When starting the process to create the first website/online store for our business, there are always some questions that may arise. Two of them are how to choose the right web hosting for my website needs and the other is the domain that makes the most business sense.

In today’s article, we’ll give you some tips on what to look out for when choosing a hosting and domain name.

First let’s start with the domain, as it is something that must be thought of first, we start by explaining what a domain is.

A domain is the link/url of your website, for example our domain is “hubativo.com”. A strong domain name helps people find your website without any intervention. No complicated number sequences or need to use search engines.

But there are some points that must be taken into account when choosing the name for your domain, for example, it should be easy to digitize, in order to prevent your customers from typing the wrong domain and not finding your website.

You also need to pay attention to your domain size,  let’s take the example Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogoch, the city of Wales. Its name is so big that it is difficult to pronounce and it is very difficult to memorize it. So, remember this example when choosing your domain, a very large domain will make people not memorize it and may also make mistakes when writing/pronouncing. Your domain should be short and easy enough to be in your customers’ mouths. Some research shows that human memory memorizes short words more easily.

Choosing the right extension will also end up having some relevance, good ol’ .com remains the king of domain extensions for both SEO and memorization. But more and more .pt is already beginning to gain ground in Portuguese companies/businesses. However, nowadays there are a multitude of other extensions that can be used strategically to increase the domain.

Some areas already have specific extensions, such as education (.edu), blog (.blog) and government (.gov). But still, .com  or .pt remains the most common option.

Of course, if your business already has a name, and if you already have a range of customers who know your business, you can use your company name as a domain, for example HUB Ativo, use our name as a domain, hubativo .com, .com as our business although it is in Portugal, we have services that will be of interest to people all over the world.

 

Now we turn our attention to accommodation, we start by explaining what accommodation is:

The web hosting service is the place where you will place files and information on your website, namely HTML, PHP, JavaScript, CSS, images, database, etc. files. This way your website will be accessible to anyone in the world through the Internet. For most new sites, a shared hosting plan is advisable, as it has low costs, the customer does not need knowledge in terms of server management and it is usually sufficient.

In shared web hosting, a single server can support hundreds of websites, where a percentage of server resources (Storage, Bandwidth, Memory and CPU Consumption, I/O, etc) is allocated to each hosting plan.

 

But what should we keep in mind when choosing a web host?

Technical Support: Although you don’t want it, sometimes there may be some problems that you need help from tech support to solve a problem that may arise on your website, so pay attention to a tech support that responds quickly and effectively can be crucial if you want your problem solved and quickly. It is not extremely important, but sometimes choosing an accommodation whose technical support speaks your mother tongue can facilitate communication, of course if you are fluent in speaking/writing another language, this choice will not be a problem.

The Plans: People often go after the cheapest prices, however, the cheapest may not always mean that it will have the best quality. You have to carefully evaluate the plans that the web hosting has to sell you and see which one is best for your type of business. Thus, in the plans you also have to take some things into account, for example, disk space/storage, if you have in mind to create an online store, maybe you should opt for a package that has a larger space, as an online store requires that there is more content inserted on the site, such as photos. While an institutional site, for example a site that just wants to make known your company/services, will not need such a large disk space, as the insertion of new content may be smaller than a store, even so, it will have Keep in mind that if you want to put slides or even videos, these are options that can sometimes weigh more images, so choosing a plan that has a good space can still be essential. Email services (if you want to create a professional email together with your website), a good management panel, as this will guarantee you autonomy to carry out various tasks.

SSL certificate offer: Although the vast majority of accommodations already offer an SSL certificate in their plans, there are still some that charge for this service. You can choose one that already offers the certificate or choose to pay for a certificate. Anyway, it is essential that you have an SSL certificate on your website.

Monthly Traffic: Monthly traffic is the amount of data you can move monthly in your hosting account. Therefore, it is always better to opt for an accommodation that provides you with good or even unlimited traffic.

 

At HUB Ativo, our team can also help you with these queries but also help you develop your website or online store, fully customized to your taste and with the functions that your website/business needs. For more information, contact us through the contact page or come and talk to us personally at HUB Ativo in Portimão.