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Thu Dec 19 2019

Don’t Risk Your Business With A Cheap Website Host

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Do you know that 88% of consumers research online about a product before they purchase it in-store or online?  So there is no denying the fact that the company website can have a major influence on consumer behaviours.

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Your website offers relevant facts about your products and services to help visitors make a well-informed purchase decision. And if it’s an e-commerce website, then it serves as an online marketplace where they can place orders right away. 

When businesses build their website, the focus is usually on making it look right using various visual elements such as videos and images etc. – they also work on its structure, SEO, content, and layout. 

But the fact of the matter is that keep in mind that the success of a website doesn’t only depend on how it the looks and the feel of a site are secondary to its speed, security and performance – all of which fall under our topic of web hosting

The Importance Of Website Hosting

Before we go into the depth of why it is crucial to get quality web hosting, let us figure out what it is.

When you build a website, its files (PDFs, videos, images, etc.) have to be stored on a remote server – this computer server is known as the host. 

Of course, you’ll have to pay a certain amount of money to use these hosting services for your website. 

Whether your business relies heavily on online sales or you plan to put up a basic website for a company that’s still in its infancy, you must choose a reliable, professional web hosting service to start on the right foot. 

It will save your website from severe downtime (which is when the website becomes unavailable), slow loading and navigation speeds, security issues and a lot more – essentially safeguarding your business against the risk of losing out on online sales and potential customers.

Adverse Effects Of A Cheap Web Hosting Provider

You may be able to save some money with a cheap web hosting service, but it’s going to cost you a lot in the long term. 

That’s why it is essential to understand the adverse effects of a cheap host on your website, so you can better appreciate a high-price, high-quality website host.

Let’s explore the possible problems of bad web hosting in detail:

Slow Load Speed

As per Hubspot, the average load speed of a site should be less than 1.5 seconds. Slow load speeds increase the bounce rate of your website as annoyed visitors are quick to exit. 

For instance, you open a link, and all you see is a blank page. How long do you think you’ll stay on that page if it doesn’t load quickly?

 You’ll probably close the link within the next 2 to 3 seconds and search for another website.

This is precisely what happens to all your visitors when they come onto your website and it doesn’t load due to the slow speed of your web hosting provider. 

Since a slow loading website hampers customer experience, search engines can further penalise your site by ranking it lower in search results pages.

Therefore, it’s recommended to invest in a good website host that’ll make your site load faster. This will improve user experience, and due to the subsequently reduced bounce rate, it will make the site rank higher.

Severe Downtime

What good is a website if it’s down most of the time?

Network downtime is bad for business – costing as much as $5,600 per minute or $300,000 per hour. 

The causes include everything from hurricanes and human errors to software malfunctions and cyber-attacks – all of which could be easily circumvented by a more capable hosting service.

It’s usual for websites to have minor downtime, and some are even intentional – when they are taken offline for regular maintenance. But your site’s downtime should never be more than 0.01%, which, if you calculate, leads to a downtime of 3.65 days per year. 

Businesses can’t afford to keep their websites down any more than that – making it extremely important to make the switch to a reliable web hosting provider.

Security Leaks

Every hosting company aims to provide the best consistent and secure service to its clients. The issue with cheap web hosting providers is that it offers little to no protection against security issues.

This is a significant issue, especially if you’re an e-commerce site and regularly process credit card and other personal information for your customers.

Your site’s security should never be compromised, which is a common problem with these cheap web hosting providers. Therefore, it’s recommended to buy hosting that may be heavy on your pockets but provides immunity from cyber-attacks – saving you a lot of money in the long run.

Technical Support

It’s common to face problems with your hosting services; even the best ones have their issues from time to time. But as long as they are willing to provide quick and comprehensive customer support, your website is in good hands.

Unfortunately, that’s a lot to ask for with a cheap website host. 

But what differentiates an excellent hosting service from an inadequate one, is the timeliness of their response and the level of technical assistance to such issues.

Apart from all the cons that come with cheap web hosts, the lack of technical support is one of the biggest reasons companies decide to switch to better, more expensive hosts. 

In Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, websites serve as a backbone for a company’s digital efforts. 

Even if you use social media platforms or advertise through other marketing channels to reach and attract a wider audience, you’ll always link your website with all such posts. 

So it’s a good idea to get started right and build your business site with a robust hosting service that can scale with your business and help you provide the best browsing experience to your visitors. Test run all your options, research them thoroughly, go through reviews, and then make an informed decision.

Though it’s not that difficult to switch your hosts, but why go through all the trouble and face the risk of losing sales in the meantime?

If you’re looking for help with your website hosting or would like to migrate your site to a reputable provider, contact us today!

Get in touch

We’d love to hear about your digital requirements. Even if you don’t quite know what you need, get in touch as we can help formulate a whole digital strategy to meet your business objectives.

Contact us

Level 16, 459 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000

03 9090 7070

hello@arcadiandigital.com.au

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