We are in 2017, and it is a pity that web hosting still remains an afterthought for most businesses. While everyone now understands the imperativeness of a having a website up there on the world wide web, they are still ready to cut corners when it comes to web hosting.
Let me explain how web hosting can impact you. Suppose, you have built the most beautiful house and are ready to host a housewarming party, only to realize that none of the guests could actually make it because your house is in a very secluded location. That would not please you right? So, connectivity is imperative to your house, in the online world your website can achieve this with the aid of a capable web hosting service provider. Still thinking? Let me throw in another example. Now you have bought a really cheap plot of land, and build a beautiful house on it. Some days after moving in you find all the precious things have been robbed one night. Moreover, you find out that your house is in an area with high crime rate, would you be able to live on in peace, ever? Cheap web hosting can similarly give you sleepless nights. With the hope of having proved my point, let us now come to why investing in web hosting should be a prime decision this year.
- Fast Loading: Now, I have statistics from Kissmetrics to prove the downsides of slow page loading. The statistics suggests that average Internet surfers would wait for no more than 6 seconds to view a page in its complete form (with content, design and graphics). And this can be attained only when the web host offers lightening fast speed leading to really quick loading time. Just ponder – what is the point of bringing thousands of visitors to your website if they cannot read or see your website in its entire form?
- Minimum Downtime: Again, every web host would need to change things around a bit and this would lead to downtime. But what matters is the time span when your website is not available on the web. Best web hosts make sure that all their maintenance tasks are performed during the late hours of night when the traffic is supposed to be less. Just think how embarrassing it would be if you were in the middle of an important business deal and about to proudly show your website just to find that it is down and remains so for many hours!
- Data Security: A scary statistic was projected by Net IQ; it stated that more than 70% of small businesses suffered from cyber attacks. And I am sure investigation would point fingers at the inadequacies of the web host. Web hosting is a big responsibility and protecting data security needs a lot of stringent measures. Web hosts, who are after quick money, do not care for elaborate security set-ups. And when that happens, the already reluctant customers would not like to share their personal details with you. You know better, how this will impact your business.
- Safe Payments: e-Commerce is a huge market today. Every business wants to benefit, and increase their online revenues. But you have to think as a customer. How often do you enter the PIN code in front of an overseeing crowd at an ATM? You do not do that right? Similarly, why should you expect the customer to transact with you if the banking details and all other confidential information cannot be guaranteed to be kept safe? More than 60% of transactions would not be processed because the customer felt insecure at the last moment. Now that is a telling figure and could have led to lakhs of profits! Do you want to lose all that money coming your way?
- Server Load Handling: You spend so much of money in promotions to see your website get a high volume of traffic. But when it happens, you find that the website has crashed and is not able to handle the excess volume. That means you should have a scalable solution and trust only a web host who can provide you that.
Hope, you would now see web hosting in a new light and take better decisions in this regard