When you find a good web hosting provider, it is normal to want to stick with them indefinitely. There are times, however, when moving on to another provider is the best thing for your business. A provider than has been stellar over the years can become a problem for your business if they have not taken any steps towards improving their services or keeping up with a growing clientele. This piece looks at important signs that a specific provider is no longer providing value.
Slow Page Load Speed
Although there are numerous reasons for slow page load speeds, the influence of an ailing web host cannot be ruled out. When you have tried all the hacks for improving page load speeds and your site still loads slower than normal, it is time to have a look at your web hosting provider. You may be offered the choice of another hosting plan. However, if your current website speed was fast enough initially with your current hosting and you have not made any large scale changes to your website recently, how are you certain that you site won’t slow down after a while on the new plan? Keep in mind the fact that 47% of web users expect a site to load in two seconds!
Regular Website Downtimes
If you are with a web hosting provider that is not fully committed to the maintenance of its equipment, you will get regular downtimes. The same applies if they do not have any mechanisms in place to deal with the constant threat of cyberattacks. An efficient web host should be able to protect your website from domain hijacking, “which happens when another website manipulates the communication between your domain and your web host’s servers. The result is downtime, and your customers may not know that they are no longer dealing with you,” says Brendan Wilde at NZ Domain Names, one of New Zealand’s hosting giants.
If regular downtime is a common theme with your chosen provider, it may be time to look elsewhere, unless you are happy with losing visitors and conversions.
Poor Support
Have you noticed that your web host no longer speedily responds to your concerns? Have they stopped responding to queries completely? It may be time to stop paying. Even if you are technically savvy, it helps to know that your web hosting provider actually cares about your business. If the service is great, poor support might not be a deal breaker, but in combination with other problems covered here, you should be searching for a new provider.
Incompatibility with Important Features
If you have features that are important to the running of your website that you are unable to use due to your web hosting arrangements, you need to reconsider your options. Your first move doesn’t have to be going to a new provider. Seek alternatives to the features or technology you are trying to run first.
Similarly, you should consider a new web host if you are moving to media rich content. Your bandwidth may be burnt up quickly if you move away from text based content to lots of videos for example.
Inability to Handle Site Traffic
If your current web hosting provider is unable to cope with the amount of traffic you are currently receiving, it may be time for you to move on. This is especially true if you have maxed out the product offerings from the provider. The best web hosting companies offer affordable virtual private server hosting packages that are able to handle large visitor numbers and spikes in traffic.
You Are Downsizing
If you are trimming the fat with your business, you may not need all of the features you are paying for. Go over your web hosting needs if you have changed up your business processes. If you need minimalist hosting and it is not available with your present web host, save money by looking elsewhere. Many web hosts are more than happy to offer bespoke solutions.
Disagreement with Policies
If your hosting provider introducing policies that adversely affect you and your business, it may be time to move on. This could be anything from email usage permissions and code options to changes to the payment methods. If you suddenly feel caged by the services of your web host, there is no need to stick with them.
Your Website has Fallen Victim of Shared Hosting Tar Brush
If you are on a shared hosting plan, your business is at the mercy of other users on the specific server. Your site could be blacklisted if one or more users on the server engage in activities deemed as cybercrime or as generally nefarious such as malware distribution. When this happens, your site will be marked as a threat and delisted from search results.
Exorbitant Rates
If the rate charged by your provider is not in line with the rates charged by other reliable providers offering equivalent services, you should consider moving. Keep in mind, however, that price should never be the only reason for making the move. Find out the underlying reasons why the new provider charges cheaper rates before making your move.
If you have noticed any of these signs, you should seriously be considering ditching your web hosting provider. This is especially true if you have noticed two or more of these issues. However, do not forget to extensively research your chosen provider before you make the switch. If your business is already up and running, there is little to no room for error!