How to Choose the Best Green Web Hosting Provider, and Why Does It Matter?

The environmental impact of data centers is massive. To keep them running, they require a huge amount of grid power.Of course, it's glaringly obvious! If you've got a website, it needs something called web hosting. It's an absolute must-have for any online presence because, let's face it, websites don't miraculously appear out of thin air. They need data centers to back them up, collect all the important data, and send responses to eager users who want to check out our awesome website.

Web hosting is like the powerhouse behind a website. It provides the necessary foundation and resources to hold all those juicy website files and serve them to the eager visitors who come knocking. Think of the data centers as the guardians of this digital universe, housing all the servers and networking equipment needed to keep our website safe and accessible. Without a web hosting platform and data centers, our website would just be collecting digital dust. It's like having a fancy car but no road to drive it on - pointless!

Unfortunately, we can't avoid it, but you can pick who will host your website, and this has a significant say in our contribution to Mother Earth's climate woes. In fact, out of all the eco-friendly actions you wish to implement for sustainable product design and business strategy, this is the speediest one. Let's face it: you must mostly depend on those external providers (unless you possess your very own data center).

Indeed, while adopting green web hosting may seem like a straightforward and quick decision, delving into the topic reveals a layer of complexity and challenges that can extend the decision-making process. Green web hosting isn't a one-time purchase or a readily replaceable product. It's a service that companies commit to every month, demanding careful consideration. When choosing a hosting provider, several critical factors come into play. Pricing, capacity, bandwidth, security, and customer support are undoubtedly important considerations. However, for conscientious brands looking to add that extra dash of eco-friendliness to their requirements, signaling a commitment to environmental sustainability, the benefits extend far beyond mere image or business strategy. Intrigued? Let's delve into the world of green web hosting, exploring what it entails, why it's valuable, and how to select the best eco-friendly hosting solution.

What is a hosting service?

Alright, let's start from the very beginning to lay down the fundamentals. It might come easy to some of you, while for others with expertise in different domains, it could be unfamiliar, and that's totally fine! It's impossible to be proficient in all areas. Even if you are not in charge of managing your website, you are likely aware that there is a need for someone to create its design, another individual to handle development, and yet another person to provide hosting on their servers.

Web hosting companies own and maintain powerful computers called servers. These servers store the files and data that make up a website. Web hosting is a service that allows individuals and organizations to make their websites and web applications accessible on the internet. Web hosting is like renting space on a computer that is always connected to the internet. This computer, known as a server, stores all the files and data that make up a website. When people want to visit your website, the server delivers those files to their web browsers so they can see your site.

Web hosting also lets you have a custom web address, like "www.dodonut.com" for your site. Hosting providers manage the server's hardware, software, and internet connection. They also offer different types of hosting services to match the needs of various websites. So, to sum up, thanks to the hosting service, you can get:

• Server Space for storing the data and files that make up your website.
• Internet Connectivity connects these servers to the internet, allowing users to access the hosted websites.
• Domain Name: hosting services often include the ability to associate a domain name (e.g., www.example.com) with the server where the website's files are stored. This is typically managed through domain registration services.
• File Storage: thanks to the web server you chose, all website files, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, videos, and databases, can be stored there and served to visitors' browsers when they access the website.
• Bandwidth: Web hosting plans typically include a specified amount of bandwidth, determining the amount of data that can be transferred between the server and the visitors' browsers. Higher-traffic websites may require more bandwidth.
• Server Management: The web hosting provider is responsible for maintaining and managing the server's hardware and software, including updates, security, and backups.
• Website builder: some hosting companies also provide to build the website with their software.

What is the environmental impact of data centers (and therefore also hosting services)?

Digital data seem to be immaterial. However, what makes them truly tangible are the places that store them and allow access to them - data centers. Even if they stored data "in the cloud," data centers are not so airy. They are very grounded and energy-demanding buildings with servers, computers, cables, cooling systems, and other electronic equipment. Their environmental impact is massive. They are hungry for vast amounts of grid power to make them work all the time, 24/7/365.

An average data center consumes 10 to 50 times more energy per unit of floor space than a standard commercial office building. Their energy consumption estimation from 2018 varies widely, ranging from 200 to 500 terawatt-hours (TWh). Some extreme analyses even propose a quadrupling of energy consumption by 2030.

