Have You Outgrown Your Hosting?

You may not think much about your website hosting provider, but you should. They aren’t all created equal – and today’s competitive marketplace offers several options. Know the signs of a lackluster hosting service and when it’s time to move on to someone new.

Why Is My Hosting Provider Important?

Web hosting isn’t a commodity like your gas or electricity, where you don’t have many options and the service doesn’t differ. A quality hosting provider ensures a seamless, high-quality option. When you started your business, you may have chosen the economy model, but staying with the same provider may no longer be the rational choice. In fact, it might even harm your business in the long run. Here are some signs that it may be time to move on from your web host.

hostingYour Loading Times Aren’t Up to Snuff

Your website loading time is a core part of a user’s experience, and this no longer applies to desktop. In fact, most people load websites on mobile devices. And Google knows this, which is why they include your load time when determining your search engine ranking. If your site takes longer than 2 seconds to load, consider a switch. Virtual Private Servers and Solid State Drive Hosting improve load time without overhauling the code on your site.

You’re Sharing with Too Many People

If you’re not shelling our very much per month for your hosting service, chances are you’re sharing a server with a lot of other people, which is not something service providers like to advertise. Your virtual neighbors might be hogging server space and eating up resources, which creates a headache for your users. Switching to a private server may not be necessary, but check to see if your service provider has limiters like CloudLinux. This way, you can be sure one person’s website isn’t greedily gobbling up the available bandwidth.

Your (IP) Reputation Isn’t Stellar

If your server’s IP address hosts malware or gets caught sending spam, it’s effectively blacklisted. This does more than just affect your page search ranking; it affects the deliverability of your emails. Your host should use a tool like SpamExperts to protect against spam and phishing, protecting their clients’ IP reputations.

Quality hosting has an established return on investment. If you’re plagued by slow load times, internal errors, and a bad IP reputation, shop around for a new hosting provider. Sticking with your old one might prove detrimental in the long run.

Need to talk hosting? Contact us at SteerPoint.