How to know when to switch your businesses web hosts
Web hosting is one of those things that everyone needs, but no one really likes to think about. However, the web hosting company that you choose will have a significant impact on your business in the long run, especially if it is an eCommerce business where every second of downtime can mean a loss in revenue.
Most often we enter into a mutually beneficial relationship with web hosts hoping for the best. What they promise to deliver in their sales pitch, and then stick with them because it seems like too much work or we aren’t even sure how to switch.
Knowing when to switch is crucial for all online businesses, including Canadian casino site Dreamz.com. An increase in traffic is all it takes to take your site down, and poor service from your web hosts can lead to losing valuable customers. Online only businesses almost entirely rely on their website for income, so issues with web hosts can lead to a destructive path.
There are definitely times when you need to seriously consider switching web hosts for the good of your business, and you can know when it’s time to move on by asking these questions.
Are you satisfied with your service?
Experiencing downtimes and other malfunctions and glitches will often be the only trigger to make a business or web owner consider switching providers in the first place. It is worth switching a provider if you experience more than 1% downtime. Of course there will be the occasional planned downtime for upgrades, which should always be previously discussed with the web client, but random downtime should never happen beyond the 1% threshold.
Planned website downtime is easy to explain to customers through a short email. Informing customers your website will be down for a short period of time for maintenance lets them know you consider their business important and that your site will return better than ever. It could even entice old customers to try your service again, especially if you include a discount code as a thank you for their support.
Do you know what your business needs are?
Often when a business is just starting out, choosing a shared hosting option makes sense, as it meets your immediate needs as well as startup budget. However, as your business grows, you may find that you need more service than what your current medium provides. One of the biggest hindrances, other than downtime, to the success of your website and business is slow page load speeds. Although this can be caused by many of the website design elements itself, it is also commonly caused by a server being overshared. This means that too many clients are using the service, which slows everything down.
It is often better to switch to a VPS or a dedicated server option in order to ensure that your business can keep growing. Ultimately you want to choose a provider that offers a significant amount of webspace or scalability, as this is essential for future business growth. If you cannot increase your web traffic without a decrease in server quality, then it is time to move on.
Are you able to communicate?
If you do experience that 1% of downtime, you need to have a provider that is available to communicate with you and fix the issue 24/7. You need to be able to call someone the second something goes wrong and know they will take care of it, if that isn’t the relationship that you already have with your provider, then again, it’s time to start looking for a new company.
Your website is operating 24/7 so there should be no reason that your web hosts should not do the same. With a website there is an equal chance of a sale in the middle of the night as the middle of the day, especially as the internet is a global medium. The best business web hosting is always on call, and this is something that you should not settle for with your provider.
