So, you want to build a website and need a web hosting provider. That’s great. Securing a great hosting provider to manage your website’s infrastructure is the first step towards success. After all, having a website hasn’t been optional since 2020. Today, being online is just how business goes. That’s where people find solutions to their problems, and if you want to be considered, you better be there.

Now, having a great hosting plan is not enough on its own. You still need a stunning website, outstanding copy, a stellar marketing strategy, and superb SEO. However, having fast, secure, and reliable hosting is the cornerstone of everything else. For example, what’s the point in having a stunning design if it takes ages to load? Who would care if you have top-of-the-line content if your website is not secure? Your website is only as good as your web hosting allows it to be. So, getting the best on the market is not just recommendable but a must.

With 330,000 hosting providers worldwide, it’s really not that easy to pinpoint the best. Yes, you can always go for the most famous or the most advertised, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best choice. Finding the best hosting provider is entirely up to you. You must actively research and downright interview potential hosting companies to learn which will bring you the most value. And since we are experts in providing the best value in hosting, we are here to help you ask the right questions. With just 9 questions, you can learn all there is to know about a web hosting company. So, let’s get right into it.

1. What’s your uptime guarantee, and how do you guarantee it?

Your uptime is probably the most crucial aspect of your overall hosting. Why? Well, on average, each minute of downtime costs between $137 to $427. But money is not all you will lose. About 88% of people will never return to a website after experiencing downtime. If you are an established brand with many loyal followers, they might return. If you are an up-and-coming start-up with little to no brand exposure, be sure that if a user experiences downtime, you will never see them again.

As you can see, guaranteed uptime is one of the most important features of any hosting plan. That’s why the most prominent hosting providers will guarantee a minimum of 99.9% uptime. Still, a guarantee without any compensation is practically worthless, so while asking about the uptime guarantee, don’t forget to ask how this uptime is guaranteed and what happens if this guarantee is breached.

A respectable hosting company will explain why its network of servers is highly unlikely to fail. For example, here at HostArmada, we operate with high-end cloud hosting, meaning if a server crashes, we can instantly redirect resources from another server to make sure your website remains alive. In practice, the entire civilization must be crumbling for all our servers worldwide to go down. Still, in the unlikely event that your website is down due to our fault for longer than 0.01% of the time, we will give you a discount based on the time your website has been unreachable.

So, make sure the hosting provider you choose has a similar policy, as it means they are invested in keeping your website afloat, not only in words.

2. What product would you recommend for my needs?

The next question is actually a trick question. First and foremost, you must research the chosen hosting provider on your own. Learn their plans and make sure you understand everything there is to know about their offer. If you have any difficulty understanding the features and their implementation, ask for support. This way, you will also learn how good they are at explaining complicated topics in plain and simple language. This will be important if you want to configure your website on your own. Once you have chosen your plan, you should ask the hosting provider what they would recommend.

Now, if they offer you a different plan from what you consider optimal, don’t be rushed to deem them liars and opportunists. Keep in mind that they have more experience in dealing with all sorts of websites, and they know what you need. The main point of having some basic knowledge of what you need is to avoid being taken for a ride. For example, if you need a small portfolio website expecting 100-1000 visitors monthly, you don’t need a dedicated server. Thus, if the hosting provider tries to sell you this plan, they are obviously after your money and are not trying to help you. However, if they offer you a slightly more expensive or less expensive plan than you considered, they might have a point.

3. How do you keep my website secure?

The next question on your list should be related to security. After all, security is crucial, especially if you gather sensitive information from your clients. Email list breaches are serious enough, not to mention if any payment method data has leaked through your website. This can put you in a very difficult legal position, and you can consider your business done. Thus, security at the hosting level is one of the most important features a web host must provide.

Now, most good web hosting companies offer at least some degree of complementary security features. Getting a free SSL certificate is the bare minimum. However, with cyber threats being at an all-time high and personal data protection becoming a focal point of customer concerns, reliable hosting companies already offer additional security measures as part of their plans. For example, at HostArmada, we offer free SSL certificates for all websites, free backups, free DOS/DDoS protection, free Malware Scanning, Free Malware removal, Free WAF & Network Firewall, and a ton of other security and SSL features. Moreover, we implement daily backups, fast security patches, and User Account Isolation.

So, make sure to choose a hosting provider who takes your website’s infrastructure security seriously and doesn’t leave anything to chance. Otherwise, you may find yourself in pretty deep trouble.

4. What support do you offer?

Your next question should be about the support. Anything less than 365/24/7 support is not worth your time. Imagine having a problem in the off hours. What? Do you have to wait until 9 am the next working day to report the problem? Surprisingly, some hosting companies still offer 9 to 5 support. Needless to say, your problems won’t wait for someone to get to work on Monday at 9 am. They happened now, and they needed a resolution yesterday. So, any company that offers less than 24/7 support is out of the picture.

But there is more you need to know about your hosting provider’s support. For example, how do you report a problem? Is it a ticketing system, through a customer support chat, or a phone call? The best-case scenario is to have all three at your disposal.

Furthermore, ask the hosting provider their typical response time, what percentage of the cases get resolved, and what happens if they make mistakes. Now, if anyone claims they don’t make mistakes, they lie. Mistakes happen to the best, and a hosting provider should acknowledge and offer compensation if they make a mistake. If they are adamant that a mistake on their part is impossible, consider that you won’t get anything if things go sideways.

