Best companies in South Africa to host your website

South Africa’s data centre and hosting market is experiencing unprecedented growth as Internet penetration increases and the country catch up with other regions.

A business website is now a must-have to reach South African consumers and market products and services online.

Nina Triantis, global head of telecoms, media, and technology at Standard Bank, said they expect a data centre boom in the country.

“We expect to see a substantial wave of data centre investments across the continent, led by regional economic powerhouses like South Africa,” she said.

This inflexion point is partly driven by advances in connectivity and data consumption, particularly as smartphone penetration rises.

“The Middle East and Africa is projected to be the fastest-growing region in terms of internet user numbers in the years ahead,” she said.

The industry shift towards hosting data closer to where it is consumed will further incentivise investments in South Africa.

Billions are flowing into South Africa’s data centre market.

Africa Data Centres is investing R4 billion to grow its data centre presence in Johannesburg, while Digital Realty acquired Teraco at a valuation of $3.5 billion.

The increased investment in local data centres bodes well for South Africans as more content is moved into these facilities.

While large enterprises will buy rack space directly from Teraco or Africa Data Centres, most small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) need to go through a hosting provider.

This raises the question of which South African hosting providers serve the SME market the best.

Here are four providers who have developed affordable and reliable hosting products for the SME market.

Afrihost (click here for more)

Afrihost has been providing trusted hosting services for 22 years. It offers shared Linux and Windows hosting, cloud server hosting, cloud enterprise hosting, and managed hosting services. There is even a double-your-money-back guarantee.

Vox (click here for more)

Vox offers a range of hosting services, including co-location, shared web hosting, premium WordPress hosting, and domain registration. It also offers website vulnerability assessments to clients.

Axxess (click here for more)

Axxess offers businesses shared Linux and Windows hosting, WordPress hosting, domain registration, and email-only hosting. It also offers free .co.za domain name registration on selected web hosting services.

Vodacom Business (click here for more)

Vodacom Business offers companies Virtual Hosting with Cloud Manager – a dedicated virtual web or application server in a shared hosting environment. It promises a complete and robust IT cloud platform with the highest levels of availability and responsiveness.