There is no doubt that many of you reading this have encountered the terrifying reality of suddenly becoming aware that your website is inaccessible. Your email inbox likely explodes, your phone starts ringing off the wall and, if you’re lucky, your uptime monitor alerts you to an issue. Downtime is one of the biggest complaints noted on reasons for switching providers and while we’ll discuss that a little more, there are a few other signs that you should probably switch web hosting companies.
10 Signs It’s Time For a New Web Host
- The Busier You Are, The Worse The Website Performs – High volume sales days such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday can result in cash flow booms for many retailers but if your host can’t handle the increased traffic, it can be a fiasco. If your web hosting service throttles your speed or the servers simply cannot route the volume, special sales and events can be more frustrating than anything else.
- They Don’t Provide Any Extras – If your hosting company doesn’t provide the following, you definitely want to seriously consider moving your company website:
- Regular software and plugin updates
- 24/7/365 technical support
- Real-time uptime monitoring
- Frequent backups, preferably off-site
- Constant security monitoring
- Frequent malware scanning
- Free & automatic installation of WordPress
- ‘I’ve Got a Bad Feeling About This’ – A sure indication that you’ve outgrown your web host is if security events are either increasing in number or severity, or have become commonplace. Hackers have several preferred methods of attacks – generally phishing and ransomware, but their coveted target is your clients’ valuable data, whether that is credit card numbers, passwords or just user information that they can use in other phishing attempts. More often than not, system vulnerabilities are the result of outdated software, limited or no updating policies, poor monitoring that allows security holes and poor or inconsistent patching. An increase in attacks or hack attempts should tell you that it’s time to move on.
- They’re Not Growing With You – If your hosting provider doesn’t appear to be able to grow with you, they will limit your potential growth. Customers rely on accessing information and making transactions in real-time and on-demand. When their demand outstrips your capability, things will break. Poor website performance or downtime means lost customers and conversions because when customers experience outages or wait times, they simply move on to another provider.
- They Just Don’t Seem To Care – If you get the feeling that the web host doesn’t understand your business needs and doesn’t care to understand, you’ll know it’s time to move on to a new provider. In addition, if the agreement between you feels more like a handshake than a professional and well-coordinated plan, it’s a pretty good sign that they don’t really care how well your business does.
- High Renewal Price – While it’s a common ploy to offer a low introductory price for new customers and then charge a higher rate on renewals, if you feel that the cost of renewal is way too high for the services that you are using, then it is time to find new web host.
- Insufficient Storage Space – All website customers are allotted a specific amount of disk space on the server by their web hosting provider. The amount of storage or disk space that you need depends greatly on the type of website you are running. Of course as your business and/or inventory grows, you’re going to need more storage space. An excessively high price for additional storage or an upgrade is also another good indicator that it’s time to move on.
- Updates or New Software Isn’t Available – The best web hosting companies will always be able to provide you with the latest software and plugin updates to help you effectively run your website and business. If your web host isn’t able to provide you with the software needed in order to properly run your website, then it’s definitely time you look for a new host.
- Inadequate Security – If your hosting provider doesn’t offer features such as firewall protection, anti-malware scans, anti-virus software, etc, then switching web hosts is imperative if you don’t want to take the chance of losing your website data or getting hacked.
- Inexperienced Technical Support – If you have to explain every minute detail of your issue to the host’s technical staff, especially if even at that point they still don’t understand the reason why you’re calling or why your website is experiencing a problem, and they don’t know how to fix it – then that’s a clear sign of an under trained technical team and it’s time to look elsewhere.
WordPress Web Hosting
While WordPress is free and you can, though ill-advised, opt for free hosting for your business website with WordPress – when it’s time to find a new web host you definitely want to stay away from free hosting services. BionicWP provides secure, professional and affordable WordPress web hosting for every size business owner out there. Visit our website today and we’ll show you a package that’s perfect for your business website needs. From off-site backups, daily malware scans, real-time uptime monitoring and 24/7/365 professional and knowledgeable WordPress technical support – BionicWP will help you create the business website you’ve always desired.