More and more companies understand the value of Cloud Hosting in a scenario where content is becoming increasingly important.
An interesting piece of data comes from Italy’s National Strategic Plan for IT, which aims to have 75% of government offices use cloud services by 2026.
Cloud hosting is a service that allows you to store a website’s data on multiple shared servers – “cloud” – unlike traditional hosting which uses a single server, thus solving various problems that can occur online, and which we’ll see soon.
The problem that arises once you want to move to the Cloud is to understand which is the best service among the many available, in terms of functionality, scalability and security, all at the right price.
This is why I wanted to write this short guide on how to choose the best Cloud Hosting, the requirements that every company must consider when choosing. Artera, the company of which I am CEO, provides the Cloud Hosting service, which you can also try to evaluate its quality.
Why Cloud Hosting?
This service brings with it several indisputable advantages for companies that need to count on high performance, without risking downtime due to problems of various kinds. We are talking about sites that stand to lose if they crash, sites with large volumes of content, internal services, apps, and eCommerce with storefronts that work day and night, etc.
When you read that Cloud Hosting offers greater reliability, scalability and flexibility than traditional hosting, what does this mean in practice? Because you can imagine that there are advantages in moving to the cloud, but in practice, essentially, what do you get out of it?
Less risk of Downtime
One of companies’ priorities is to reduce the risk of downtime and ensure that their systems and services are always active and reliable.
“Downtime” indicates the period of time in which a website is unavailable or does not work correctly. This interval can be programmed in the case of voluntary temporary suspension of the service for maintenance, but it can also be unforeseen and incidental, as in the case of a hardware failure, a software error or a cyber attack.
The fact is that during downtime people cannot view/access the site and its services. This disservice is perceived as a negative signal, which can compromise or, in any case, condition the reputation of a company, even damaging its profit, if the problem occurs constantly.
In Cloud Hosting, the site risks much less downtime in the event of failures, given that the resources necessary to keep a website up and running are spread across multiple servers and that data can be transferred to another server.
Scalability
Another great technical advantage of Cloud Hosting is scalability, allowing you to adjust CPU, RAM and storage based on website requirements. Always for the same mechanism of data distribution on a server network. This way you can have more disk space, bandwidth or computing power if your site needs it.
When you start a site or eCommerce, the goal is almost always to increase its traffic. This growth can be exponential over a linear period of time or it can reach high peaks only in some periods. An example is the online store that increases sales during the Christmas period or sales seasons.
Last but not least, many Cloud Hosting providers offer load balancing services, which automatically distribute website traffic between the various servers to ensure optimal performance.
And then, there is the story of the costs which in the Cloud, perhaps this is not known, can be established based on the actual use of the service. I spend as much as I consume.
Unfortunately, among the mistakes I see people making, in general when choosing hosting, is taking price as the only determining factor. But you can’t think only in terms of “how much I pay”
Yes, it’s important to make comparisons, of course, but by opening the box and seeing what’s inside. This presupposes an analysis of all the components of the hosting package, and not just a mere price comparison. You cannot ignore the scalability options or take lightly the security and data protection functions or the assistance provided by the host.
And so we come to the focus of this article on how to choose the best Cloud Hosting because there are factors that help us understand if that service is really valid. Factors such as scalability, performance, security, support and value for money.
How to choose the best Cloud Hosting among the many on the market
Given that Cloud Hosting represents the ideal choice for corporate websites of all sizes, based on what criteria should you choose the best provider?
Let’s not underestimate the choice of Cloud Hosting provider because this is a decision that can have a very significant impact on the performance of the site and its online growth in terms of reputation, in the eyes of people and search engines (read Google).
So, here are the criteria we need to consider to make an informed choice.
First of all, let’s consider some intrinsic factors such as website size, traffic goals, storage needs, and any specific software or applications. This analysis helps to get a picture of the necessary resources and features that the cloud host must offer.
1. Scalability
The best Cloud Hosting providers offer scalable resources with the ability to change the hosting plan based on the needs of the website. Scalability ensures the site can handle increased traffic and adapt to changes, such as exponential growth, without performance problems.
2. Reliability and uptime
Reliable hosting must ensure high uptime while minimizing downtime. Even more so, as mentioned, if it is a digital shop, the Cloud can support an eCommerce so that it is always accessible.
3. Security
The web hosting platform must also guarantee the necessary security measures to protect the website and its data.
Many wonder if data in the cloud is safe, considering its nature, well the choice of hosting makes all the difference.
Among the features to look for in a reliable Cloud Hosting service,
- SSL certificates
- firewall
- DDoS protection
- malware scan
- regular backups
- data encryption
- advanced systems for detecting possible intrusions
- disaster recovery options.
4. Performance and speed
Speed is a ranking factor, like it or not, Google considers it fundamental to meeting visitors’ expectations.
So, a good Cloud Hosting platform must be based on high-speed servers, SSD storage and content distribution networks (CDN – Content Delivery Network). Technologies that guarantee fast page loading times, improving the browsing experience and positioning on search engines. In addition to the server, however, it is important to know how to optimize the speed of the site.
5. Customer Support
The importance of customer support ready to intervene if needed at any time should not be underestimated at all, without having to write endless emails or wait for biblical response times.
If there is one thing that we take care of very carefully at Artera, it is the assistance that we extend to multiple services. From site migration to CMS pre-installation, to management of email accounts, DNS, FTP, security and speed.
We do not tolerate distraction or levity in dealing with other people’s problems. A website or an e-commerce site lives on their presence, therefore it is absurd to think of leaving them as if they were dead afloat for hours and hours or for entire days, without providing for their restoration.
It would be ideal to rely on a Cloud Hosting that offers 24/7 customer support, through various channels such as live chat, telephone and ticketing systems.
6. Prices
As mentioned, cheaper cloud hosting is not always synonymous with advantage / benefit. At the moment it may seem like it’s for your pockets, but it’s a small thing in the end if the hole is created in your pocket due to the poor quality of the service.
It is inherent in our research of any service to pay attention to costs, but it is good to compare the numerical data with other data of value in terms of resources, performance, security and customer support.
In this analysis it is good to also take into account those services that the provider offers free of charge. At Artera, for example, we offer free migration and optimization.
7. Reputation and reviews
How to orient yourself at the beginning in the sea of offers that all seem the same? Because no provider will write about itself that its service is poor or that it does not respect the good practices of correct Cloud Hosting. This is obvious.
So, when we don’t have too much experience in finding the detail, the quibble that could still give us an idea of the actual value of a service, we can always look for the precious online reviews.
Today there is this great advantage of reading what people say, what their experiences have been. So, let’s do it! Let’s scan the internet to see what the reputation of the Cloud Hosting platform we are considering is.
8. Read the terms and conditions
Don’t fall into the trap of laziness. Carefully review the terms and conditions, including the refund policy, service level agreements, and any limitations or restrictions. See carefully what is included in the hosting plan (domain registrations, SSL certificate, pre-installation assistance, etc.), and if there are additional costs that you had not foreseen.
9. Take advantage of the free trial or promotions
Many providers offer free trials, promotions or money-back guarantees (like ours for 60 days), which can become good opportunities to test the services and evaluate their performance, ease of use and quality of assistance before committing to a long-term plan. Before leaving us, I would like to point out our Cloud Hosting service. I won’t tell you it’s the best, because that would be really trivial. I invite you to look at the page with all the details on our Cloud Hosting service, however, so that you can get an idea in the meantime and contact us for further information.
