Any smart business owner will tell you that websites and blogs are a tactic they use to reach potential consumers. They tend to focus on these two aspects which usually involve content creation. Most times, content creation becomes the most important business area people concentrate on forcing web hosting to take a back seat. Let me show you how important it is to find the right company for all your hosting needs.
I Just Made A Terrible Mistake. What Next?
As a business owner, you never want to have one of those uh-oh moments. This is one of them. Choosing the wrong website hosting can have detrimental effects the most important being a negative impact on your profits. The following are some of the problems associated with this grave mistake:
Losing revenue
When your site goes down, so does your income. Your visitors won’t be able to view your posts, you will lose out on potential customers, etc. It is worse when you have an online store. Take Amazon, for example. They recently had an outage that lasted 40 minutes and it cost them $5 million dollars.
Negative impact on your SEO Ranking
The goal of content marketing is to get high rankings so that consumers always find you. A site that always experiences downtime is going to make the user’s experience very problematic, ultimately having negative effects on your rankings. SEO experts also believe that a slow site can hurt rankings.
Security, Malware Attacks, and other related problems
There is no perfect way to go about protecting your site. However, reputable website hosting companies can give you something close to perfection. They will back up all your data making it easy for you to restore it when your website get hacked or whatever. You can also expect all-round technical support for all problems relating to maintenance, security and the like.
How Do I Choose The Pros?
It is important to choose a reliable site hosting firm that can not only promise you all round safety and accessibility, but also guarantee it. If you are just starting out, or are experiencing problems with your current provider, consider the following tips:
Understand that there are more hosting options than one
A business owner can choose any of the following options: Managed website hosting and Dedicated, shared and VPS. Don’t worry, we have compiled basic explanations on all of these here. Different options will affect different individuals differently. It is up to you to understand what you need. It never hurts to get your facts right, you might just end up boosting your profits.
Consider excellent 24/7 support
The internet knows no such thing as sleep. Neither do smart business owners. A company may boast about their 24/7 technical support, but may not offer you the kind of professional service you need. Professional technical support is the kind that knows your problem before you do. They can get you up and running within a few hours. Before choosing a certain group to work with, make sure this is one of the areas you test. Call them up at odd hours to see whether they are available 24 hours a day.
Another excellent piece of advice would be to ensure you choose a web hosting company that has a great uptime record. These companies are not perfect. Smart business owners know that there are those days they are experiencing problems of their own too. Since you obviously cannot find a company with a 100% uptime, make sure you settle for a 99% one.
Don’t let the money be your determining factor
Turns out that you actually do get exactly what you paid for. If you ignore all other factors and rush to the cheapest company, you are likely to end up experiencing problems that end up affecting your income. Your business can’t afford any extended downtime. Shared hosting is excellent when low traffic is being generated. Those selling products or experiencing large numbers to their site may consider a dedicated site provider. The budget will be higher, but you will have yourself to thank in the future.
Ability to scale
As you grow your business, your site tends to grow too. You start experiencing traffic you never dreamt possible. Now more than ever, it is important to scale your site professionally. You should work with a professional who can scale and upgrade to accommodate huge numbers.
A good street rep is gold
You need to sit down and come up with a list of the features you require. Once you have made yourself familiar with how your system works, what you like, what you don’t like, etc., you can now look for a company with a good reputation. The search is easier than you think. Start with your friends. Ask them if they know anyone who knows about these services or offers them.
You can look for reputable companies in your area. Read the testimonials on the site and visit the social media pages just to see what they tell their consumers. Once you have a few phone numbers, don’t forget to ask them the important questions. These include the fees they charge, maintenance schedules, average downtime stats, client references, whether they offer any extra perks, whether they offer technical support, what technology they are using and so on.
Also, find out how long the company has been in business. Now that’s what we call a background check!
The Bottom Line
There are a lot of website hosting firms out there. They range in the hundreds. Because of such high numbers, you need to know your stuff when it comes to knowing what is important for you and what is not.
You want to let price be the determining factor when it comes to choosing a service provider?
Okay. Just remember your mistake when you are dealing with all the hassles and headaches accompanied by this poor decision.
- When is the last time you exercised these tips?
- Are you satisfied with your web hosting company?
- What did you do the last time you were experiencing downtime?
- What kind of features do you look for in these companies?
Leave a comment below, we’d love to exchange ideas with you.
Conclusion
There are a lot of web hosting companies out there. It’s crucial to select a hosting provider carefully since your business will be depend on it.
Remember that choosing a hosting provider solely on price is not worth the hassle and headaches if your site goes down. Are you happy with your web hosting provider? What steps did you take the last time you experienced downtime? What important features do you look for? Share your experience by leaving a comment below.
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