Regardless of the specific figures, data center energy consumption remains a matter of significant public concern. Together, these facilities contribute to approximately 2% of the total electricity consumption in the United States. Nowadays, data centers are much more efficient than those from 2010. However, their energy consumption will still grow, together with the needs or digitalization of our lives and processes and the need for new data centers and servers. Even if Gerry McGovern mentions in his book that the core problem lies not in growing energy usage but in our increased appetite for consumption, businesses as powerful entities still have an impact by choosing green solutions and representing sustainable practices.

By 2030, it is estimated that approximately 29.3 billion devices will be connected to the internet. This extensive network will necessitate the global presence of data centers to provide the necessary infrastructure, including millions of servers, cooling systems, and internet connectivity, to support and back up these devices

Even if the energy efficiency of newly created data centers are still improving, and such huge player as Google and Microsoft are incorporating a strategy to their water and carbon footprint, there are still significant challenges to achieving sustainability in data centers. One major challenge is the sheer growth of data and the increasing demand for storage and processing power. As more and more people and businesses rely on digital services, the amount of data being generated and processed continues to skyrocket. This puts a strain on data centers and increases their energy consumption.

Another challenge is the lifespan of data center equipment. Although newer data centers are more energy efficient, older facilities may still be in operation. Upgrading or replacing outdated infrastructure poses financial and logistical challenges, and these more advanced in years data centers may not be as environmentally friendly as their newer counterparts.

Furthermore, the energy sources used by data centers can still heavily rely on fossil fuels, which are still perceived as a more stable energy source than renewables. While there is a push towards renewable energy, many data centers continue to use electricity generated from non-renewable sources, contributing to their carbon footprint.

Regarding their impact on the environment, data centers are responsible for huge energy usage and water usage (and water waste). As one can imagine just observing a regular PC, data servers are filled with hundreds and thousands of computers that work all the time, are heating up, and release heat. That's why they have to cool down often. Data centers use cooling technology, either air-conditioning units or evaporative cooling, to regulate temperature. Evaporative cooling is more water-dependent but energy-efficient. Data centers often choose this option due to the cost savings of water over electricity.

Data centers are also responsible for colossal water waste, even if they try to apply some circularity in this process.

The typical data center uses about 3-5 million gallons of water per day -- the same amount of water as a city of 30,000-50,000 people.

Venkatesh Uddameri, a professor and the director of the Water Resources Center at Texas Tech University

Addressing these challenges requires a multi-faceted approach. It involves technological advancements in energy-efficient hardware and cooling systems. It also includes adopting renewable energy sources and implementing energy management systems to optimize energy usage. Water conservation methods can also be integrated into data center designs to reduce water consumption.

As things are getting better, achieving sustainability in data centers requires a continuous commitment from both industry leaders and policymakers to drive innovation, invest in research and development, and implement environmentally friendly practices.

Although the ICT sector is a major buyer of renewable energy, the debate over its substantial energy consumption continues. From the business perspective, we can support their green efforts and positive change by choosing sustainable web hosting companies to help us go green with our website.

What is a green web hosting?

As we already demonstrated, all data centers are hungry for power, but not all are polluting at the same level. That's the moment where green data centers come into play. Green web hosting refers to those green data centers that offer it directly or through dependent providers, as their services are designed to minimize their environmental impact and reduce energy consumption. These data centers employ various eco-friendly practices and technologies to achieve higher energy efficiency and lower carbon emissions.

One of the key strategies employed by green data centers is the use of renewable energy sources, based, for instance, on sun or wind energy to meet their electricity needs. They install solar panels or wind turbines onsite or purchase renewable energy credits to offset their consumption from the grid. This helps reduce dependency on fossil fuels and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Green data centers are not only powered by green energy but also optimize their energy efficiency throughout their operations. They employ advanced cooling techniques, such as outside air or liquid cooling systems, to reduce the energy required to cool the equipment. They also utilize energy-efficient hardware and equipment and implement energy management systems to monitor and control energy usage.

Another aspect of green data centers is adopting virtualization and cloud computing technologies. These technologies enable better utilization of servers, reducing the overall number of physical servers required and thereby saving energy. By consolidating multiple virtualized applications on a single server, green data centers can significantly reduce energy consumption.

Furthermore, green data centers prioritize recycling and responsible disposal of electronic waste. They implement proper waste management practices by recycling electronic components, reducing landfill waste, and ensuring that hazardous materials are disposed of safely.

