Whether you are a service provider or sell a product online, every business needs an online presence. Hence, a search engine-friendly website is a must.

 

However, your web host provider can also impact your online presence.

 

On the other hand, there is an ongoing discourse on whether you need to do the same for your mobile app.

 

Why Your Mobile App Needs a Website

As an app developer, it is understandable that your goal is to create the best application. No wonder that your first step is often evaluating software development partners.

 

However, having a website for your app allows you to reap the following benefits:

 

Brand Awareness

Here's the thing: Not all of your ideal users would know that your mobile app exists. As such, you need something that can attract and bring in potential clients, more so before launching your app.

 

Unlimited Promotions

Sure, you can publish your mobile app on marketplaces like Google Play and Apple App Store. However, this comes with limitations.

 

We are talking about the limited number of screenshots, character count, and more.

 

Luckily, having a website allows you to promote your app as much as you want. This includes publishing a user-generated walkthrough video from one of your users.

 

Direct Customer Contact

Another limitation of app stores is that you cannot establish two-way communication with your users. The best you can do is respond to comments.

 

On the other hand, having a website allows you to communicate with your users through live chat, social media channels, and email.

 

Regulated User Review

In a perfect world, your app should be receiving glowing, 5-star reviews. But it is often not the case with app marketplaces.

 

However, you can choose which user reviews to publish on your website. Doing so allows you to create social proof and create credibility for your app.

 

App Store Optimization

Lastly, having a website for your mobile app allows you to rank for relevant keywords. That way, you can attract your target users and provide them with as much information as you can.

 

7 Factors to Consider When Hiring a Web Host Provider for Your Mobile App

Now that you know why having a website can be advantageous for your mobile app, the next step is to build a search engine-friendly website. And you can only do that if you hire the best web host provider that you can afford.

 

As such, here are seven factors you should consider before closing a deal with a web host:

 

Your Website Needs

The reason to have a website varies from one business to another. In your case, that is to build awareness and attract and convert mobile app users.

 

As such, you need a reliable web host provider. This means that your web host must have at least 99% uptime. Because if your website is always down, you are less likely to attract and convert website traffic into app users.

 

Renewal Price

It is undeniable that we often use pricing as a differentiator when choosing a web host provider. However, you need to know that it is common practice that the first year comes cheap.

 

If you overlook the fine print, the renewal price is often double or triple the initial price.

 

Hence, you should look at the renewal price when comparing wen host pricing. Doing so allows you to anticipate your budget reasonably.

 

Uptime Score

As previously mentioned, you should choose a web host that guarantees at least 90% uptime. Otherwise, it can hurt your company's bottom line.

 

Amazon went down for 30 minutes back in 2013, resulting in a $66,000-per-minute loss in revenue. And you do not want something like this to happen for your mobile app website.

 

If it is not the revenue, downtime can hurt your conversion. It is like inviting people to a house party, only to find out that the address is fake. And when you cannot convert website visitors into app users, it can affect your profit.

 

Scalability

While we cannot predict the future, it does not mean that we cannot prepare for it. Hence, you have to ensure that your preferred web host is scalable.

 

By "scalable," we mean upgrading or downgrading your hosting plan should be easy as a breeze.

 

Backup Capability

Other than scalability, your web host must conduct regular backups. This is helpful in case your website gets hacked, and you lost crucial data.

 

The other benefits of backing up your website are:

 

1. Resolving update issues.
2. Reversing plugin compatibility issues.
3. Preventing data loss.
4. Protecting your website against hacking.
5. Ease of migration from one host to another.

 

In addition, you should check whether the web host provides automatic and manual backups. That way, you can ensure that your website is taken care of regularly.

 

Refund Policy

Sure, you would want a web host that can make the most bang for your buck. However, there is no one perfect hosting provider. So, there might come a time that you will need to look for another web host.

 

In relation to this, you need to check the hosting provider's refund policy. After all, a decent web host provider should have a money-back guarantee. They only differ in the refund period.

 

Some web hosts offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, while some give you 90 days. If you cannot find it anywhere on the pricing plan, you can look for it in your hosting provider's Terms of Services.

 

Customer Support

You may consider yourself tech-savvy, but there are other things about web hosting that are out of your control. This is where customer support comes in.

 

That said, check what customer support channels are available for your hosting plan. You can also check for online reviews and zero in on users that talk about their customer services.

 

Doing so ensures that you always get what you pay for.

 

Having a website for your mobile app has its benefits. However, you will be unable to reap these benefits without a reliable web host. If you want to find the hosting provider that suits your needs, you should keep in mind the seven criteria listed above.