Crushing Cones Blog
Why Finding the Right Web Hosting Platform is More Important Than You Think
- February 2, 2023
Think of a hosting platform as the foundation of a structure. We’d all agree that a solid, stable foundation is essential for the longevity of the building. And a lot of time and attention gets put toward it.
We can apply the same comparison toward hosting platforms that allow the world to access your website.
However, we’ve noticed a lack of attention and resources put toward finding the right hosting platform among business owners and surprisingly, web agencies.
So we’ve decided to write an article talking about various ways a hosting platform can affect the success of your website. Feel free to use this article in your research to determine the right hosting platform for you.
Let’s get started!
Uptime
What good is a website that doesn’t load when a potential customer visits it?
Uptime, typically measured in percentage (ex. 99.9%) is the measure of system reliability. It’s simply the amount of time the server has been operational and available.
A measure like 99.9% may be satisfactory for some, but unacceptable for a lot of businesses, since it means 3.5 days of downtime per year.
Your first step when looking for a suitable web host is to find this number and decide if it’s acceptable for you. Of course, a higher uptime typically demands higher costs, and no platform will ever provide you with 100% uptime, so if you see that claim, run!
Performance
One of the most common issues we see with websites is slow loading times. And this can quickly become a big problem.
Majority of small business websites subscribe to a “shared hosting” plan from companies. This means, your website along with many others run on the same physical hardware and compete for resources.
The problem arises when providers allow too many sites to run on a single server and don’t allocate enough processing power, memory and/or bandwidth. This can lead to your website taking longer to load for visitors.
A couple reasons why a few seconds more to load can be a detriment.
- Loss of Conversions – We have short attention spans when surfing the web. Those extra few seconds waiting for the website to load can be enough for many people to leave and try another website, losing you valuable leads.
- Lower Search Ranking – Search engines like Google consider your website loading time as an important ranking factor. A slow loading website will negatively affect how well you rank on Google. The good news is that tools like the PageSpeed Insights exist to give you a performance score and offer pointers on how you can improve your site’s speed.
If your hosting platform is providing you with sufficient resources, it may be due to an upoptimized codebase or a CMS like WordPress that hasn’t been optimized properly. Reach out to your website administrator if that’s the case.
Scalability
Another important factor that ties into performance is how well your hosting infrastructure can scale.
As a business owner, you expect to grow your business by increasing your customer base, incoming leads, and ultimately website traffic. Perhaps even adding new complexities or developing web applications. There’s a good chance you’ll need to switch plans to a higher spec over time.
So it’s a good idea to keep an eye out for hosting platforms that allow you to upgrade or scale to a better performing package with minimal disruptions.
Cloud service providers are generally the best at scaling with the common ones allowing you to setup parameters that automatically scale based on server utilization.
But if a cloud provider is too complex or overkill for your needs, keep an eye out for hosting platforms that allow you to upgrade your existing environment instead of creating a separate one.
Security
You’ll notice a tiny padlock icon at the top left corner of your address bar when browsing the internet. This indicates whether a website has a valid SSL certificate, meaning data between the website’s server and your browser is encrypted.
Nowadays, it’s a rare sight to come across a recently built website that’s flagged as “not secure”. But it took many initiatives to bring us to this point.
Going back just a few years, it was common for many websites to not be secure, even some that accepted payments. This posed a huge threat for credit card and password theft, pushing companies like Google to flag websites as not secure on their Chrome browser. This deterred visitors and forced businesses to take security seriously.
Around the same time, Google added security as a ranking factor, similar to website loading times. This meant that secure websites were ranked higher compared to ones lacking a valid certificate.
Search for hosting platforms that offer SSL security as part of their plan. Today, most allow you configure a common certificate authority known as Let’s Encrypt without additional costs. Any platforms that don’t allow you configure one or charge a high fee to secure your website should be avoided.
Backup & Support
Ever since the creation of personal computers, we’ve been told the importance of backing up our documents and files. The same goes for your website.
Although uncommon, there are many factors that can alter the website in an undesired way. Some risks include data corruption, hijacking, faulty update, human error and more.
Timely backups are an easy way to quickly restore your website to an earlier point where things were running smoothly. Plus, backups can also be useful when migrating to a different hosting environment.
Many hosting providers offer an automated backup solution. So check to see if it’s included in your plan and if so, enable it to protect yourself from the worst case scenario.
Take advantage of your host’s knowledge base and support forums if you’re unsure about any of the steps. They’re usually included as part of their services and can reduce the stress of figuring things out on your own.
Conclusion
Hope this article highlights the importance of selecting the right hosting platform for your needs.
Consider what’s important to you when it comes to your website. Whether it’s higher uptime, performance, or in-depth support, select a platform that meets all of your needs at a price point that falls within your budget.
Hosting platforms are commonly overlooked and it can play large part in the success of your website. So we hope you consider the points in this article when shopping for the right platform.
Written by
Narius Khambatta
