Designing your website is like constructing a house. You decide on the design and layout, and invest time and effort into building the house.
However, even the fanciest house will be unstable if it has poor foundation.
Similarly, your fancy website will be unstable if it is hosted on an unreliable provider.
Choosing a hosting company could be challenging. Do you go with local Nepalese hosting service and pay via local payment methods? Or do you opt for international hosting service with reliable servers and cloud storage?
It depends on your website visitors, budget, scale and growth plan. Here is a comparison between the benefits of using local hosting vs international hosting.
Why Web Hosting in Nepal?
If most of your website traffic is from Nepal, consider using local web hosting providers. It also makes your payment process and customer support easier.
Benefits of Web Hosting in Nepal
- Easy local payment
- Most local Nepalese web hosting providers offer easy payment options such as eSewa, Khalti, IME Pay and bank transfer.
- Friendly local customer support
- Many local hosting companies offer better customer support understanding the local problems experienced by Nepalese website owners. You can contact them via calls, social media and local messengers.
- Cheap plans
- Local web hosting companies offer cheaper plans suitable for students, bloggers, personal portfolios and website owners just starting out.
- Better connection for local traffic
Hosting your website on a server located near your target audience offers faster connection speeds. Therefore, if your website traffic is mainly from Nepal, local servers will offer better performance.
Great Nepalese hosting providers include Himalaya Host, Ehosting, Babal Host and Gurkha Host. These companies offer affordable hosting plans with NVMe SSD storage, local servers and other great features.
Local web hosting is suitable for personal blogs, portfolios, students, local business websites and company sites.
Why International Web Hosting?
If you have an international target audience or your website traffic is high, you may want to consider international web hosting. It is also suitable if you need better server management, cloud storage and advanced features.
Benefits of International Web Hosting
- Greater global reach
- International web hosting providers offer global reach helping your website reach millions of visitors across the world.
- Great value for money
- Most international web hosting providers such as Hostinger offer cheap plans for new websites. At the same time, cloud hosting services such as Cloudways offer cloud hosting solutions for established sites.
- Advanced security features
- International web hosting providers offer free SSL certificates, malware scanning, firewalls, spam filtering and other security features to keep your website secured.
- Content delivery network (CDN)
- A content delivery network (CDN) helps deliver your web content faster to your target audience. It stores copies of your website on various servers located across the world.
- Better performance for established sites
- News publishers, online stores, membership sites, and other resource-intensive sites benefit from international web hosting plans.
International web hosting plans could be expensive depending on your plan selection. However, it offers great value for money with greater global reach and better management tools.
Things to Consider When Buying Web Hosting
Avoid being tempted by a cheap web hosting plan. Always consider these things before purchasing a web hosting plan.
1. Traffic Source
Where are your website visitors located? If most of your website traffic is from Nepal, you may want to consider local web hosting providers. It will ensure faster connection speeds for your website visitors. At the same time, you can also enjoy cheaper plans and better customer support.
On the other hand, if your target audience is international, you should consider international web hosting providers. Look for a company with multiple server locations and CDN integration. It will ensure faster connection speeds for your international website traffic.
2. Free SSL Encryption Certificate
Your website should have an SSL encryption certificate for security and search engine optimization purposes. Most web hosting providers offer a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt.
SSL encrypts data transferred between your website and your visitors’ browsers. It is also necessary since it adds a lock icon on your website URL securing your website visitors. In addition, Google gives a ranking boost to websites with HTTPS.
You should avoid paying extra for an SSL certificate since most web hosting providers offer it for free.
3. Free Website Backup
A reliable web hosting provider should offer regular backups in case your website crashes due to an update error, malware attack or server failure. Look for a company that offers daily or weekly backups.
Also, ensure that you can restore your website from the backups in case of an emergency. Some web hosting companies charge extra for website backups.
4. Renewal Cost
Most web hosting companies offer cheap introductory offers for new customers. However, the renewal cost is usually way higher after the first billing period.
Always check the renewal cost for your selected plan. It will help you avoid being surprised by a big renewal bill at the end of the year. You should also check if the renewal cost is billed monthly or annually.
5. Excellent Customer Support
Always check the customer support options available to you before selecting a web hosting provider. Look for a company that offers 24/7 customer support via email, chat or phone.
Local Nepalese website owners may prefer web hosting companies that offer local customer support. It will make the communication process easier especially when dealing with payment options.
At the same time, you should also consider a web hosting provider that offers better customer support options such as toll-free numbers or local hotline numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is local hosting in Nepal fast enough?
Local hosting is faster than international hosting for visitors in Nepal. It is perfect for bloggers, portfolios, small business owners and NGO websites. Hosting plans with NVMe SSD storage also offer great speed for websites with average traffic.
For bigger sites, you may need to consider CDNs and cloud hosting.
Can I use international web hosting from Nepal?
Yes, you can use international web hosting from Nepal. Most Nepalese developers, bloggers, businesses and online shops prefer international web hosting providers such as Hostinger and Cloudways.
Make sure you have a dollar-enabled card for seamless payment process. Most banks in Nepal offer dollar-enabled cards for online subscriptions.
What is the difference between shared and cloud hosting?
Shared hosting could be cheaper than cloud hosting. It is suitable for smaller websites with average traffic. On the other hand, cloud hosting is usually more expensive but offers better performance for heavier traffic sites.
Shared hosting works by allowing multiple websites to share a single server’s resources. It could slow down depending on the other websites sharing the server.
Cloud hosting works by allowing websites to use a group of connected servers. It offers better performance, security and flexibility compared to shared hosting.
Which type of web hosting is suitable for a beginner?
Shared hosting is cheaper and easier to use for a new website. You should look for a shared hosting plan with a control panel, one-click installers and free backups. As your website grows, you can consider upgrading to a VPS or cloud hosting.
Conclusion
Selecting the best web hosting company depends on the target audience and website requirements. Local Nepalese web hosting is suitable for most individual and small business owners. It is also cheaper and easier to work with.
On the other hand, international web hosting is better for websites targeting a global audience. It offers better performance and more features for established sites with a large audience.
Always consider the server location, storage space, backups, SSL certificate, customer support and renewal cost before selecting a web hosting provider.