What is Cloud Hosting?
Cloud Hosting is the next stage in the evolution of web hosting products. Harnessing the power of cutting-edge cloud technologies, it is a powerful alternative for hosting resource intensive websites. Because your data is stored on a self-healing storage cluster, instead of one copy on one server, you can be assured of complete data redundancy, and a higher uptime enabled by prompt failover migrations
Thinking of upgrading your web hosting to cloud? Here are few factors you need to consider before purchasing a cloud hosting plan.
Although cloud hosting is still evolving, you need a web hosting expert that has years of experience in successfully managing hosting for businesses. Look for testimonials of what people, especially established clients, are saying.
- Easy-to-use Control Panel
Having a user-friendly and functional hosting control panel is essential. Regardless of whether it’s a cPanel, Plesk or other (third party) control panel, it must have an easy-to-use control panel. Otherwise, you’ll be wasting your time figuring things out with tech support instead of focusing on your business.
- Scalable Environment
As your business grows, so will your cloud storage needs. To ensure you’re choosing the right cloud hosting plan, find out what additional storage capacity and other services will be offered and for how much.
Cloud hosting plans are 4x scalable. You can ramp up your cloud resources in one click — with no data migrations, downtime, reboots or service interruptions.
- Server Location
Site speed (or page load speed) is the time it takes for users to load your website. Google has admitted to it being a ranking factor— which means that sites that load faster rank higher. Having a quicker loading site can, therefore, improve your site ranking, and (hence) your traffic.
- A 1-second delay in page load time can cause a 7% reduction in conversion rates
- 40% of online visitors will abandon sites that don’t load within 3 seconds
- 79% of online shoppers who have trouble with website performance won’t return to buy again
- Application Hosting Features
When choosing a cloud hosting plan, go to a web host that saves you time by providing one-click installs for:
- Open scripts
- WordPress blogs
- Joomla & Drupal CMS solutions
- Wiki Hosting to help you start a Wiki website
- Cron Jobs, Auto Script Installers, etc.
Some web hosts do not offer basic hosting features for easy web installations and updates, such as:
- Cron for day-in-day-out operations
- Auto Script Installers (like Softaculous, Fantastico, SimpleScripts, QuickInstaller, etc.)
- .htaccess for page redirects and security purposes, etc.
- SSI (Server Side Include) for easy site maintenance
- FTP access for easy file transfers
Go with a hosting provider that provides these must-have features.
- Website Security
Website security should be a major consideration because it involves storing your company’s critical data in the cloud. Unfortunately, not all cloud hosting plans (and providers) are equal when it comes to security.
Your cloud hosting provider should provide several layers of security, and continuously update them. The important security measures to look for include firewalls, anti-virus detection, data encryption, multi-factor user authentication, and routine security audits.
- Uptime Guarantee
Site uptime is one of the most important elements of site performance. You need a web host that provides powerful servers and stable network connections. Do not choose a web host that cannot offer you an uptime guarantee of at least 99.5%. The higher the uptime guarantee, the better.
- Pricing
Choose web hosting that’s right for your business and affordable. The pricing should ideally be upfront. Upfront pricing ensures you pay a fixed amount. Whereas in postpaid billing you’re not aware of the expenses until the end of the billing cycle.