Hosting Problems? 4 Signs You Need a New Website Host

18 Feb Hosting Problems? 4 Signs You Need a New Website Host

Choosing a website host can be one of the most important decisions you make as a site owner, aside from choosing who will design & build it. A poorly chosen website host can not only end up costing you money, but can negatively affect your sales, traffic, and search engine rankings.

Sadly, most website owners have no idea how web hosting works, let alone how to tell if it’s time to start looking for a new host. Here are four sure signs that you need to start shopping for a new website host right away:

Long Loading Times

If your website is taking way too long to load, or you are experiencing wildly inconsistent loading times, then your website host is most likely the problem. When you get grouped together on shared hosting, all the websites on that server are fighting for the same resources. This leads to everyone experiencing slow load times during peak usage hours when there are lots of people visiting the sites.

Long load times are not only very frustrating for those visiting your website, but can lead to a reduction in sales and even a lower search engine ranking.

Your Website Is Constantly Crashing

This might seem like common sense, but if your website is constantly going down or presenting errors, your visitors are going to head somewhere else. Overloaded or poorly managed hosting servers are likely the culprit.

Though your host might have been the bees knees when you first signed on, if they have been adding in more websites without properly upgrading their systems (which is sadly all too common with hosting companies), then you and your visitors are going to feel the effects.

While no honest website host can say that they guarantee 100% uptime, they should be able to guarantee less than 1% downtime (typically that 1% should be for scheduled maintenance overhauls, taking place during non-peak usage times). If you are experiencing anything more than 1% downtime, you should do yourself a favor and start shopping for a new hosting solution immediately.

Lack Of Support

A major problem with website hosts is a lack of support. Many hosting companies see technical support as a necessary evil and try to reduce costs by reducing support services or not thoroughly training support agents to actually solve problems. If you are waiting days for a support response or the responses they give are of no help, it’s time to move on to a website host who actually wants to help you be successful.

Every Problem Is Solved With Your Checkbook

“Need a backup restored? Forgot your password? Site taking too long to load? Well we can take care of that for you… for a price.”

Does this sound like your current website host? Are you calling technical support and they spend 90% of the call trying to upsell you? Perhaps they conveniently “forget” to mention that a simple change is going to cost you money until after you’ve given the go-ahead?

If so, then you probably should cut and run as soon as possible. While some fees are justified, there are many website hosts that seem more in the business of taking your money than taking care of your website.

Conclusion

Finding a good website host can seem like a daunting task, but sticking with a bad host because it’s cheap and comfortable will cause you more headaches in the long run. Weigh your options, be realistic about your needs, and don’t be afraid to ask plenty of questions. Any reputable website host should be more than happy to provide you with straightforward answers.