Thanks to comparison websites, people regularly change their energy, insurance, broadband and mobile providers in order to find a better service. If you are a website owner, sometimes it can pay to change your web host too. After all, things have moved on in hosting and there are lots of new technologies, tools and features you might be able to benefit from. Here are six ways you can benefit from changing your web host.
- Faster website
The speed at which your website loads and responds to user input can have an impact on both your sales and your search engine ranking. The slower your website performs, the more users will abandon it and the lower it will rank in search engine results. As a result, you’ll get fewer visitors and sales.While the way you have built your website can affect the speed at which it loads, so too can the performance of your web host’s server. If you are unhappy with your server’s performance, it may be time to look at hosts with more modern, high-performance servers, such as those with Intel Xeon processes and superfast SSD drives. Of course, you may also want to consider a more powerful hosting solution altogether, like VPS, dedicated server or cloud. - Stronger security
Not only are cyberattacks growing in number; hackers are using ever more devious and clever ways to carry them out. To stay secure, it is important to have a web host that has your back. If you don’t feel your current web host is providing enough protection, look for one that does.Today, you’ll find that good web hosts protect their customers’ servers with advanced firewalls, armed with intrusion and malware prevention tools that isolate threats before they get anywhere near your server. They’ll also allow you to install free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates, filter your email for spam, phishing and malware and offer state-of-the-art backup solutions. Some will even provide free daily backups as part of your plan. - Better support
If your business relies on your website, when something goes wrong, you’ll want it fixed quickly to prevent downtime and lost sales. If you lack the technical know-how to do this yourself, or it’s a problem at your host’s end, you’ll need a technical support expert, not someone from customer service.If you’ve had technical problems before and your host hasn’t dealt with the issue quickly and effectively, then it is important to find a host that does. Ideally, you need technical support that comes as standard with the plan, so you don’t have to pay for it; it should be available 24/7 and, most importantly, the person assisting you should have the expertise to help you solve your problem. - Increased reliability
Website reliability is essential for your company’s reputation and to meet the needs of your customers. If your monitoring tells you that there are frequent blips in availability, then it is certainly time to find a more reliable host.For improved reliability, make sure that there are no limits on bandwidth and check to see what the minimum uptime guarantee is. With today’s advanced hosting technology, you should look for a solution that guarantees 99.9% uptime. For solutions like shared hosting, where the host carries out operating system updates on the customer’s behalf, the server may need to be rebooted after the update and this is why 100% uptime is not achievable. If you need 100% uptime, choose cloud hosting. - Easier website management
Running a website means carrying out quite a lot of background tasks, some of which are ongoing and some which need doing every now and again. Whether you are an old pro or a beginner, a good control panel can make these management tasks much easier and quicker to do.The best control panels available today are cPanel (for Linux) and Plesk (for Windows). Both offer user-friendly interfaces, easy navigation and a wide range of tools. They even have built-in user guides to help you get tricky jobs done stress-free. If you could benefit from a better control panel, look for a host that offers cPanel and Plesk. - Seamless growth
The goal of most business owners is for their websites to flourish. Over time they want their website to grow, have new features and attract lots of new customers. When those things start to happen, the amount of hosting resources your website will need will increase. You’ll need more storage, more memory and greater processing power. When that happens, you’ll need to upgrade to a bigger hosting solution.Upgrading is not always easy, especially if you are moving to a completely different type of environment, such as from shared hosting to the cloud. A good web host will help you migrate your website from your old solution to your new one so that your business can grow seamlessly. If you find that this kind of practical help is in short supply, then it’s time to consider a host that’s got your long-term interest at heart.
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Conclusion
When it comes to hosting, things change over time. Your website’s needs will change, the technology used in hosting will advance and the way your host does business will develop. If you find that your current hosting solution no longer delivers the service you need, then it is time to consider a new one. For a host that provides all the benefits above, and which will happily help you migrate to us, check out our homepage.