In today’s tech-forward and fast-paced world, every business owner understands the importance of a good, mobile-friendly website. Web users have an expectation to find answers to their questions or information about a topic in a few short clicks. In fact, web users spend an average of 54 seconds on a web page before moving on. That’s less than a minute to answer their question, get your point across and build trust with your audience.
Now imagine only having 54 seconds to attract your audience and more than half of that time was spent on your website loading. Your website’s user experience is more than just the design and content on your pages. Web hosting is often the most overlooked part of every website, and it could be costing your business a significant loss in sales.
What is Web Hosting?
Web hosting is a technical online service that allows your website to be publicly accessible on the internet. Web hosting securely stores your website files — including text content, coding files and media files — on a secure server which browsers call to.
A quick Google search will expose you to the countless web hosting companies out there that are trying to sell their services to you. In addition to web hosting, many of these web hosting providers also offer additional services such as tech support and website maintenance. Business owners already juggle a lot of priorities, and now they have to understand IT best practices, too? Without proper knowledge of what a website needs, it’s easy to push web hosting to the side and choose the cheapest option available.
Can I Host My Own Website?
The short answer: absolutely, but it’s expensive! This option not only requires much more technical skills and knowledge, but also gets very costly very quickly due to the costs of infrastructure, storage, equipment (both hardware and software), security, and handling all the maintenance on your own. Not every DIY project ends up saving you money in the end. As a small-to-mid size business without many complex technological needs, we recommend finding a reputable web hosting company that can handle all your web hosting and support needs.
Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a Web Hosting Company
Not all web hosting is the same, and your choice in a web hosting provider can make or break your website’s performance. To make the best ROI on your website, online presence and even your marketing, let’s explore the key factors to consider when choosing a website hosting company.
Website Uptime
At its core, web hosting is all about making your website publicly accessible on the internet. One of the most important factors to consider when choosing a web hosting company is their uptime guarantee. Web hosting uptime refers to the percentage of time that a web server is online and accessible to users. The industry standard is a 99.9% uptime, so your business shouldn’t settle for anything else. With a 99.9% guaranteed uptime, that would mean your site may be down for a total of eight hours, 45 minutes and 57 seconds over the course of a full year. At an absolute minimum requirement, look for this guarantee from any web hosting company you’re considering.
Website Speed
The second most crucial job a web hosting company has is to load your website as quickly as possible. Website speed refers to how quickly a webpage becomes fully accessible and functional to a user after they request it via a link click. The industry standard page load time is 2.5 seconds on desktop and 8.5 seconds on mobile. Every second — or even half second — longer greatly increases the chance of a bounce. A bounce refers to a website visitor who leaves after viewing only one page without interacting further with the site. Every bounce leads to a decrease in website traffic, SEO and ultimately your sales.
There are a lot of components that impact a website’s load time, including database queries, code efficiency and media file sizes. At a bare minimum, you want to ensure your web hosting provider is not an added reason to a slow website speed.
Website Storage
No website is the same; each website has different content, design, media and built-in functionality — all of which affects your website’s storage needs. Most web hosting companies determine their pricing tiers based on storage. Review the current size of your website to help you understand your website storage needs. This can be done through asking your current website provider or using Google Developer Tools.
Website Security
Today’s average internet user is more tech-savvy than ever before. Therefore, cybersecurity is more important than ever. The last thing your business needs is a virus, data breach or other security risks that will damage your brand’s trustworthiness and credibility forever. Website security is especially important for businesses that store any sort of customer data, including payment information, health data or even basic identity information. As your website expands, your security requirements can grow along with it. When choosing a web hosting provider, you should look for the following website security features:
- Security Scans: Do they perform regular security scans?
- GDPR: Do their security measures meet GDPR standards?
- HIPAA-Compliance: If your website is required to be HIPAA-compliant, there is a whole added layer of security needs you should discuss with your web hosting provider
Website Support
No matter what level your IT and coding skills are, there will come a time when you need web hosting support. That time will likely come at the most inconvenient time for your business. You’ll want to ensure your web hosting provider has available support with multiple formats of contact including live-chat, phone support, email and more. Many of the leading web hosting companies even offer 24/7 support, but it often comes with a catch: what hosting plan you choose. For example, some web hosts offer their cheapest hosting package tier with support limited to only the self-help knowledge base. When comparing hosting packages with various web hosting providers, ensure you fully understand the level of support your package will receive in your time of need.
Website Backup
Many reputable web hosts offer back-ups as a standard service with many of their packages. A website backup is an exact copy of all your website’s data, including content, coding files, databases, and configurations, that is stored in a secure server for emergency purposes. The important questions to ask your web host about backups include:
- Are website back-ups included in my plan? Not every pricing tier will include automated back-ups. Understanding what’s included with each tier will help you choose the right web hosting package
- How often do back-ups happen? Knowing the frequency of the back-up (monthly, weekly or daily) will help during your time of need. If you are making daily changes to your website, you should consider the higher pricing tier that includes more frequent back-ups.
- How do I restore my website? It’s important to know the actions that need to be taken when the back-up is required.
Web Hosting Contract Terms
Like every contract, you’ll want to understand your commitment when agreeing to use a web hosting service. If you’re making a purchase directly online without speaking to a sales representative, make sure to read the web hosting company’s term of service to better understand the agreement and avoid unwanted fees or limitations. The web hosting contract should detail the cancellation policy, refund policy, additional fees and support expectations.
TL;DR: Not All Web Hosting Plans Are Created Equal
As a business owner, you have to be smart with your investments and your website is no exception. As the central hub of all your marketing efforts, you need to ensure your website presents a positive user experience with high-quality content, design and speed performance. Choosing a website provider is no easy task; it’s all about knowing the right features to look for, and what questions to ask. Every website has different functionality, design and storage with varying levels of expertise from website managers. Focusing on your website’s uptime, page speed and security will help you find the right web hosting provider for your exact needs.
All-in-One Marketing, Website Maintenance & Web Hosting
No matter where your website is hosted, or how it’s built, every website needs on-going maintenance to survive the ever-changing digital world. Launching a website on a high-performing server is only the first step to success. There are random core website updates on your WordPress theme, plugins and general software throughout the year that your business will need to account for. Not to mention content and design updates, too! Having a website maintenance plan is a critical part of every business plan.
As a full-service marketing agency with over 20 years of experience, Katava Marketing has helped countless businesses grow their online presence with high-performing websites designed with target audiences in mind. We offer packages for every online service your business needs from website development, hosting, SEO and more. Katava Marketing is the all-in-one solution for your website and marketing needs so you can get back to what’s most important: your customers. Contact Katava Marketing today to get started!