Overall, green data centers demonstrate their green status and a commitment to reducing carbon footprints and promoting sustainability in the IT industry. They not only help mitigate the environmental impact of data centers but also offer cost savings in energy consumption.

Of course, they are quite the opposite of more conventional web hosting, which we can call grey grid web hosting. As you can imagine, the energy that powers them up comes mainly from the burning of fossil fuels like coal that happens in the power plant that produces 1/3 of world electricity used during the whole year. With their large carbon footprint, they can be called one of the biggest polluters, significantly impacting greenhouse emissions and climate change.

That's why it is imperative in every effort to reduce negative impact to switch and support alternatives that can protect our planet and future generations from climate disasters.

Even so, choosing a green power partner for eco-friendly hosting can't be easy, as many different levels exist of their being "green." Let's take a closer look at them in the next section.

Fifty shades of green energy - how green can be green web hosting?

Okay, here is the trick and something that makes the topic more complicated. You might think that you can simply search for hosting companies mentioned on the Green Web Foundation website or describe themselves as green web hosting. That's a good start. However, they are green on many different levels. Let's dig deeper into this topic to reveal its complexity and also to make the best-informed decision.

1. Self-generation of renewable energy

This is the most robust and sustainable option, but unfortunately, not the most common. This involves directly producing renewable energy on-site or within the same energy grid. Data centers take responsibility for generating the electrons needed to power their operations. One of the hosts that uses their self-generated renewable energy is, for example, Viridio, which has solar panels to run its servers.

Low Tech Magazine, created by Kris De Decker, is an example on a much smaller scale solely dedicated to hosting a single website. De Decker has designed the website to consume minimal energy that can be stored on his server. He has set up a solar panel system on his apartment's balcony in Barcelona to provide a power supply of 1-2.5 watts. While the website relies on solar energy, it faces challenges when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing, as uninterrupted availability is crucial for web services.

Low Tech Magazine combines a solar panel with a lead-acid battery to overcome this. The solar panel absorbs excess energy during sunny periods and stores it in the battery. This stored energy is then utilized to keep the website operational during nights and cloudy days. However, there are instances when the website may still experience downtime and just go offline.

Naturally, great companies cannot allow such a thing to occur, and these solutions are undoubtedly impossible for large-scale commercial projects. Even De Decker admits that this solution is not the most environmentally friendly and carbon-neutral since the battery and server must be manufactured and produced this way, resulting in a carbon footprint. There are also more effective alternatives to this type of individual server. However, it is essential to be conscious of these mechanisms to seek out and support the development of data centers that are powered by 100% renewable energy, which they generate directly and which is dependable, offering their customers optimal web performance and uptime.

2. Funding new renewables

Another option is nearly as robust as self-generation of the renewables, even if companies don't own the physical renewable infrastructure. Existed data centers can sign power purchase agreements with energy companies to support the construction of new renewable energy sources. Power purchase agreements (PPAs) are commonly used in the renewable energy sector as a means for energy buyers, such as data centers, to secure a long-term supply of renewable energy. Under a PPA, a data center would enter into a contract with an energy company, usually a renewable energy developer or generator.

The data center, in turn, gains access to the energy generated by the renewable energy source at an agreed-upon price. This allows the data center to reduce its carbon footprint and demonstrate its commitment to sustainability by using clean and renewable energy for its operations. By directly supporting the construction of new renewable energy sources, data centers contribute to expanding clean energy infrastructure, helping accelerate the transition to a low-carbon future.

3. Purchasing renewable energy

Data centers can also buy energy from renewable sources located on the same energy grid; honestly, this should be the minimum standard for claiming renewable energy. By sourcing renewable energy, data centers can reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to a more sustainable energy system. While they haven't directly contributed to new renewable supplies, their energy comes now from renewable sources on their grid.

4. Buying RECs (Renewable Energy Certificates)

This is the most common type of green energy buying by green web hosting companies. In this case, data centers purchase RECs from renewable energy providers in different regions or countries. This practice involves financially supporting renewable energy generation in other areas. Although the electrons generated from these renewable energy sources may not physically reach the data centers, purchasing RECs helps offset the carbon emissions produced by the data centers' energy consumption. By supporting renewable energy production elsewhere, data centers indirectly contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting a transition towards cleaner energy sources.

It is worth noting that the concept of RECs is controversial in some circles. Critics argue that buying RECs does not guarantee a direct reduction in fossil fuel consumption or using renewable energy by data centers. However, proponents see it as a way to financially support and incentivize the growth of renewable energy infrastructure, even in areas where direct renewable energy procurement may not be feasible.

