning are the key factors. Additionally, you can learn to speed up the server using the given articles:

• 5 Tools to improve website performance
• 10 Better SEO tips for ranking
• Caching in WordPress – Transients API
• Speed up page rendering

So you have 10 secrets to consider before buying web hosting. Especially, Inodes and Process Limits are factors that people rarely know. I hope this article has given adequate guidance to smartly chose web hosting.

If you’ve questions, feedback, or comment, I would love to know and reply. Kindly use the Reply Form below and update me.