Given the advances, not just in technology, but in what modern-day internet users expect when they visit a website, the services that a web hosting company offer should be more than just hosting. Simply offering website owners a place to host their website does not cut it and a hosting company that thinks that way is not going to be around for very long.
Web hosting companies worth using should be able to offer clients several additional options and add-ons that enhance how the websites that it hosts perform, and which provide enhanced services for the owners of those websites. Below we have outlined 7 services that we believe every web hosting company should offer or provide to its clients.
Website Builder
Many businesses arrange for web hosting before they even have a website but plan to create one. This is where web hosting companies that provide website builders have an advantage. Most website builders will have free templates which makes the task of creating a website easier.
Web Design
Sticking with the subject of creating websites, some of the better web hosting companies take it a stage further by offering web design services. This goes beyond the business shaving to build their website themselves and instead the hosting company’s web designers do it for them. A big advantage of this will be that the web design will be optimised for the hosting service and thus increase its performance and reliability.
Domain Name
Whilst the cost of purchasing a domain is not exactly going to break the bank, we feel it is always positive if a hosting company offers a free domain name to new customers. This way setting up nameservers, for example, is simplified and the domain goes live sooner.
SSL Certificate
Online security is a hot subject not least because Google sees it as an important ranking factor, meaning website owners need to have several security protocols in place. One of these is SSL and if your hosting company offers an SSL certificate as part of their service then it allows your website to have ‘HTTPS’ in its URL and thus visitors know your website is secure and their data encrypted.
Managed Hosting
Managed hosting is a service that takes all the tasks related to the hosting management of a website that is hosted on a dedicated server or VPS out of the hands of the business and into the hands of the hosting service. This means anything that is required concerning updates, maintenance, security, and configuration of hosting servers, including backups, and resolving technical issues, is carried out by the hosting company
Website Transfer
If you relocated your office, it would be great if you could close the doors of your old office and instantaneously your new office is set up and ready for business. Well, that is what happens with a website transfer from one host to another. It is a somewhat technical process so if your new hosting company offers it, take them up on it so that your website appears and functions exactly as it should.
Malware Scanning
Back to online security and this service which some hosting services offer but not all. This is akin to you scanning your home PC for viruses but instead, your hosting company scans your website files for malware to prevent the website from being hacked.