Establishing a strong eCommerce business is challenging. In the same way that brick-and-mortar stores experience growing pains, working and completely automated trade models also experience them.
To be honest, because you have to rely on other companies for software and site hosting, it might be harder to establish a profitable Internet business.
Ask any seasoned marketer, developer, blogger, inventor, or entrepreneur. They will tell you that the difference between a lifetime of excellent eCommerce performance and extortion or trapped experience can be significant when selecting the finest web hosting services provider.
What is web hosting?
Websites can be document-based platforms, online apps, or content management systems (CMSs). A web address or domain name is needed for the programs, files, or operating systems that power webpages.
The servers of your web hosting company will get requests from potential customers over internet protocol each time they search for your domain name in their browser. The content of your website will then be sent back to the browser of your website visitor by these servers.
According to WHSR, you have the option of paying a web hosting company to host your website or self-hosting on your server, if you have one. Web hosting services include file storage, applications, and CMSs for websites. Both people and companies who wish to establish an internet presence might benefit from this.
TechRadar lists six primary categories for web hosting. Every choice has different needs for server speed, storage capacity, technological know-how, control, dependability, and expenses. Among them are:
1. Shared hosting
A web hosting service where multiple websites reside on a single web server when connected to the internet. This is typically the most economical option with maintenance costs and other fees being covered by more than one customer.
2. Virtual private servers
A virtual machine, typically sold as a service, is offered by hosting service companies. These operate similarly to a dedicated physical server but are defined by software, making them less expensive and easier to create and configure to specific user needs.
3. Dedicated hosting
Rather than sharing a server, dedicated hosting allows a website, or series of sites, operated by the same person or company to lease an entire server. This is often more expensive, but it can be more secure and lead to fewer errors or downtime.
4. Cloud hosting
Cloud hosting utilizes multiple servers as an informational database to balance the load and operational needs of a website. This can lead to improved uptime thanks to the available redundancies of having multiple servers supporting your site.
5. Managed hosting
Rather than troubleshooting and handling maintenance yourself, managed hosting is an option where you have a 3rd party manage the upkeep and implementation for you. This is typically a secondary service that also includes a shared hosting platform (ie. virtual, cloud, or shared hosting).
6. Colocation hosting
Typically the most expensive option, colocation hosting requires the purchase of specific hardware you utilize onsite, as well as the rental of physical servers within a data center.
The consequences of choosing the wrong hosting platform
Not every hosting is made equal. It is crucial to select the appropriate platform. Choosing the incorrect one might have disastrous results. For example, according to the infographic below, the quickest pages on Google load in 2000ms, meaning that a one-second delay may cost your eCommerce store 7% of its conversions.
Let’s now examine the potential consequences of subpar hosting.
Negative SEO Ranking
Google has made it clear through its ranking system that it will not put up with false content or a bad user experience on websites that appear on its pages. As a result, the search engine rewards well-written, original material, perfectly optimized websites, and the greatest online experiences with visibility. In addition to rejecting websites with subpar performance and content, Google has the authority to impose Google Penalties.
At worst, according to Neil Patel, a manual or automatic penalty from the search engine may cause your Page Rank to drop to a pitiful zero. or get rid of the cached results on your website. This can all occur in a single night.
Low website loading times can also be caused by subpar web hosting providers. In addition to frustrating users, slow page loads might put your website at odds with search engine results.
Softwaylancing warns that a page loading delay of 20 seconds might result in a 44.19% decrease in page visits. Now that you think about it, a high page ranking leads to increased sales, which is a big benefit of content marketing. Your content marketing efforts will be severely hindered if you select untrustworthy hosting companies. The secret to successful content marketing is quick page loads. As we’ve previously discussed, using extra features like file caching and content delivery networks will speed up your website.
Malware and security
Superior web hosting companies use advanced security procedures. This deters hackers, bots, and other nefarious actors.
They offer strong firewall defensive features to safeguard networks at the network level. Their firewall will snoop on queries made to your website and examine them carefully to weed out harmful content. Requests from malevolent actors will be turned down.
In order to guarantee the detection of sophisticated and unique malware, trustworthy web hosting companies will also do routine malware scans and upgrade their scanning software. The finest of them will limit access to the essential files on your website to guard against hacking or unintentional changes that might cause your website to crash.
For a startup company, low-quality web hosting services that lack sufficient technical assistance, security, upkeep, and backup capabilities might pose a danger. Every day over 30,000 websites are compromised by hackers.
Excellent hosting providers will have many of security safeguards in addition to backing up your website data to distant servers for protection. In the event of an attack, they will also provide you with simple file restoration services.
