Choosing a good Magento host

What you should consider when choosing a good Magento host?

On many occasions we have been asked to recommend a hosting company people should use for their Magento stores. If you want to maximize use of Magento, it is important to choose the right hosting provider. So relax, put your feet up, and let me walk you through what you need to know! Here’s 4 key points to look at when considering Magento hosting:

1) Magento partners:

Being with a Magento certified hosting company is always a good bonus, however it is not a must. There are plenty of great Magento hosting companies that aren’t certified so don’t let that influence your decision entirely. Being reputable amongst the Magento community is also a good sign that you’re in the right place. Rackspace are a great example of this, they have more Magento certified staff than any UK hosting company and are also a Magento platinum hosting partner. In simple terms…they’re pretty massive in the Magento world.

2) Check server environment:

The company that hosts your Magento site will need to have a stable server environment. There is a Magento script that can automatically check the server environment and report any anomalies (which can be found here). Now I bet you’re wondering “well just how does this script work?” Or perhaps you’re not…but I’m going to tell you anyway! Put simply, Magento has a list of system requirements and this script just compares the server environment parameters with the Magento system requirements. As long as your hosting supports all of the system requirements, you’re good to go.

3) Ensure you’re going to be getting the right type of hosting:

Hosting can be split up into five main categories, these are shared, dedicated, Virtual private server, clustered and cloud hosting. Each of these comes with its own benefits/drawbacks. The optimal solution for your business really just depends on certain factors (like the size of business or amount of traffic on your website etc). For example, let’s say a local corner store needed a hosting solution, purely for the purpose of having a presence on the web. This small business generates around 20-30 visitors per day, so the smart thing to do would be to save some £££ and join a shared server, as a dedicated server costs more for the agency and so that unnecessary cost will be passed down to the corner store. On the flip side, if you’re a fairly sizeable company with a high volume of visitors, you may need a dedicated server. Here at Wow-Zone, we analyse every aspect of a company and provide a sensible solution based on that company’s needs.

4) Good Support:

For me, and many others, after sales support is a crucial factor when finalising a purchase. To be able to provide excellent support, a hosting company must have both expertise and be dedicated to help. To ensure you get the best support, look at companies who have a solid reputation for customer service among their current clients. Staff must also be knowledgeable and if they have hosted similar projects to yours it will be advantageous to you.

There are many more factors involved when searching for a hosting solution, however if the company you’re looking at ticks all these boxes, chances are you’ve struck gold!