Web hosting allows websites to be available on the internet. A good web host service ensures stability and improves website performance. There are many types of hosting with various features, all to meet different user needs.

The key to choosing the right hosting depends on you, so understand your options first. Let’s take the example of Hostinger, as it has plenty of features for an affordable price. When going through a hosting plan comparison chart, all the technical terms might be a bit confusing, so let’s break down exactly what they mean.

For that reason, this article will explain the top seven hosting features to look for when choosing a provider. This way, you can eliminate mistakes and maximize your investment in web hosting.

Uptime

Measured by percentage, a website’s uptime is the time where it’s online and accessible. The more uptime your website has, the less downtime it experiences. For example, if a website has a 95% uptime, the other 5% is when downtime occurs.

A high uptime provides plenty of benefits from improving the overall user experience to building a reputation, regardless of your business. It also boosts your page ranking on search engines, which is essential for SEO.

Most hosting providers guarantee a 99.9% uptime, and this is the minimum amount you should settle for. Additionally, look for hosting providers that offer maintenance and monitoring of the server’s uptime.

Storage

Storage space, or disk space, allows you to store more data, files, and other website-related documents. More storage space means more data you can store. It becomes more important when you have a blog with tons of articles, or have extensive comment sections, or store user-generated content.

When looking for a hosting provider, find adequate storage space. It often varies between hosting plans, which generally start from 25 GB to unlimited, but you can also pick based on your needs.

Maintaining your disk space is compressing files and deleting unnecessary files. If needed, you can also look into a storage upgrade service by the provider.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth refers to how much data your website can transfer to users. It’s important to estimate how much bandwidth your website needs. Having adequate bandwidth improves the speed and quality of your website.

Most hosting providers offer unlimited bandwidth, but be mindful. The average bandwidth usage is 5 GB per month, but your website might still experience an error if it’s unable to handle traffic spikes. Therefore, understand the bandwidth details from the provider before choosing.

Additionally, look into bandwidth upgrades if you’re scaling up. Hosting providers often offer this as a dedicated bandwidth server, which provides more stability for your data.

Speed

Speed determines how fast or slows your website is. Aside from the hosting plan, speed depends on aspects like server response time, optimized content, and

A fast-performing website leads to many beneficial things, like an improved user experience, ranking on the search engine results page (SERP), and building trust easier. This is especially useful for first-time website owners.

If you’re aiming to improve website performance and SEO, then look for hosting providers with features that support speed. There are tools like LiteSpeed or multiple plugins for WordPress websites.

Inclusions

Inclusions in web hosting are related to the specific features offered only by that hosting provider. Inclusions can greatly benefit you after understanding the right type of hosting plan. This can also work for business expansion.

The features often come in the domain name, website builder, and a free SSL certificate. Both the domain name and website builder work together when starting a business. The SSL certificate can provide security and protect important data.

If you’re looking for inclusions, be mindful of what’s included and what costs more. If there’s an extra cost, determine how much you want to pay and its value for money.

Security

Security is often the most important feature because it protects your website from cybercrimes, like hacking, phishing, identity theft, and many others. Without proper security measures, both you and your users are at risk — especially when involving sensitive information.

A secure web hosting provides features like DDoS attack protection, domain name privacy, secure FTP, security monitoring, and data back-up. All of them prevent a breach or other unwanted security scenarios from happening.

Another security measure to consider is server maintenance. Similar to the back-up feature, server maintenance prevents and resolves security issues. If needed, look for the security protocol of your preferred hosting provider.

Support

Finding the right hosting support simplifies processes and helps to resolve issues. This includes troubleshooting, restoring data, and providing updates. In addition, you can get more insights about your website, how it performs, and how to improve it.

When looking for web host support, pay attention to customer service, and hosting maintenance. Fortunately, hosting providers help customers 24/7 through multiple channels like email, chat, and phone calls.

Choose your web host support based on customer reviews and overall reputation.