How to choose a web hosting company

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1. Start with what you are building

Write down what the site has to do: how many pages, whether it runs WordPress or a shop, whether you need email on your domain, and roughly how many visitors you expect in the next year. That list decides the hosting type, and the type matters more than the brand.

Most new sites fit on an entry-level shared or managed WordPress plan. Buy for the next year, not for traffic you hope to have in five.

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2. Compare the real price, not the intro price

The advertised monthly price usually assumes you prepay one to three years. At renewal the price goes up, often a lot. Domain renewals, backups, email, privacy and security add-ons can add more.

Add it up for the full term you will use: intro price for the first term, renewal price after that, plus the domain and any add-ons. Uncheck add-ons that are pre-selected at checkout unless you want them.

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3. Check speed where your visitors are

Choose a data center close to most of your visitors, or a plan with a content delivery network (CDN). Look for NVMe solid-state storage, a fast web server such as LiteSpeed or NGINX, built-in caching and current PHP versions.

Read the resource limits: processor, memory, number of files (inodes) and simultaneous processes. These decide how busy your site can get before it slows down, whatever the plan calls itself.

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4. Make security and backups automatic

Every plan should include a free SSL certificate that renews itself. Look for automatic daily backups that you can restore in a few clicks, and check whether they are free on your plan or a paid add-on. Keep your own off-site copy too.

Malware scanning, a web application firewall and two-factor authentication on your hosting account are now standard on good hosts. Turn on two-factor login on day one.

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5. Test the support before you buy

Check which channels are open and when: live chat, phone, tickets, and whether they run around the clock. If you run WordPress, ask whether support will help with WordPress problems or only with the server.

Send a pre-sales question by chat or ticket. A quick, specific answer from a person is a good sign; a scripted upsell is not.

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6. Read the uptime guarantee closely

An uptime guarantee usually promises a credit on your hosting bill when the service is down longer than the stated percentage, often only if you ask for it. It does not cover lost sales, and planned maintenance is often excluded.

A public status page with an honest incident history tells you more than the percentage on the sales page.

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7. Decide where your email lives

Most shared plans include email accounts on your domain. They work for basic use, but storage, spam filtering and delivery can be weaker than on a dedicated service such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, and your email moves or breaks when you change hosts.

Wherever your email lives, make sure SPF, DKIM and DMARC records are set up so your messages reach inboxes.

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8. Plan for growth and for leaving

Check that you can move up to a bigger plan, a VPS or cloud hosting without rebuilding the site, and whether the host migrates sites for free.

Standard control panels such as cPanel or Plesk, full backups you can download and a domain registered in your own name make it easy to leave if the host stops being a good fit.

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9. Know the guarantee and the fine print

Money-back guarantees range from a few weeks to a few months. Most exclude domain registration fees and some add-ons, and some apply only to the first purchase or to certain plans.

Check whether the plan renews automatically, how to cancel, and whether you can pay monthly. Monthly billing costs more per month but lets you leave without losing a prepaid term.

Checklist before you buy

• The hosting type fits what you are building
• You know the renewal price and the term the intro price requires
• You added up domain, backup, email and security costs
• The data center is near your visitors, or a CDN is included
• NVMe storage, caching and current PHP versions are listed
• Free SSL renews automatically
• Daily backups are included and you can restore them yourself
• Two-factor login is available on your account
• Support hours and channels suit you, and they answered your test question
• You read the money-back terms and what they exclude
• The domain will be registered in your name
• You can upgrade, download a full backup and leave without penalty

Red flags

How to move to a new host

1. Take a full backup of files, databases and email from the old host, and keep a copy on your own computer.
2. Open the new account, or ask the new host to migrate the site for you if they offer it.
3. Copy the files and database and test the site on a temporary address before changing anything public.
4. Lower the DNS time-to-live a day ahead, then point the domain (or its DNS records) at the new host.
5. Confirm SSL, email (MX records), forms and payments work on the new host.
6. Keep the old account for a few days, then cancel it once everything has moved.

Not sure which kind of hosting you need? Start with our guide to the types of web hosting.