Every modern business needs a website that works as the main source of information for its customers and partners. Without a website, it is going to be a difficult journey for you.

Your prospects and partners browse through your website before they contact you. Your existing customers use your website to check out new products and offerings.

Web Hosting

In order for your website to open on computers and mobile devices across the world, it will need to host (or launch) it through a hosting company’s server. Put simply, web hosting is a service that allows individuals and businesses to publish a website on the World Wide Web.

The service is provided by web host or web hosting company that has specialized computers – which in industry terminology are called servers – on which your website is stored or kept. When a user tries to open your website by typing your website URL on an Internet-enabled device’s browser, they actually connect to the server, where your website is stored.

The requirement for website hosting may vary for individuals and businesses based on the nature of their website and the user traffic their website gets.

Getting hosted is one of the three steps of launching a website. Other two are: buying domain URL (or the address of your website) and designing & developing your website. First, you buy your domain and then, hosting. And then, you are ready to design, develop and launch your website.

Did you know, your hosting has a key role to play in the performance of your website? That’s why it is crucial to choose the right hosting plan for your business website.

The following underlines some of the facts and factors that should be taken into consideration before you select a hosting plan –

#1. Your Host May/May Not Control Your Server.

This is obvious to think that the vendor has the full control of your hosting server. But, that is not true every time.

If you have partnered with a reseller hosting provider, this could be a condition. Resellers are those who purchase server space at wholesale rates for retailing purpose. They trade with large-cap web host companies carrying a huge infrastructure and multi-tier security provisions.

Hosting plans from retailers come bundled with other attractive offers such as email hosting, free domain booking, and local language support.

But, the bitter part of it is, your vendor cannot do anything during an instance of downtime.

#2. Sometimes, Your Hosting Company Too May Not Have Access To Your Server.

During a technical glitch, even a renowned, best-reviewed hosting company can disappoint you. Many hosting companies have their servers located at different locations with limited staff – who in most cases are non-technical and can do nothing to fix the downtime.

They strategically place their servers at multiple locations for the convenience of their clients and to ensure maximum uptime.

However, if a catastrophic event takes place at one location – say, the location where your server is – it could be a hard time for your website. Your users and you will not be able to access it until the problem has been resolved.

The best solution for this problem is to take the server from a company has 24/7 control over their server and promises maximum uptime on papers.

#3. There Is Nothing Called 100% Uptime Guaranteed.

In any condition, no company will/can provide 100% uptime. The highest company can offer is 99.99% uptime. That includes around 8.77 hours of downtime every year.

Inevitable events such as software upgrade, maintenance, natural disasters, power outage, security breach, and so on and so forth can create several hours of downtime every year.

Promises are meant to be broken. That goes true for the ones that are mentioned on paper as well. Such promises come with terms and conditions applied.

Even if you establish your own data center and devise your own computers and servers, you will face these problems on a routine basis. And during slowdowns and breakdowns, your website will be down.

You can also use some of these online alternative resources as well to get along with your online issues related to your web host and more.

#4. You Cannot Control Natural Calamities. Neither Your Host.

Hurricane Maria that blew us in August 2017 created $94 billion in damage. Some small businesses are yet to recover from that.

We do not have control over the weather went wrong. But, whenever such incidents occur, be sure that the downtime is going to take days and sometimes, weeks.

Flooding, volcano outburst, hurricanes, and earthquakes happen without prior appointment. No matter how well prepared your hosting company is, natural disasters can break everyone and everything.

If the data center, where your servers are placed, gets damages, your website and business data are inaccessible for some time. And if there was no backup, it would be gone forever.

#5. Hack-proof Environment Isn’t Actually A Thing.

I often read about intelligence and government agencies’ sites getting hacked. If they cannot escape it, how could a privately held organization?

Hosting vendors follow best practices to fill loopholes and block intruders from breaking into their process. However, just like they go for upgrades, hackers too make every possible effort to stay up-to-date and always keen to steal your data.

So, how do you find a hosting provider, with who your data is safe and protected? I must say, there is no one out there whose process cannot be hacked.

To protect your data, you should follow the guidelines recommended by your server provider. Sometimes, you receive an email from your vendor asking you to change your password and file location and user rights. Do that immediately then.

If something with your website or database doesn’t look right, you should call your service provider immediately to register and get your issue fixed.

#6. Your Server Provider Monitors Your Data.

After following the security measures to protect your hosting and server, it is obvious to think that your data is password protected and it cannot be stolen now. But, that’s where you may be wrong.

Data centers employ their workers to monitor and safeguard your data. What if someone at their end has an evil eye on you? Your data could be damaged or even erased, willingly or accidentally, by the workers at the host’s facility.

It is not very likely, as hosting providers also monitor what their workers are doing. But, it cannot be denied that it cannot happen.

To put an end to such inner voices, you should consider partnering with a known and established hosting provider.

#7. Unlimited Is No Exactly Unlimited.

Many hosting companies sell plans that, according to them, come with unlimited disc storage and bandwidth. However, if you dig deeper, it is not as attractive as it may seem.

In the world of web hosting, unlimited space and speed do not exist. Just imagine and figure is it really possible?

How can a web host offer unlimited space and speed when they have limited infrastructure and resources?

Also, ponder on, do they have an unlimited supply of hardware, cables, RAM, computers, and power backup to stick to their promise of unlimited space and bandwidth?

The unlimited hosting plan also means unlimited, never exhausting manpower that can maintain their servers and provide their clients with unlimited support.

So, if we go with this logic, unlimited hosting plans are nothing but a marketing technique. And that’s why you should choose the plan that suits your requirements – not that that attracts you most.

Bottom Line

How fast a website loads when a user tries to open it is one of the search engine ranking factors on Google. While images, videos, plug-ins, cache, and many other elements add to the weight of your site, there is something else that could be slowing down the speed of your website.

If your website loads like a turtle, did you check the space available on your hosting server? Due to low or no space, your website doesn’t load quickly. There are many ways you can optimize your website’s load speed, which also includes buy additional space or removing unnecessary files.

Slow-loading websites do not also make the most of the traffic they generate via social media and paid marketing campaigns. Since your website does not load, users tend to leave your site and you tend to lose an opportunity to sell.