The stronger your web host is in the following areas, the better they will be able to serve your business.
If you own or help run a business, web hosting may not be the first consideration that comes to the mind. However, having the right web host is essential to getting the most out of your business’s online activities.
The 6 web-hosting factors listed in this article affect everything from your business website performance in search results to how much your customers enjoy using your site.
1. Server uptime
Server uptime affects how much of the time your site is up (that is, online and accessible to visitors) versus down (that is, offline and inaccessible to visitors). It is usually expressed as a percentage; for example, if the server supporting your website has an uptime percentage of 99.9 per cent, that means that your website will be down 0.1% of the time.
As covered by Jennifer Kyrnin on LifeWire.com, it is important to think about how much downtime will cost your business. For instance, a server with 99% uptime might sound solid, but it will actually be down over three days per year. Those are three days of potentially lost sales. Kyrnin recommends choosing a web host with a minimum uptime guarantee of 99 per cent.
2. Webpage speed
Webpage speed is another vital factor when choosing a web host. Every second that your business’s site takes to load is a second that a customer can potentially get bored and leave.
If the delays last particularly long, customers may even assume your website is broken and never return. Some of this comes down to how fast your visitors’ internet connections are, but there is a factor your web host can control: how quickly their server responds to visitors and loads the pages they request.
Generally speaking, the type of web hosting plan you choose will have a big effect on how quickly your webpages load. A shared hosting plan—in which your site shares hardware with other sites—will have the slowest speeds. The next fastest is a VPS, or virtual private server, plan.
The fastest type of plan is a dedicated hosting plan, in which your business has the use of a server all to itself.
3. Website security
Web hosting security is critical for both maintaining your customers’ trust and keeping your business’s online presence up and running. As with webpage speed, generally speaking, a shared hosting plan will perform the worst in this area. A VPS plan will be a bit better in terms of security, and a dedicated plan will have the best security.
Another factor is the type of security certificate provided by your web host. The top tier of the security certificate is an SSL certificate. These come in many varieties, so make sure your web host provides the certificate type that fits your needs.
4. Search engine ranking performance
Your business’s performance in search engine rankings will help determine how easily customers can find it. Your web host will play a big role here. For instance, according to Google, their searches rely not only on the relevance of your website. Google searches also take into account the usability of a website’s pages.
A site that delivers fast loading times will generally outrank one that does not, all else being equal. The same goes for security: The more secure site may win in a tie. Finally, the Search Engine Journal highlights server uptime as a critical factor in search engine rankings. If your site is down often, it may plummet in the rankings.
5. Data server location
The location of your web host’s data servers is another important consideration. In general, the closer the server is to the customers you hope to attract, the better it will be for your business.
For example, if all other factors are equal, a business whose customers primarily live in Virginia will likely receive better performance from a server located on the East Coast than one located in California or India.
6. DNS considerations
Finally, the domain name system (DNS) also plays a role in how your business’s website performs. The domain name is essentially the name of your website, and it is tied to your website’s IP address.
You can purchase DNS hosting as a standalone service for your site. Alternatively, many web hosts provide DNS hosting along with their web-hosting services.
The difference is that web hosting involves storing all of the data your business’s website needs to remain up and running. DNS hosting allows visitors to connect to that website. Having a robust DNS service is vital to keeping your business usable for visitors.
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