Overall, purchasing RECs allows data centers to financially contribute to developing renewable energy projects in various regions or countries, indirectly supporting the growth of clean energy generation and reducing their carbon footprint. 

5. Carbon offsetting

While carbon offsetting can be a valuable tool in mitigating the environmental impact of data centers, it should not be relied upon as the sole solution. As we mentioned above, currently, it is almost impossible for great companies to rely only on renewable energy. Moreover, carbon footprint is generated not only when working but also during manufacturing its elements and other operations related to their performance. That's why they can acquire carbon offsets equal to the emissions produced by their nonrenewable power sources.

Carbon offsets essentially involve paying others to reduce emissions, allowing data centers to compensate for their carbon footprint. However, to not be a kind of greenwashing or PR strategy, it should be complemented with direct reduction strategies, such as energy efficiency and renewable energy adoption, to achieve a more holistic and effective approach to environmental action.

To summarize this section on different variations of green energy in green web hosting, green hosting providers prefer combining renewable energy sources and environmentally friendly practices rather than relying on just one solution.

However, when companies declare that they operate on 100% renewable energy, this claim is usually only partially true. Unfortunately, this statement can often be deceptive. While some companies may assert that they rely completely on renewable energy, they may still depend on nonrenewable sources for some of their energy requirements. This could be due to various factors, such as limitations in the availability of renewable energy or the intermittent nature of renewable sources like solar or wind power.

Moreover, businesses can buy renewable energy credits or offsets to offset their carbon emissions and claim to be completely powered by renewable energy. However, it is important to closely examine such claims and fully understand how a company acquires and utilizes energy before determining if it truly operates on 100% renewable energy. Specifically, to be completely powered by green energy, they must own their own renewable energy facility or be directly connected to the same energy grid. In reality, most eco-friendly web hosting services rely on purchasing renewable energy by acquiring Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). When choosing sustainable web hosting, it is crucial to consider all of these elements that can contribute to a more or less environmentally friendly hosting service. By being mindful and educating yourself about these matters, you can make an informed decision regarding a hosting service that aligns with your other sustainability efforts within your business. 

How to choose the best green web hosting provider?

I am aware that we made a seemingly simple subject more complicated. However, it is a highly intricate matter, and to tell the truth, hosting as a service still has a long way to go in terms of minimizing its environmental footprint and enhancing its efficiency. There are also many providers that you can choose from. It is easy to check out some web articles that show the 5 best green web hosting, pointing to names such as Greengeeks, HostPapa, or A2 Hosting. To be honest, some of them indeed will be sponsored; other top-rated web hosting providers mentioned in those well-ranked comparisons don't have to respond to the character of your company and your business needs. There is no one-fit-all solution in the matter of eco web hosting.

But to help you choose the best green energy web hosting, we prepared this guide on the process of choosing green web hosting services that can truly support your effort to have a green website or any other digital product or services, supporting your sustainable business development strategy. Following those steps and asking some questions can help you find hosting options that meet your company's values, requirements, and budget.

1. Your website's requirements.

Ask yourself a question: what kind of website or app do you have or plan to have? How much storage and bandwidth do you need? Do you require any specific software or programming languages? Maybe you want to find a host especially committed to WordPress hosting or CDN? Who is your target audience - that can be extremely important to choose if the best would be:

• Shared hosting

If you own a small website or are a beginner in web presence and suspect relatively low to moderate traffic, shared hosting plans can be the right choice. It involved powerful shared hosting and server resources (CPU, RAM, and bandwidth) with multiple websites. It can also be the most affordable option in terms of its cost.

• Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting

If you already suspect that your website will grow and you will need more control and customization of server settings, dedicated resources offered by VPS can be right for you. 

• Dedicated hosting

Suppose your business is really large and already has a high-traffic website or resource-intensive application. In that case, you should consider complete resource dedication, where the entire server will be exclusively allocated to you, providing the best performance, reliability, and control over server configurations. 

• Cloud hosting

If you own scalable applications and websites with variable traffic, your resource needs constantly change, and you should consider cloud hosting. This option distributes resources across a network of virtual servers (cloud), providing scalability and redundancy.

