Hosting that Fits Your Site and Services
There are a variety of hosting companies in Pittsburgh that offer hundreds of types of hosting packages. Some of these packages are reasonable, some are great deals, and some can end up costing you a lot of money in lost traffic and reduced search engine visibility.
There are a number of elements that you need to take into consideration when deciding who you choose to host your website.
- Web Designers Offering Hosting Think hard before you agree to allow your web designer to host your website either on their private server or by reselling someone else’s server space. On one hand, they are likely to be very familiar with their server setup and can make changes quickly and efficiently. On the other hand, it gives them total control of whether your website is up or down. Make sure that they offer the same up-time warranty as a commercial hosting service.
- Shared Hosting VS. Dedicated ServersFor basic needs, shared hosting is a great option. However, it also means that you are likely sharing a server with several other websites. In many cases, you will also sharing a common IP address. This creates the possibility that any penalties levied by the search engines against any other website on the shared IP could also affect your site. Dedicated servers are more customizable and provide protection against downtime in the event of a traffic surge. However, they are a more expensive option.
- Backup and Restore CapabilitiesNo matter where you are hosting your website, it is important to make sure that there is a system in place for data and file recovery in the event of a disaster. Regardless of the reason for server malfunction, your data should be safe, easily accessible, and ready to go live again almost immediately. Getting a statement of this system in writing is a great idea.
- Location of your Hosting Company Search engines pay a lot of attention to the physical location of servers. For instance if you’re hosted in the US, you will have a hard time ranking for keywords in the UK. You need to make sure that your hosting services are not being outsourced offshore, which is a growing problem in the industry.
Pittsburgh Hosting Companies
Every day, we help Pittsburgh businesses find the right hosting solutions for their websites. Fortunately, Pittsburgh is home to several reputable and cost effective hosting companies and we have affiliations with several of them. For more information about hosting your website in Pittsburgh, Contact us !