With worldwide online retail sales expected to exceed $2.4 trillion in 2018, few businesses can ignore the moneymaking potential of e-commerce. But in order to take advantage of the insatiable appetites of digital buyers, a dependable website with quick-loading page speeds is essential.

It all boils down to choosing the right web host. Some businesses will settle for a cheap and cheerful solution, but the benefits of picking a more premium option, such as 100TB business hosting services, are extensive. Along with capitalising on e-commerce, you can boost brand exposure and improve customer relationships too.

But what should you be looking out for when trying to find the right hosting?

1. Uptime

Imagine trying to visit a site but being greeted with an inaccessible or unavailable page. Now pretend being a customer who can’t browse your website because the server is experiencing unexpected downtime.

Not only is this incredibly frustrating, it could have an adverse impact on your bottom line. Therefore, look for a hosting solution with at least 99 per cent uptime, which would enable customers to buy your products or services day and night with no disruption.

2. Support

Even if your choice of web host can guarantee impressive server uptime, you will still need some sort of support just in case something goes wrong. And because your website might encounter an issue out of office hours, 24/7 support is also a pre-requisite for web hosting.

In addition to round-the-clock availability, it helps to be put in touch with a friendly yet knowledgeable advisor too, who can rectify the problem quickly and efficiently.

3. Security

With the total cost of a data breach now topping $3.8 million according to research carried out by Ponemon Institute on behalf of IBM, no business can afford to ignore the threat of cybercrime. While much of the onus is on IT security departments, hosting providers must also play their part.

This means looking for a web host that has defenses including unlimited SSL certificates, two-factor authentication, enterprise grade firewalls, and protection against DDoS attacks.

4. Scalability

What would you do if your online presence grows exponentially and you need more web space as well as additional bandwidth to serve the wants and needs of your expanding customer base? Some web host solutions won’t allow you to scale easily or possibly charge a premium for the privilege.

So, make sure you can increase or even decrease your hosting package according to the organisation’s size and success. This is typically easiest with a flexible, cloud-based server.

5. Price

Price shouldn’t be your foremost consideration when choosing a web host, but it is understandable given today’s fierce and unpredictable online economy. Having said that, paying for the right package will be worth it in the end, as you would end up spending more with the wrong solution anyway.

You might be surprised at how competitively priced some web host packages are these days. What’s more, you can often pay up front to manage your budget more effectively and avoid any nasty hidden charges.