CDNs

In each hosting option, businesses can consider Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) as complementary services that, if run on green, renewable energy, can lower your final website's carbon footprint. A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is typically described as a network of servers dispersed across various geographic locations. They save cached copies of your website in different places worldwide, known as 'points of presence.' Each location has servers that deliver the website's content to people nearby.

To the point - CDNs bring the cached response of your website much closer to the end user. Imagine your origin server with the company’s website is based in Germany, but someone from Australia wants to visit it. Instead of sending the request to the server in Germany, it will get the response from the nearest Australian local server, the previously mentioned "point of presence."

So, to sum up:

CDNs can lower your website carbon footprint, as they reduce the distance of the data (so all code, HTML, CSS files, images, and videos) that anyway have to travel to end users. Moreover, shortening the distance makes them more resilient as they eliminate any single point of failure, which can happen when distances are much more significant in other cases. They also require less energy because they mostly serve as a data storage. CDNs not only improve load times but also website performance. It can help you make your website more efficient; however, one must remember that they act as web hosts, storing and delivering vast amounts of data. Therefore, selecting your CDN provider just as thoughtfully as your primary hosting provider and confirming their dedication to sustainability is crucial.

From many different options, you can also choose green CDN. For instance, in Dodonut's case, we choose Cloudflare, which commits to run on 100% RECs. If you are more interested in Cloudflare as a CDN hosting, check out a comprehensive guide about it on Bejamas website.

Additionally, if your question is, "Do I need CDN for my website?" think about your current state first. Probably, you are already familiar with your audience or the plan for reaching out. If 90% of your visitors to your website based in San Francisco come from there, it makes no sense to take advantage of CDNs. They are handy for websites with target audiences from different parts of the globe that additionally receive at least 5,000 unique views per month.

Question to ask:

1. What kind of website do you have or plan to have?
2. How much storage and bandwidth do you need?
3. Can they accommodate any specific software or programming language requirements?
4. Who is your target audience, and where does it come from?
5. In line with your current users, actual needs, and future plans, which hosting solutions are the right choice for you?

2. Research and certification

Reliability. That's the point where all your investigation on sustainable hosting should start. Reliability is indeed a crucial aspect to consider when researching green hosting options. It is important to assess the reliability of the hosting provider in terms of the uptime guarantees they offer. A reliable green hosting provider should have a high uptime percentage, indicating that their servers are consistently operational and that your website will be accessible to visitors.

Furthermore, reliability also encompasses the provider's ability to deliver consistent and stable performance. This can be evaluated by looking into their server infrastructure, including the hardware and software they use. An eco-friendly hosting company that invests in modern and efficient technology is more likely to provide reliable service.

Additionally, it is beneficial to examine the provider's track record and reputation in the hosting industry. Look for reviews and feedback from other customers to gauge their experiences with uptime and reliability. Remember, a reliable green hosting provider will not only be environmentally conscious but will also offer dependable services to ensure your website remains accessible to users at all times. 

You should also take a closer look at certificates that confirm the direct usage of green energy, involvement in funding new renewables or purchasing RECs. Check for certifications and affiliations with environmental organizations. Some credentials to look for include Energy Star, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), and Green-e.

You can also take a shortcut by checking your current or under-consideration hosting provider through the website Green Web Foundation, which collects all information about green hosting providers, checks their reliability, and informs both if your existing website is run on green energy or about certified green energy suppliers.

Questions to ask:

1. Does the hosting provider share their green energy certification?
2. Is this certification supported by a recognizable organization with a reliable website and history?
3. Can you find it in the Green Web Foundation directory? If not, find out why they didn't apply there.

3. Renewable energy sources and sustainability policies

Ask for certification providers to check out what kind of green energy they use and whether it is a direct one or a dependent one. Ideally, it would be to know how they commit to going green. Do they own some renewable power plants and directly produce renewable energy? Would they instead fund new renewables or buy renewable energy from the same grid they use for the data center? Or are they just offsetting their carbon footprint or purchasing credits via RECs, so paying renewable energy providers from other parts of the world and countries to generate clean energy? Check out the greenest option for you, thinking in terms that you don't want to support the PR of the company but show real commitment to developing and using renewable energy for your digital products.

Questions to ask:

1. What kind of green energy hosting is using?
2. Do they generate their renewable energy, such as through wind turbines or solar panels?
3. Do they directly source energy from local renewable providers?
4. Do they purchase renewable energy credits? From who are they buying them?
5. Does the web host compensate for the remaining carbon footprint?
6. Do they have a public sustainability or environmental policy?
7. Does the company engage in other eco-friendly actions, supporting green initiatives?

