Looking for the right website hosting solution can be more frustrating than dining out with rowdy twin toddlers. But finding the right provider to host your site is an important part of building your brand and maintaining momentum in your strategic messaging. Here are some qualities to look for in a web hosting provider that you’ll want to keep around.

Convenient Support Services

Especially when things don’t go as planned with your site or hosting service, the quality of a provider company’s tech and customer support service can feel like the most important aspect of the entire arrangement. After all, if you can’t figure out how to use a great feature or depend on your site staying live, then it really doesn’t matter how snazzy the ecommerce feature could look to your customers.

Look for a web hosting provider that offers around-the-clock support to help you out of jams no matter when they occur. Also explore the control panel to make sure it’s reasonably easy to navigate (so you don’t need tons of tech help), and find out what support options are available. Some situations will require a live conversation; others may warrant nothing more than an email. Know your options regarding support. Does the company offer phone, email, live chat support — all the time?

Adequate Storage Space

The amount of space a web hosting provider allows you to fill is known as your web space. Figure out the total volume of your website content and functions, including text files, images, video and audio files, databases, emails, and scripts. Blog traffic and ecommerce activity also requires space. And having adequate space for all your site’s content and tools ensures that visitors get a smooth, reliable experience with your brand.

Most web hosting providers offer more web space than most website owners could possibly use, so this really isn’t an issue unless your site contains a high volume of very large files — a massive video library perhaps. If you expect outrageous traffic on your site and for visitors to download or access large high-resolution files, then you may want to consider dedicated hosting and ensure you get plenty of space.

Otherwise, you’re probably fine with a basic hosting package using a shared hosting option. This is a popular solution for many new businesses because it tends to provide an adequate amount of space for a low price. Just keep in mind that sharing a server with other websites means that your site’s functionality may be affected negatively by activity spikes on other sites. It also means you may be limited in terms of how many sites or blogs you can host on your account. Successful server sharing relies on consistent activity among websites on a single server.

Easy Blog Integration

If an important part of your business website is a company blog — or if you think this might ever be the case — then make sure that your web hosting provider is blog-friendly. For example, one-click installation of WordPress software is a convenient feature, especially for DIY installation.

Regularly posting new blog content to your website can help boost your search engine page rankings (SERPs) and keep your target consumers engaged with your brand. So incorporating this feature to your business website is a great move.

Never underestimate the importance and value of selecting the perfect-fit web host for your business website. Know what features and functionality your site needs and don’t stop looking for a hosting solution until you find one that has demonstrated success in the areas that matter most to your business.