Loss of revenue
Potential customers only give you a few seconds of their time, so you can’t afford to spend them on pages that load slowly or contain bugs. Consider the $11 million in lost sales that Costco experienced on Thanksgiving 2019 as a result of website issues.
According to ABC News, the merchant lost a significant amount of money due to the 16-hour downtime, but it also alienated consumers, whose negative comments on social media further damaged the business’s brand.
Inadequate hosting services are often linked to malfunctioning websites and lost traffic. They may easily drive a wedge between you and your clients and cause income to disappear.
Lack of customer support
The majority of business owners always discover that selecting a host with subpar customer service might result in a costly and messy finish, even when it’s too late. Numerous terrifying business narratives exist, alerting readers to the increased danger of acting rashly when selecting a service partner for their enterprise.
The Navitaire online reservation system for Virgin Airlines is a prime example. Virgin Airlines flights were grounded as a result of a critical system failure, which also caused enormous financial losses.
Twice in three months, the airline’s booking, boarding, and check-in websites collapsed. Regretfully, Navitaire took more than twenty-four hours to fix the issues, even though they had promised the airline prompt assistance and problem-solving. The absence of prompt support services provided by the SaaS provider to Virgin Airlines infuriated more than fifty thousand clients.
What features should the right hosting platform offer?
We don’t want to scare you with all of the pitfalls that can affect your business website due to poor hosting services. This is purely meant to frame how serious of a decision this is for your business. Now, to help you find the best option let’s go through the 5 things you should be looking for when purchasing a web hosting platform.
1. Optimum bandwidth and storage
If you are a new online business entrant, you might feel overwhelmed by all the technical terms and features that you need to understand before choosing a web hosting solution. For starters, storage and bandwidth are key features of a hosting solution’s capabilities and costs.
Storage space refers to the entire quantity of space given to your website by your hosting services solution. It is a virtual filing cabinet that should amply fit all your storage needs. It should also expect the growth of your storage needs as your eCommerce business, for example, blooms and gains more data.
The best web hosting platform will not only offer sufficient storage space but will allow you to downgrade or upgrade your storage size as your needs change.
Bandwidth, an equally important web-hosting feature, refers to the amount and speed of data transfer that takes place between your online visitors and your website. The popularity and amounts of data required by users at a time will dictate the amount of bandwidth that you should pay for.
Bandwidth affects not only page-loading speeds but also website backup, email access, and sending speeds. When paying for bandwidth, look not only at your current needs but also anticipate your future capacity needs. Use a website hosting provider that allows you to transfer to a different plan if your site hits its maximum spare capacity usage without levying punitive and expensive penalties.
2. 99.9% uptime and reliability
When web hosting guarantees you 99.9% uptime, it means that they will not allow your website to go offline for over 45 minutes each month. Downtime is a word that describes a server’s service or changes in out time while uptime points to the time that a service is available online.
A website that is up most of the time has a higher chance of pleasing its customers, earning more revenue, and ranking higher on search engine result pages. It is possible to have 99.9% uptime rates if you choose a reliable hosting provider.
It is essential not to just take their word for it. Read customer reviews to gauge your provider’s uptime history and ask questions regarding their approach to support and maintenance.
3. Ability to scale
Your online marketing efforts will eventually pay off, and you will have more website users. Is your website hosting solution package scalable to meet an increase in traffic generation? Choose a solutions provider that is willing to upgrade critical hosting features affordably. Avoid sellers that make vague “unlimited resources” promises just to draw you in.
4. Transparent pricing plans
The design, content, and programming needs of your site will dictate the costs of your web hosting package. You should, however, ensure that your provider lays out all the costs. Avoid businesses that have misleading pricing, and hidden fees or that add expensive costs to services such as package upgrades or downgrades.
A web hosting service may, for instance, charge a seemingly low $5 per month but throw in a mandatory charge of an extra $5 during checkout. Choose providers that allow your site to run at the price mentioned on their main pricing page and don’t include hidden fees.
5. Domain management tools
When your website is up and running, you will need a variety of domain management tools to keep it in top shape. Domain name administration tools will, for instance, help you change or edit your name servers easily if you have to change your hosting company. You also need access to your site’s DNS records to allow the setup of sub-domains or third-party services like Google Apps.
Domain management tools like MX records are vital in email hosting setup while domain WHOIS privacy can ward off spammers. The best hosting services should offer useful features and tools such as a content delivery network, 2-step authentication, eCommerce software, automatic backups, and one-click testing development environments.
Finding the best hosting platform is possible
The reliability of your web hosting services provider is vital to your online business success. Do your homework and choose a solutions provider of high repute. Don’t decide solely depending on price. Use these tips to get a dependable web host that will give you seamless value and a great return on your investment. We also recommend ASPHostPortal if you are looking for a reliable hosting solution.