4. Energy efficiency

Green hosting is not only about the kind of renewable energy used to power it or purchasing green energy tags or certificates. It is also often about energy-efficient practices in data centers (if the hosting provider uses their energy directly) or in the company that processes the service.

In the case of data center's energy-efficient practices, we can check their cooling systems, server virtualization, and energy management solutions that significantly reduce the environmental impact. In other cases, we can check the company's commitment to green practices that can expand beyond using green energy. For example, one of the top-rated green web hosting - Greengeeks, even if just based on purchasing certificates, they are doing it at 300%. So they buy back three times more the amount of energy consumed. Moreover, they also commit to planting a tree for every customer that joins them. Even if we could argue about the sense of planting a tree and its help to fight climate change, it still makes their green initiatives more engaged in sharing positive practices. 

Check out what hosting providers offer with their green energy - maybe their green solutions expand to other actions, from energy-efficient offices to engaging their workers in local or global green activities and organizations.

Questions to ask:

1. Does the web host represent other energy-efficient hosting practices in their servers? What kind of?
2. What is their data center's PUE rating (Power Usage Effectiveness)?
3. Do they provide tools for enhancing the efficiency of web applications? ( for instance, the most recent PHP version, service-side caching technologies like Varnish, or even static page generators)

5. Carbon offsetting

Carbon offsetting alone could not be a good bargaining chip for choosing eco-friendly web hosting. But if it is added to web host's practices, it can definitely be a plus. Naturally, hosting providers will always generate a carbon footprint, not only when selling hosting but also in everyday activities, buying technology, suppliers, etc. We have already written a guide about carbon offsetting - how does it work and how to verify it.

As it can be used personally and with the company to offset your carbon emissions, you can also check if the hosting providers also use this in terms of their actions. Some green hosting providers invest in carbon offsetting programs to compensate for any emissions, mainly caused by nonrenewable power, that can't be eliminated. When researching their actual actions, ensure that they have a clear plan for carbon offsetting and they are not using it simply to pay someone else to reduce their emission, so they don't have to care about their own.

Questions to ask:

1. Does the sustainable web hosting company buy carbon credits to compensate for their remaining carbon footprint?
2. What carbon offsetting solution did they choose?
3. Is it possible to verify it?

6. Transparency

It can be quite a good marketing trigger to write that a hosting provider can make your website green... without any proof or evidence of how they can do it. Therefore, when choosing a green web host, look for transparency in their environmental practices. A reputable green hosting provider should be willing to provide information about their energy consumption and carbon footprint reduction efforts by sharing without beating around the bush their reliable certifications and proof of evidence.

Questions to ask:

1. Does the hosting provider demonstrate proof of evidence for their renewable energy and other environmental practices?
2. Do they publish their certificates or reports on the website?
3. Are they willing to share them upon request?

7. Services and features

Each green hosting is different not only in terms of being green in the form of renewable energy but also because of provided services. When you compare other services offered in the price - some companies can include free custom domains, email accounts, free SSL and daily backups, unlimited bandwidth, disk space, and so on.

Check out what your considered hosting account would include, compare it with others' offers, and decide about your best web hosting.

Questions to ask:

1. What kind of hosting packages do they offer?
2. What is included in their hosting service?
3. Are there any hidden costs?
4. Do their provided services respond to your business needs and your website requirements?

8. Customer support

Believe it or not - using green web hosting should always be followed with the best website customer support. At the end of the day, in their hands will be your online presence or sometimes even the success of your online business, which can't exist without a well-performing website. Beyond a doubt, you want to ensure that you will always be achievable for your customers and run your services to respond to their expectations.

The level of customer support significantly impacts your overall hosting experience. So before deciding on any provider, check their responsiveness and helpfulness. You can do it, for instance, by reaching out and asking a random question about their services management and features (even the silliest one, just to check their responsiveness). You wouldn't like to find your website collapsed because of bandwidth during your most important sales during the year. You must ensure they meet your technical and customer service needs and provide help and customer support 24/7.

Questions to ask:

1. Does the green web host provide customer support 24/7?
2. What is their responsiveness?
3. Are their answer, even for silly questions, helpful and understandable?

