Regardless of the size of one’s business, every venture needs a web presence. A business website is an informational platform that allows companies to introduce their service and product to the world. It is the most convenient way to establish communication with potential clients or customers.

A business website is also the unique identity for ventures on the web and is an essential part of branding or brand awareness. Despite the obvious advantages of a business website, research conducted by clutch.co (B2B Research Company) revealed that nearly 46% of small businesses don’t have a website.

Almost every small venture is open to the idea of setting up a business website but is unsure of how to go about it. Taking over the day to day management of the website once launched is a big concern most business owners have. However, with affordable shared hosting plans, creating and managing a business website is far from complicated today.

What is Shared Hosting?

As the name suggests, shared hosting is a web hosting environment wherein common resources like RAM, CPU time, memory, hard disk space and bandwidth are shared amongst multiple entities. Thanks to shared computing resources, the cost of shared hosting plans is, therefore, affordable. With a monthly payment of just $5 to $20, business owners can get hold of a shared plan. In addition to affordable pricing, other benefits of shared hosting environment also attract small or home-based business owners towards such web hosting plans. These are-

• Access to cPanel that allows convenient management of the website
• Access to phpMyAdmin to facilitate database management
• Tasks like server maintenance, security fixes, software upgradation is the responsibility of the web host service provider and not the website owner

With these points, shared web hosting plan is the best-fit for novice webmasters or business owners with no technical background. Additionally, tasks like updating web content, adding new products or categories to the portal, answering customer reviews etc. can be conveniently performed by the website’s administrator.

Choosing the Right Shared Hosting Plan Is the Fundamental Requisite of a Business Website

Many business owners pay more attention to the aesthetic aspect of the website and ignore the most fundamental prerequisite of setting up a website. While striving for modern design, seamless interface and engaging web content is important, it is equally vital to choose the right shared hosting plan for a business website. Eventually, it is the right server environment that will guarantee the smooth performance of the website.

To stay ahead in a competitive market, business websites cannot afford hiccups like downtime, poor server infrastructure, laxity in security features, etc. Therefore, when weighing-in the features and offering of different shared hosting plans, entrepreneurs or business owners must pay close attention to the following things:

1. Analysis of Business Needs

The nature of the business is a very important parameter to consider when looking for a shared hosting plan. Here are some questions business owners should have clear answers to-

• What is the purpose of the website? Will it have a simple interface or advanced and interactive features?
• Will the website require regular software upgradation? For example, newer versions of WordPress or PHP.
• Will the website deal with sensitive data? For instance, credit card information, personal details, medical history, etc.

A clear position on these questions is quite important to choose the ideal plan for a business website.

2. Expected Growth in Traffic

Business owners must anticipate the amount of traffic the website would be receiving in the coming months. Although shared hosting is ideal for moderately trafficked websites, a sudden spike in visitors can lead to crashing of the site or slowdown of the web pages. In such a case, a basic plan may not be sufficient. Therefore, website owners must opt for a shared hosting plan which can sustain smooth working of the website for at least 1 or 2 years.

3. Reputation of the Hosting Provider

The reputation of the hosting provider is an important matter to consider when choosing a shared hosting plan. Entrepreneurs must look for the following things in the hosting provider –

• Good uptime score, not less than 99.5% as it will negatively impact on user experience
• Decent customer support system for a quick redressal of queries and problems
• Frequent upgradation for CMS platforms like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and software in the likes of PHP. This is important for the stability and security of the website

4. Inclusion of cPanel in the offering

cPanel is an integral component of the shared hosting package. Thanks to its user-friendly interface, the administrator of the website can have a complete control of the portal. Tasks like user creation, access permission, new content addition, changing the theme of the website can be carried out with the help of cPanel.

The Bottom Line

Never take a chance with a web hosting plan. Websites that are hosted on a weak shared hosting environment face problems like slow loading of the web pages which in turn will increase the bounce rate and visitor dissatisfaction. Therefore, it is always wise to opt for a shared web host which is powerful enough to address the individual needs of a business. Always go for a mainstream hosting provider who is in the business for many years. Conduct a thorough market research before saying yes to a hosting plan.