Having recently transferred the hosting of my sites, I thought that a small note on the choice of its host could be useful.

The question is difficult. On the one hand, we want to encourage local businesses and on the other hand, to obtain the lowest price for web hosting. The pool of Quebec hosts being small, their prices are often slightly higher than our neighbors to the south.

If a Canadian service is important to you, be aware that several companies exist, such as Likuid , RapideNet , Web Hosting Canada , HostPapa , A2 Hosting , HostUpon , to name a few.

Identify your needs and options to find in your package

Before you even start shopping, it’s a good idea to target your real needs in order to take stock of the multitude of web hosting companies.

Here are some leads:

There are three types of server that can host your website. I’ll cover them very superficially, but leave some reading at the end of the article if you want to learn more.

shared server

It can be compared to a large hotel that houses several hundred customers. By paying for your package on a shared server, you get your hotel room, that is to say a small portion of everything.

This type of server is perfect for small sites and small businesses that have no particular knowledge of web hosting, and who want an easy and simple solution.

VPS (Virtual Private Server, or shared server)

A VPS is a server with the characteristics of a dedicated server (explained below), but which is in fact installed on a machine supplying several websites. Each VPS will have its own operating system. So think of a block of apartments, in which a tenant owns the surface of his apartment, but will have to share some common areas, such as a staircase or a parking lot.

This type of server is ideal for larger websites that need speed and a higher level of security; performance is increased on this type of server.

Dedicated server

Finally, the dedicated server is not shared with any other client or website. Ideal for very large sites with a large volume of visits per day/month, or for someone wishing to host several sites, for customers for example.

Some tips

Target four to six hosts and carefully consult their packages page as well as the inclusions and exclusions of each.

Consult the knowledge base and the support available for each company. A knowledge base comprising only a few topics and a dozen answers will probably not be enough if your own knowledge is limited.

Test each company’s customer support by asking questions, while paying attention to response time and the quality and friendliness of the service provided.

Take a look at the social networks of each host to take the pulse of their business philosophy. It’s not a guarantee of absolute truth, but it’s still reassuring to see that real humans are behind the computer screen.

Finally, a company that demonstrates empathy and has the respect of its employees at heart by dedicating a section to this effect on their site is, in my opinion, a company that deserves to have me as a client!