9. Server location

As we mentioned in the point about website requirements - depending on the kind of your target audience, if you want to minimize your digital carbon footprint, you should consider the location of the hosting provider's data center and servers, which are at a closer distance to users. By proper analysis, you can decide whether shared, dedicated, or cloud hosting in a particular server or a CDN for your global audience will be the best to reduce the energy required for data transmission.

Questions to ask:

1. Where does the server is located?
2. What is the distance between your end users and the servers?

10. Reviews and feedback

We all rely on them when we are researching for products or services. Nothing is more convincing than honest reviews and feedback directly from other customers. Seek them and read them carefully, as they are a valuable source of knowledge. They can become a gauge of their satisfaction with hosting services and support and even can make more reliable provider's environmental commitment.

Questions to ask:

1. What do their customers write about them in reviews?
2. Are they satisfied with their services?
3. Are there any possible weak points you should be aware of?
4. How do the hosting companies respond to negative reviews?

11. Uptime and performance

Hosting provider uptime and performance are fundamental to user satisfaction, search engine visibility, brand reputation, business continuity, and overall success in the online world. Online businesses need a hosting provider with high uptime to maintain continuous operations. How can you ensure your hosting choice will not result in frequent downtime and sluggish performance? Assess the hosting provider's uptime and performance guarantees to ensure that their services meet your website's requirements and don't negatively impact your conversion, sales, and customer engagement.

Questions to ask:

1. What is a web host's average uptime guarantee?
2. What server hardware do they use, and how often do they upgrade it?
3. How do they handle technical support and troubleshooting during downtime or performance issues?
4. What is their historical uptime record?
5. What is their load balancing and server optimization strategy?

12. Scalability

The time of choosing hosting providers should be a perfect moment to consider the future of your online presence. Probably, you are planning to grow your website and reach a wider audience. That means that you can also suspect increased traffic. Consider your future needs regarding your website and business development strategy and whether the hosting provider can accommodate your growth and scaling requirements without performance degradation.

Questions to ask:

1. What is their scalability and resource allocation policy?
2. Are there any limitations on resource scalability, such as bandwidth caps or restrictions?
3. What options do they offer for auto-scaling, and how is it configured?

13. Data backup and security

Nowadays, security procedures are not only related to cameras recording your offices and alarm sounds that inform security guards and business owners that something wrong is happening. Threats increasingly come from the web through hacker attacks and other malicious actors that can exploit website vulnerability. Thus, when choosing a website's green host, you should verify that they offer robust data backup and security features to protect your website and data.

Questions to ask:

1. Do they conduct regular security audits and vulnerability assessments of the server infrastructure?
2. How do they ensure your data privacy?
3. What security measures do they have in place?
4. Do you provide backups and how frequently are they performed?
5. Do they have a data backup and disaster recovery plan in case of data loss or catastrophic events?

14. Pricing

Last but not least... Money matters, and so does green web hosting pricing. Compare the pricing of green hosting providers with non-green ones to ensure they fit your budget. While it is true that some green hosting providers may have slightly higher costs compared to traditional hosting providers, this is not a permanent rule. Several factors can affect the prices of green hosting services, including the specific provider, the types of renewable energy used, and the scale of their operations.

In many cases, green hosting providers offer competitive pricing similar to traditional hosting providers. This is due to advancements in renewable energy technologies and the increasing demand for environmentally friendly services. Additionally, some green hosting providers may also offer cost-saving features, such as energy-efficient infrastructure and optimized server performance, which can keep prices down.

Furthermore, the long-term cost of green hosting should also be considered. Renewable energy sources like solar and wind power are generally more stable in terms of pricing compared to fossil fuels, which are subject to price fluctuations. By choosing green hosting, businesses and individuals can avoid future price hikes associated with non-renewable energy sources.

In the end, what also can play an important role in the decision-making process is the contract terms. Once you consider the pricing of green hosting, you should also take into account the terms and conditions and the future price. It can occur, for example, that you can get free web hosting for the first three months, but then the price is quite high, or you can get a really low price for the first year, but then pricing conditions are changing drastically. Reviewing contract terms should also involve your consideration of the contract length and possible cancellation policies. 

Question to ask:

1. What is your budget, and how much will you spend on hosting services?
2. What are the initial setup costs, if any?
3. What is the pricing structure for hosting plans, and what do they include?
4. Are there hidden or additional costs, such as domain registration, SSL certificates, or add-on services?
5. Are there any promotional or introductory pricing offers, and how long do they last?
6. Is there an option to add extra resources or features, and what are the costs?

