When you’ve been managing your website for a while, it’s tempting to stay with the same web host for simplicity and familiarity.
However, not switching could be costing you in sales, web traffic, and reputation.
A slow website or one that offers a clunky user experience is going to turn customers away from you. You could also be paying over the odds for poor service when it’d be cheaper to switch.
If you’re not sure whether it’s time to change website host, check out these top signs it’s time to switch.
Unless you’re clearly unhappy with your provider, it’s hard to know when it’s time to change. Check out these signs it’s time to look for a new website host.
A slow site is the number one turn-off for potential customers. There are many reasons for a slow-loading site, such as too many graphics or a load order that prioritises back-end elements over content.
People bounce off a slow website because they don’t have time to wait for a page to load. They want information right now, not in a few seconds’ time. It may seem like a slightly-slow site won’t affect your traffic or conversions – but it will.
Your web host, however, can also be responsible for a slow website. The data transfer process, for example, is your host’s role – and if it’s slow, it’ll affect your user experience.
Downtime is also a costly experience for you and your customers. People trying to access your site will waste their time trying to refresh the page and wait for it to load when, in fact, it just isn’t working at all.
An unreliable or slow website is a guaranteed way to lose customers. If your current web provider is too slow, or you’re always experiencing downtime, it’s time to start shopping around.
Did you start out as a one-man-band and now have an entire company? Has your product offering gone from a single service to multiple options or from digital to physical products?
As your business grows, so does the need for improved functionality on your website. Even if your business is still small, but you’re seeing a huge increase in visitor numbers since you started out, you need to make sure your web provider is up to the job.
Your website needs to be able to manage mobile-first responsiveness, e-commerce plugins, and simple increases in traffic if you want to maintain a positive user experience.
A new web host provider could be what you need, to reflect your business growth and changing website needs. For example, shifting from a shared server to your own dedicated one can speed up your site, minimise data loss risks, and manage much higher levels of traffic.
Does your host back up your website every day? What happens when something goes wrong? What security options do they have in place?
When your website goes wrong, for whatever reason, it’s handy to have a recent data file to restore it from. Imagine your site is hacked, or there is a security issue, or you’ve even changed a setting and can’t work out how to revert it – a backup helps.
The older your backup is, the more time you’re going to need to reinstate everything just as it was on your site. You’ll need to comb through every page and make sure the content is as up-to-date as possible.
Worse, if you don’t back up your site at all, there’s no restore point for your website. Imagine the time it could take to recreate your entire site – can you really afford such website downtime?
Is your query answered straight away when you get in touch with your provider? Or are you spending time with a broken website while you’re held in a support ticket queue for hours – or even days?
A good web host will always provide assistance 24/7 in a timely manner. You can’t afford to have a broken website, so fast and easy-to-access customer service representatives should be on hand at all times to help.
If you’re tired of spending hours on the phone or waiting for a reply to your email support ticket, it’s time to change to a reliable web host with great customer service.
Do you find yourself renewing at an ever-increasing rate every year, but your website functionality and service stays the same? You may even find that, as your website grows, it even slows down despite your bills getting bigger.
Most hosting websites offer an introductory rate for the first year, but it’s important to look beyond that when you’re choosing your host. Can you scale your site up as your business grows? Is there 24/7 support? What are the small-print costs?
If you’re feeling dissatisfied with the current service, site speed, or even customer communications from your existing provider, it’s time to consider switching.
You can save hundreds of euros on your internet hosting bill just by looking around and doing a little research. Remember to take into account your long-term website plans, too.
Switching web hosts every year might save a few pennies – but it won’t save you any time. Look for a long-term web host that’ll grow with you, allow you to scale up to a dedicated server when the time’s right, and provides great customer service, too.
The final sign it’s time to change website host is when your current provider hasn’t told you that you need to install a security certificate on your site.
Google now prioritises websites with an SSL encryption certificate in its search rankings. Without one, you risk losing visitors as Google warns users that your site isn’t secure before they can click through to it.
Your web host should provide an SSL certificate as standard with your hosting package. If not, it’s time to switch.
The good news is that we offer SSL certificates, scalable hosting packages, and even free domain names as part of our service. Find out more about our hosting packages here.
