Hosting is one of those things that can be easy to overlook especially if you’re a small business.
Website hosting has come a long way even in the last 5-7 years since the time I launched my first website.
That website was a basic blog and I’ve always opted to enter the website world with basic shared hosting that can be as little as $50 or so for the first year and about $100-150 each year after that.
That’s a small price to pay to get a website started.
But one thing I’ve learned is that beyond hobby websites it’s critical to have great hosting for your business websites.
Here are the reasons hosting is so important for your business.
The Need For Speed
We’re talking about websites, but think about all the devices you use from your computer to your smartphone to even things like your TV.
When something is even a fraction of a second slower than normal we get frustrated. I know that I feel that way whether I’m loading Netflix on the TV or waiting for one of my favorite websites to load.
Google has obviously been one of the big names on the Internet for a while. It’s not all about what they do, but they have been talking about the importance of page speed for a while.
Here is a post from 2010 where Google says they are, “obsessed with speed”. Linked in that post is one study Google did on load times for searches and the results are pretty crazy:
Our experiments demonstrate that slowing down the search results page by 100 to 400 milliseconds has a measurable impact on the number of searches per user of -0.2% to -0.6%.
The reason companies like Google are placing an importance on speed is because people like speed. We like when programs load fast on devices. Even in real life we like getting places as fast as possible because less waiting means more time for other things.
When it comes to your website, faster loading times, especially with people accessing websites on smartphones, it could mean the difference between getting a customer or losing out on that opportunity.
Obviously there are other factors, but when equal people would typically prefer a business with a website that is faster than another when choosing a service or product.
The Cost Of Downtime
Another aspect of hosting is the cost of downtime.
At the top of the Internet world is Amazon. Estimates put a 40-minute downtime for the site from a few years ago at over $4 million.
Websites go down for a number of reasons. If you run a website you’ll likely experience downtime or an outage at some point. It’s just something that happens, but the goal is to minimize the downtime and figure out how to prevent them as best as possible in the future.
Even with small businesses the cost of downtime can be large. A small business might be able to get away with a 40-minute outage, but sometimes outages can last days and those are all days when new customers would be coming on board.
The best hosts pride themselves on minimum downtime. It still happens, but the best hosts make it top priority to get websites back up fast should any outage happen.
These hosts charge for that service, however. But for a business the cost is small compared to the cost of downtime.
The Comfort Of Service
Finally, hosting is a scary thing for most people. Even if you know something about how websites work the hosting side of it can be intimidating. I know it is for me.
It’s a helpless feeling when something goes wrong with your website and it’s hosting-related. You’re kind of at the mercy of the host to fix the issue.
And that’s where the comfort of great customer support and service comes in with your host. Knowing that you can reach out and hear back quickly (same day or within a couple hours) is amazing.
Again, as with speed and downtime, service comes at an extra charge, but the cost is well worth it in all three instances.
Conclusion
If you’re just starting out I think it’s just fine to go with a basic website hosting plan. That’s what I’ve done with websites and I’ve actually had good success lately with Go Daddy and their WordPress hosting.
But for businesses that are growing and mature and that depend on their website I think it’s important to invest in better hosting. Most hosts offer premium services and hosting plans. Some offer specific hosting for the website system you’re using. For me it’s WordPress so I go with a WordPress specializing host for my most important business.
Don’t overlook the importance of hosting for your business. Investing in premium hosting could be one of the best investments you make for your growing or mature business.
