Top 10 features that people look for in a hosting service.
There are some clear checklists that make customers choose a hosting service. Large storage spaces & bandwidth, high uptime or unlimited domains have been around, made clients make up their minds and joined the realm of must-haves, when it comes to hosting offers. Because nowadays it’s more than obvious for a hoster to offer the largest space on the fastest server ever, clients make their decisions upon additional features. We have checked the most up-to-date offers an made a list of widely needed components when it comes to choosing a host.
1.Customer Service
One of the most popular and needed features is a 24/7 customer service. Being a client, you want to make sure that your host provides not only e-mail inquiry but also on-time support, or at least an online chat. Top world hosters have multiple options of contact, such as 24/7 helpline, chat or 24/7 email support. But, best of the best offer also tutorials, online guides or youtube vlogs on how to run your website or transfer data. This makes them pros in customer service, reaches undecided clients and most of all… Leaves the support team ready for some real queries.
2. nTLD
“What on earth is nTLD?” is the first thing that pops up, when searching for the phrase. Top-level domains are the website endings, that used to be limited to .com or .org. Now, hosters offer domains that can be personalized according to the type of the website, business or any client’s needs. Back in 2011 ICANN has enabled a new process of creating customized TLDs, and it has become a stock market for domain endings. The most popular are .xyz .top or .site but .link .news and .tech are reaching a decent level of popularity as well.
3. Social Media Presence
Facebook alone can be sometimes a hassle, and as more and more platforms pop-up, any marketer or seller might experience confusion in this area. Rarely offered feature of maintaining social media is often compensated by hosters in tutorials and webinars, explaining how to run and conduct your Social Media channels. A great feature for beginners and those, who want to know it all.
4. Unlimited email accounts
Nearly every client is thinking of going for a professional e-mail, that ends with their website name. More than that, they want to have their team members included in the plan. Hosters offer not only dedicated e-mail endings, but easy login panels, intuitive webmail interfaces, integrations with Gmail if needed, spam filters, newsletter options and POP or IMAP protocols. It’s another add-on feature, that needs to be groundly checked by any client considering their online business, when it comes to required space and email functions.
5. E-commerce
In 2016 we are expected to have a 1.61 billon online buyers worldwide, making transactions that are worth over trillion dollars each year. This is the future of sales, but not everybody is up to the trend. Most of the hosters offer either a open source e-commerce integration, or a branded SaaS solution. The first option is more complicated for fresh users: PrestaShop or Magento have great possibilities in building an online business but you better have your IT team ready to handle the fuss. White label SaaS solutions like DreamCommerce are a lot easier to implement, and they have become more and more personalized, with features like build in payment systems or POS integrations.
6. Online courses & educational materials
While having your website might be all about interesting blog stories or service promo, some of the clients have a fixed idea of paid courses or free education content. This kind of integration is rarely offered by hosters as one of the features, but the problem might be solved by apps or installs. The most commonly known open-source solution is Moodle (offered by hosts), but you can pick up SaaS solutions like simple TalentLMS or more advanced Litmos.
7. Website builder
Some host services offer free website builders or tutorials. Most of them are nicely designed drag & drop instructions, that allow nearly everybody to create an incredible website, with a blog, call to action or Social Media mentions. Here, hosters use a SaaS solution like IM XPRS, use integrations for open source builders like Drupal or Wordpress, or create their own systems. Also, clients that have an eye for aesthetics can enjoy fully responsive free templates. Business-wise, graphic design really makes a difference. But there is a catch in the story — professional page with multiple options, such as logins, downloads or forums might be too much for add-on builders.
8. Marketing
A must have option for all large hosters, especially in US and Canada. Marketing in internet is not a piece of cake, especially when SEO or AdSence are not ringing any bells. For that matter hosters offer free ads to bust their client’s online marketing. The most common form is a credit offer for search engines like Yahoo or Bing, Google Adwords vouchers or Google Maps listing. Here, clients have to double check the time period that the credits are available by, localization (some of the credits will work only in US) and additional rates.
9. Control Panels
Web interface is one of the crucial factors, that makes life easier for each client. From such a panel the website owner should be able to manage data, backups, logins, domains and any other aspects of their server. The two most common control panels are cPanel and Plesk. The first one is perfectly integrated with CentOS, Red Hat and CloudLinux but does not run Windows. The second however has a nicer, more intuitive interface and individual user accounts, that allow the administrator to define subscriptions and roles. But keep in mind! Once you use either cPannel or Plesk, migration of the data is quite impossible, so it’s better to use a trial of both panels first.
10. Security
This seems an old case, but it’s updated day by day. Hosters are constantly on the run for new security solutions, providing Postin, SiteLock, Secure Shell protocols, domain privacy or SSL certificates. As a client you have to make sure, that all the data considering your clients, they payment methods, your e-mail database or any other aspect of your website is well protected.