Following those 14 points, you should be able to review and compare the information gathered from various hosting providers. Compare the prices, features, customer support, and other aspects to make an informed decision. As you search for eco-friendly solutions for the hosting, stay cautious about the fact that not every green host will be green at the same level, and you should avoid especially those that treat this adjective as a fancy PR word, in fact doing nothing for digital sustainability. Asking and answering the above questions should help you decide the best overall green webhost. Following these steps, you can better evaluate hosting options and find a provider that suits your needs.

What are the benefits of green web hosting services?

Your business has to run, no matter if you have any sustainable solutions. We are not going to talk here about some compromises that you would probably have to include regarding environmental actions, but other topics that often come to business owners - what is the benefit of switching hosting to more eco-friendly? Yes, this is the moment to talk about the ROI of chosen green web hosting.

• Reduced environmental impact and stimulating green economy This can be one of the most important benefits of a business's sustainable development strategy. First, by deciding on green hosting, your company can significantly reduce its digital carbon footprint and positively impact the environment. The shift to renewable energy sources reduces reliance on fossil fuels and helps promote the growth of clean energy industries. By opting for green hosting, companies can contribute to reducing their digital carbon footprint, which refers to the amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated by digital technologies. By choosing green hosting, your company can actively participate in mitigating climate change and preserving the environment. It also helps to promote the use of renewable energy sources and environmentally friendly practices.
• Lower energy cost... and price We've become accustomed that when something is labeled with words like "eco" or "bio," it often comes at double the price compared to the standard version. Luckily, it's not a case of sustainable hosting. Switching to a green one, in real, can lead to reduced energy costs for businesses and individuals. That means that the cost of this energy can be more stable and even decrease over time. Traditional energy sources, like coal or natural gas, are subject to price fluctuations due to geopolitical events or supply and demand dynamics. These fluctuations can lead to volatility in energy costs, making it challenging for businesses and individuals to budget for these expenses accurately. Green hosting uses renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind power, to power servers and data centers. These sources of energy are not only more environmentally friendly but also have a more stable and predictable cost compared to traditional sources like fossil fuels. To illustrate it, if you research their prices, you can quickly notice that most of the hosting companies have comparable hosting costs oscillating between $2.55-3 per month. You can also be positively surprised when analyzing the most popular web hosting companies that most of them, even if they don't communicate it on their websites, are run on renewable energy or instead purchasing renewable energy credits.
• Brand image, CSR, and CDR Green hosting can become a part of your sustainable brand image. Many eco-friendly hosts, and even Green Web Foundation itself, allow their users and customers to download badges informing about green hosting energy that can be included on the website. Additionally, green hosting can improve your organization's sustainability credentials and reputation. Many customers and stakeholders increasingly prioritize environmental responsibility, making green hosting a valuable aspect of corporate social responsibility efforts. By supporting green hosting, you can align with corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate digital responsibility (CDR) goals and demonstrate a commitment to environmental conservation.

• Better performance and positive SEO impact Green data centers often use energy-efficient technologies and practices, improving overall performance and uptime. That can make your website more sustainable and much faster than others. Moreover, search engines like Google may consider website speed and environmental sustainability in their rankings. That's why green hosting can potentially lead to better search engine visibility.

To summarize, as we have demonstrated here, green web hosting benefits not only the environment but also website owners and their users by offering eco-friendly, energy-efficient, and reliable hosting solutions.

Is green really green? Watch out for greenwashing in green hosting.

When it comes to choosing a hosting provider for your website, it's important to be aware of the concept of greenwashing. Greenwashing refers to the practice of companies misleading consumers about the environmental benefits of their products or services. In the case of green hosting, providers claim to be eco-friendly and environmentally conscious. However, it's essential to scrutinize these claims and determine if they are truly green or simply a marketing tactic.

Many hosting companies label themselves as green without actually implementing sustainable practices. They may purchase renewable energy credits to offset their carbon footprint without actually changing their energy sources. Additionally, some providers may claim to plant trees or donate to environmental causes without any real impact.

In order to avoid falling for greenwashing, it's crucial to do thorough research, inquire about the hosting company's sustainability efforts, and seek out certifications or endorsements that validate their environmental claims. Choosing a genuinely green hosting provider can help reduce the carbon footprint of your website and contribute to a more sustainable future.

That's a good start for any other sustainable actions when developing your truly sustainable digital products.