As a web developer, quite often I have people asking me which hosting provider should they choose. With so many price plans, compatibility options, offers and such, finding a web host is never an easy task. If you don't already have a regular hosting provider that you have been using for years, you will be exhausted with all the available options. Here I will go trough a few things to look for in a web host.
Customer Service
My experience is that, the most important thing about a hosting provider is their customer support. With any hosting provider, it is expected that you will have some problems when you are setting up your site and running it. A good customer service makes a lot of difference while you try to solve these problems. I have used some hosting providers in the past only to regret it because of their customer service.
A good customer service should be responsive, fast and have the technical know how. Typically shared hosting providers will have up to one day response time, but in practice you should have a response for your enqueries in an hour or two. Some offer premium support for an additional fee.
Cost
When you are just starting with a small e-shop, you will want something cost effective and able to do the job. As your shop grows, there will come a time when a shared hosting will not be sufficient, but until then it is the most viable option.
A typical shared hosting starts as cheap as a few dollars a month to a few tens, depending on the hosting provider and plan. The thing to look for here is the value for money, as many hosts provide different plans for your needs.
Compatibility
Before you decide on a host, you need to know that their servers are compatible with the e-commerce software you are planning to use. For example PrestaShop requires PHP 5 and above, a MySQL database and it is best run on a linux server. You can still use PrestaShop on a windows server, but that is both more expensive and might cause issues.
You will find that most open source e-commerce applications run best on a linux server with PHP and MySQL, though some open source and commercial applications do run on other environments.
Feature List
When you look at any hosting provider today, you will see a very long list of features. Most of these are available in almost all hosting plans. For e-commerce, and PrestaShop in particular, you should be aware of a few things to look for.
You need a server that supports PHP 5.*. Otherwise you won't be able to run PrestaShop
You might at one point, or maybe from the start, want to implement SSL. SSL is a security protocl commonly used e-commerce applications. Certain payment options, specifically on-site credit card processing, will require SSL support.
To have friendly URLs, which still improves site ranking, you will need to be able to have .htaccess files.
Different hosting providers have different number of email accounts available, some unlimited. You will want to have enough accounts if you plan to have employees working on the backend.
Hosting providers usually have limits on the number of domains you can use with your hosting space. If you plan to have multiple sites with different niche products, you should check the number of domains the hosting provider allows.
You should look for a hosting provider that has %99.9 uptime guarantee. Many hosting providers claim to have high uptime, but they don't all live up to their claims. You should read reviews from other sites and forums to confirm it. A simple google search will give you all the information you need.
