Every online business uses a hosting company to keep their website up and running. As a result, there are countless hosting services out there vying for your subscription. They know you need them, so they will do everything to make themselves the first choice in your eyes.
While it’s true that no website can function without a host, not all hosts are created equal. Sometimes, a bad host can hurt your business instead of help it. Join us as we look at some of the ways your host can be helping, or hurting, your website.
Ways Your Host Can Help or Hurt Your Online Company
1. Help: Give You Access to Reputable Platforms and Tools
A great host offers a lot of features that online business owners need. These include access to content management systems like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal, and also tools to build their site.
For example, while you can build a site in WordPress, other hosting services offer a website builder that uses a simple drag-and-drop interface for people who simply want their site looking good and running as quickly as possible.
The best web hosts will offer both as an option, so you can build the site your way. They will also offer other types of tools you can utilize. These could include analytics, plugins, or eCommerce tools.
2. Hurt: Slow Down Your Website (And Hurt Sales)
A good host keeps your website running fast. While there’s plenty of things you can do to improve speed on your end as well, performance is a must for online businesses. It’s important to remember that the amount of traffic your website gets will result in you possibly needing a more powerful hosting plan.
Even so, if your host is a good one, the basic plan should be able to keep your site running smoothly. Combining that with proper best practices will ensure your speed is up to par. Keep these statistics in mind when you’re measuring your website’s speed:
- 47% of online customers expect a website to load in 2 seconds or less
- A 1 second delay in page loading times can cause a 7% drop in conversions
- 40% of people abandon a website if it takes more than three seconds to load
- 73% of mobile internet users say that they’ve encountered a website that was too slow
3. Help: Security and Stability
Today’s online landscape is a precarious one. Hackers are everywhere, and websites who don’t properly secure their customers information can become easy targets. Don’t lose the trust of your customers because of a mistake in choosing your hosts.
For starters, hosts can provide you with an SSL certificate, which will encrypt and protection customer information. Running your website on an HTTPS URL will also add to the security. From here, it’s all about ensuring that your host itself is secure.
The best way to verify this, is to Google the business name and look for any news of security breaches in the past. If you notice more than one in the last few years, you may want to find a different hosting option.
Above all, your host should provide you with a secure website. They should also minimize downtime. These things can happen, but if your host doesn’t guarantee a 99.9% uptime, they’re not worth your time, period.
Final Thoughts
Hosting is a required part of any online business, but choosing the right host is crucial. How does your host help your business thrive? Let us know in the comments!