5. Why do I need all these additional features?

If you open a good hosting provider, you will see a list of dozens of features that mean nothing to you. That doesn’t mean you should leave it at that if you are going to buy a service. Ask the hosting provider to explain these additional features and how they improve their service. This can be of great help to the decision-making process.

For example, HostArmada offers over 50 additional features that contribute to security, speed, convenience, and user experience.

So, don’t hesitate to ask about the features, what they mean, and how they will make your website or business better.

6. What if I’m dissatisfied?

When signing up with a hosting provider, you typically look at a 2- to 3-year plan for the best price. Needless to say, this puts you in an unfavorable position, as you are stepping into a blind long-term relationship. Though most hosting providers will do everything they can to satisfy your needs to the fullest, it’s still a good idea to ask for a way out. In other words, ask your hosting provider what will happen if you are dissatisfied.

Typically, most hosting providers offer a trial period, where you can test their services and, if dissatisfied, get your money back. HostArmada goes a step further. Firstly, we offer a 45-day money-back guarantee, which is among the most extended money-back guarantee periods. Moreover, if you decide to quit anytime after that, you can do so without any cancellation fees. In other words, you will pay only for what you’ve used.

So, find a hosting provider who gives you multiple ways out. This shows they are confident in their product and won’t hold you for ransom if you decide to part ways.

7. What happens if my website grows fast?

Next on your list of questions should be the best-case scenario. In other words, what will happen to your hosting plan if your business grows faster than anticipated? Most starting businesses go for shared hosting. This way, they reduce their losses if their business goes sideways for one reason or another. Typically, a company will need at least two years to become self-sufficient. So, with steady growth, business owners can plan for a shared hosting service for the first two years of the business. However, if the enterprise hits the jackpot and starts growing uncontrollably, the business website will need a new hosting plan fast.

So, asking your hosting provider if there are any charges for scaling up your hosting plan is a must.

Most hosting companies will gladly change your hosting plan to something better and sign again with you rather than lose you as a client. Still, it’s best to have the answer sooner rather than later. It’s really not optimal to change your hosting service provider while your business is booming. So, make sure you check the scaling policies before you get started.

8. What if my website gets hacked?

And since you asked about the best-case scenario, why not ask about the worst? Being hacked is not given. You may never face this fate, but being prepared is always a good idea. So, ask your hosting provider-to-be what they will do if your website gets hacked.

Now, prepare for a lengthy explanation of why this will never happen to you. After all, they are trying to sell you security, which doesn’t include starting from the contingency plan. Still, make the most of it, and learn more about how their security measures will improve your website. Finally, when they get to what they will actually do, “in the unlikely event that your website gets hacked,” make sure you learn how often your website will be backed up and whether they will restore it afterward for free.

Currently, hosting providers most often offer one backup per day for free. Some, like HostArmada, offer multiple backups every day, depending on the plan. The most affordable plan comes with seven daily backups, which is perfect for most commercial websites. Of course, we also offer free website restoration if the website is hacked.

So, find a hosting provider offering as many daily backups as possible with a free restoration policy. A daily backup is quite enough for static websites, but when it comes to e-commerce, one daily backup is not enough. Having 7,14, or even 21 daily backups is much better and will make sure you always have the most current version of your website ready to step in if needed.

9. How many customers will I share a server with?

Finally, a question for those who will use a shared hosting plan. Naturally, this question has little to do with the actual number of people that you will share your server with, as it truly doesn’t matter. What matters is whether you will receive enough resources for your own website. Usually, hosting providers will give you a specific bandwidth per month and give you an estimate of how many people your website can receive each month. A good website will provide you with at least 20,000 visits per month.

HostArmada doesn’t give a specific bandwidth, as the cloud server technology allows us to redirect resources from various servers to accommodate needs. Still, some acceptable usage clauses give you a significant margin to operate within. For example, the most affordable shared hosting will allow you to have around 30,000 monthly visitors. That doesn’t mean that at the 30,000th person, you will be cut off. This means that if you constantly reach this mark, we will advise you to up your plan so your website won’t struggle.

Another valid concern with how many people share your server is the fact that one website can hoard all the resources when they have a peak. This will negatively affect your website’s performance, as it will have fewer resources. Well, at least that’s the case with physical servers. With our cloud technology, we can allocate additional resources from other servers, so your website will operate at full capacity, no matter what your server buddies do.

So, when asking this question, make sure you have the needed server resources, regardless of how many people share the server, and your website won’t slow down due to others being viral at the moment.

Why are these questions relevant?

These questions will give you invaluable insight into how the hosting provider operates. It will reveal how your website will perform in the most dire situations. It will also show you how serious the hosting provider is regarding your security and how sure they are in their product.

Asking those questions will ensure you will sign up with the best. That’s the goal, after all. The best hosting provider will give you the most favorable environment to build your website, scale your business, and become a successful entrepreneur.

So, if you are looking for the best, you might as well start with the most likely candidate – HostArmada. We offer lightning-fast hosting with robust security and 99.9% guaranteed uptime. Check out our plans, and don’t hesitate to contact our support team to ask all these questions we discussed. To answer number 4 right away, you can contact our support team in one of 4 ways – through a ticket with a 10-minute response time, with an instant chat, through a phone call, or via email. We are ready to answer all your questions, especially if they go beyond our list of the nine most important questions you must ask your future hosting providers. So, let’s talk.