A lot of people look at web hosting as if it were just like any other commodity. Many believe all they have to do is select the bandwidth and amount of disk space they need, and that’s it. Truth be told, there’s more to web hosting than meets the eye. Years ago, customers had all sorts of limitations as far as web hosting was concerned. Today, the choice of providers is endless. The costs involved are varied, meaning that regardless of your budget, you are still able to make a decision and get your website up and running in no time.
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Don’t Treat Web Hosting Like Any Other Commodity. It’s Not:
It’s a big mistake to believe that web hosting is similar to other commodities like gas or electricity. Because it has multiple moving parts and all are required to deliver an uninterrupted, top-quality service, choosing the provider with the lower price package is not the most sensible choice. It might be affordable and you might believe that you’re saving cash, but in the long-term, cheap web hosting will do more harm than good to your business.
How Fast Does Your Website Load?
Web hosting shouldn’t be treated like your average type of commodity because every provider is different. Regardless of the package you buy, there are certain needs you online business might have, and you have to be aware of them. For instance, load speed is a core feature of your website. To measure speed, you can check your site against PageSpeed. Why does it matter?
- Websites that load faster provide improved user experience. Nobody likes to wait for a page to load.
- Since mobile has taken over desktop usage, it’s vital that your responsive website loads fast on a smart device. People are on a rush when accessing the web via a phone. They need answers, and they need them in less than 3 seconds. Otherwise, they’ll walk away from your business, and look someplace else.
- Google knows that website speed load matters. In fact, site speed is one of Google’s core variable in determining ranking.
The problem is, it can be expensive to make speed up your website and make it run faster. In general, the web hosting service you choose to work with should be able to provide you with excellent loading speed. If it can’t, then you might want to look someplace else. Or you can switch packages, and go from solid state drive to VPS (virtual private server) to improve load speed and, in time, website ranking.
Why Shared Hosting Is Not A Good Idea:
Everybody hates nosy neighbors because they tend to affect the whole “neighborhood”. The same thing applies to web hosting. With shared hosting, you are obliged to share space with others; who may take up too much space, hinder the server, and affect your website’s capacity. Since you paid for a spot on a server, and not for a private “neighborhood”, you are not entitled to argue.
Know The Connection Between Your IP And Your Web Hosting:
With shared hosting you risk getting infected with hosting malware and spam. If this happens, your IP address might get blacklisted, which is bad for business. To make sure that doesn’t happen, it might be a good idea to monitor the IP of your server. Since you don’t control other people’s space on the server you’re on as well, there’s nothing you can do if they run out of date software or insecure apps.
You Can Afford Sluggish Performance Levels During Peak Time:
If you’re running an ecommerce website that has gained a reputation, you should know sluggish performance during peak times (e.g. holiday season) might decrease your ROI. Low website performance is annoying to potential customers and visitors. The best you can do is upgrade to a VPS; where you’re all alone and you at liberty to control your RAM and CPU.
Bottom line is, you shouldn’t treat web hosting like other commodities. Make an informed decision before choosing providers; and learn the differences between your own virtual private server and cPanel shared hosting. Some things you need to steer clear of to make sure your website runs smoothly: IP reputation, peak times, and nosy “neighbors”. Research a bit the cost involved with a web hosting package, and don’t settle on the first that pops on Google search.
About the Author:
Maxwell Donovan is the writer to this article. He is a regular contributor at many sites and mainly focuses on business and technology related topics. He also recommends Your Last Host/ offering web hosting services.
Nice article. Thanks for sharing.
Welcome here and thanks for reading our article and sharing your view.