Think of your website like a physical bricks-and-mortar shopfront. If it goes down, this is the equivalent of slamming the shutters down just as a customer is about to step inside. Disgruntled, this customer may never return. This is why reliable, fit-for-purpose web hosting is so crucial.
Is your current web hosting company letting you down? If you’ve experienced any of the following, it could be time to switch:
- Your site can’t cope with an unexpected burst of traffic. If one of your digital marketing campaigns goes well, you’re likely to get a sudden increase in traffic. This is particularly likely if you’re running a time-sensitive offer or promotion. If users can’t get onto your website, your web host has some questions to answer.
- Security issues are increasing in number, regularity or severity. If your site is regularly hacked or you feel that security ‘events’ are starting to get more serious, this is something that needs dealing with immediately. If your current web host can’t offer you the security and data protection you need – and it’s important to think about the security of your customer’s information here too – then it’s time to switch.
- You can’t get hold of anyone in customer support. If you have a web hosting problem, you need advice and help as soon as possible. If you’ve been left hanging on hold or your web host takes days to call you back, this just isn’t good enough. Every hour of downtime costs you money, so you need to find fast, reliable customer support.
- Pages take a long time to load. If your website is slow to load, customers won’t hang around. In fact, research has shown that nearly half of web users will abandon a site that doesn’t load within 3 seconds. There are a few things that can cause this, from overly large images to problems with the server. If the problem is with your web host, it needs to be resolved or a replacement hosting provider found immediately.
- Downtime and server errors. All of those little problems can soon start to add up and form a larger issue. If you regularly find that your website is down and your customers report problems with loading speeds and downtime, something is obviously not working as it should. The same goes for internal server errors, often caused by faulty plugins. If your hosting provider can’t explain these issues or you aren’t happy with the explanation, you may need to switch provider.
The last point to remember if you’re thinking about switching to a new hosting company relates to scalability. If your company grows, can your web hosting provider grow with you or will it hold you back?
For a choice of reliable, secure and fast hosting solutions to suit your needs, contact the experts at Ambos Digital. Our hosting services offer full firewall, SSL and Anti-Virus protection, along with a full maintenance package and exceptional customer service.
