14 Jan 5 Ways Your Web Host is Affecting Your Online Business

Many entrepreneurs are turning to online businesses as a way to earn extra income.

If you have a great idea for an online business and the skills to make it happen, you’re almost guaranteed to find some sort of market online. More and more people are starting to purchase items and services online instead of visiting a physical store.

If you already have an online business and you’re not generating the traffic you want, it may be time to start adjusting your marketing plan. And part of that plan should be looking at your website to see if any changes need to be made.

During this process, don’t forget to consider your web host. Your web host could be negatively impacting your online business.

Slowing you down

The servers of your web host and the bandwidth they’re offering directly impact the speed of your site. Try loading your site on different browsers and devices to see how quickly your pages load.

Most people click away if a site doesn’t load within 2 to 3 seconds. If your site is slow to load, customers are going to click away and go to a competitor’s site.

Not SEO optimized

In addition to customers getting frustrated, a slow web host could also negatively impact your SEO rankings. Search engine algorithms take into consideration how fast a page loads. The faster the page, the more likely it is to rank high.

If your slow site isn’t ranking well, customers might not find you. Potential customers aren’t going to dig several pages into Google to find you.

Website is down

It is normal for all web hosts to occasionally have downtime when they’re making updates. However, if your website is repeatedly going down for hours at a time, that is a sign that your web host is having server issues.

Ideally, if your website goes down, you want it back up within a few minutes. The longer your website is down, the more potential customers you lose out on.

Security risks are waiting

If your web host doesn’t offer data backup services or routinely release new updates, it is only a matter of time before you lose valuable information on your site to a hacker.

A good web host will regularly update their services to help against security risks. They’ll also offer some sort of data backup, that way if someone does hack your site, you’ll be able to recover your data.

No SSL certification

Another security feature you want your site to have is SSL certification. This helps further secure and encrypt the data on your site, allowing for a more secure connection.

SSL certification is a must, especially if you have the personal information of clients (such as their banking information) on your site. You don’t want that information falling into the wrong hands. SSL certification can also help you rank higher on Google.

Bad web host? Next steps to take

If you’ve read over all of this and are concerned that your web host could be negatively impacting your business, you need to take the necessary steps to improve your web host.

If the issue seems to be with speed alone, you could see if your web host offers an upgraded package. Sometimes, having more bandwidth and server storage can help increase your site’s speed.

If there are multiple red flags, it could be time to change your host completely. One of the best ways to start narrowing down your options is to check out online reviews. For example, Hosting Foundry regularly releases lists of top web hosts. They base their rankings off of both the pros and cons of the web host—check their Canadian hosting reviews for a recent list!

This is also the time to consider if you’re using the right type of web host.

Smaller businesses often choose a shared host. Shared hosts can be cheaper, but because the resources of shared hosts are split amongst multiple sites, you might find that your site slows down if you start attracting more traffic. Alternatives to shared hosting include a virtual private server (VPS), dedicated server host, or cloud hosting.

Final takeaways

Don’t settle for a bad web host. If you think your host is negatively impacting your business, take the time to start researching other hosts.

Finding the right host can take time. Don’t automatically assume that a more expensive host is better than a cheaper host. There are plenty of cost-efficient hosts out there that are great for small online businesses.