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It’s a digital world, there’s no denying it. And because everyone and their business is online, it’s pretty important to optimize your online presence for your goals. It doesn’t matter if you’re a blogger, an entrepreneur, a creative, or a business owner, your website is your digital face.
You can design the most attractive website you want, but it’s not going to be all that effective unless it’s got a good web host behind it. Excellent web hosting isn’t just a good idea—it’s a necessity! Here’s why.
#1. Round-the-Clock Accessibility
Web servers work around the clock, but a good web host makes sure that your website doesn’t fall off the face of the internet when things get busy. Downtime is a real problem with poor web hosts, and if someone swings by your website and finds it unavailable, you’ll miss out on potential business.
A great website host keeps your site up and running for 99.9% of the time (or more). Constant accessibility means people can get on your site at any time, no matter where in the world they are (or you are).
#2. Faster Website Loading Speed
Speed is king on the internet! Slow sites will just fall behind because more than half of your visitors will close the page if it hasn’t loaded within just 3 seconds. So if you want to keep your visitors happy, choose a host that keeps your site speedy.
You can take certain steps yourself to boost your site speed, but your chosen host can make or break those actions. With a fast web host on your side, you’re much more likely to avoid the slow-trap that sends visitors packing.
#3. Improves Your Search Engine Ranking
If SEO and ranking are important to you, especially if you’re after organic traffic, then your web host can actually make quite a difference. If your host helps you to optimize the user experience by, say, speeding up your site and using a CDN to host files, search engines are likely to give you brownie points and rank you higher.
A great website host will also offer a bunch of handy tools to help you optimize your site for SEO, like site maps, customizable metadata, and plugins, to name a few.
#4. Grow Your Business
It doesn’t matter what kind of business or website you have, you obviously want to grow. Now the web host you choose can either help you reach your goals… Or it can hamper you along the way.
You want a web host that keeps your website up and running (ie. open for business) as often as possible and grows with you. Your web host is kind of like your business partner online—its actions can either help your business grow or cause it to stagnate.
#5. Effective Data Management
Managing your own data can be a tricky affair. Everything from customer information to product catalogs has data that’s constantly changing, and if you don’t know how to keep it all in line, well… Things can get a bit out of hand.
Web hosts will usually offer databases and tools to help you organize all that info in an easy, accessible, and understandable way. This can be a lifesaver for businesses, especially those that need on-the-go and dynamic data/content management.
#6. Data Security and Backups
The scary thing with online thieves and thugs is that you don’t even see them coming, so you can’t defend yourself against them. Which is why your web host is your perfect security detail.
Good hosts put a range of security measures into place to deter would-be hackers and attackers. Great hosts will perform regular audits and tests to make sure they’re keeping up to date with the latest cybercrime methods and finding ways to block them.
Without a good website host, you’d need to do all this on your own… Which isn’t just difficult and complicated but it’s time-consuming as well.
#7. Backed by Technical Support
Most of us aren’t tech experts, so how are we expected to do all the technical ins and outs that go into hosting a website? But good web hosts have knowledgeable people in the background who are ready and waiting to assist you with troubleshooting.
Knowing you have tech backup means you can rest your mind and know that if something does happen, you’ve got a team of experts waiting to help. You can focus on the things you know and enjoy and let them deal with the tricky things.
#8. Seamless Integration and E-commerce Features
With good hosting, there’s no need to delve into the nitty-gritty of integrating your site with e-commerce platforms. Your host will do all that stuff for you, so you can just pop in and set up your online store to your liking.
Many web hosting companies also have specific e-commerce features they can offer when you sign up, which will save you a ton of time (and money) having to find and integrate other external tools.
#9. Custom Domain and Professional Image
A custom domain name goes a long way toward making you seem professional. Whatever your biz, you don’t really want to have an add-on in your site URL (like mywebsite.wordpress.com).
A custom domain enhances your pro status but also makes you look a whole lot more credible. Most web hosts offer custom domains and will also help you to link them up to your site effortlessly.
#10. Cost-Effectiveness
When you consider all the benefits you get from GOOD web hosting, it’s easy to see why it’s worth the cost. You can find a huge array of different hosts in different price ranges, but it’s hard to put a price on knowing your website is secure, speedy, available to visitors, and running smoothly 99.9% of the time.
Conclusion
Web hosting is just part of every online business, but the difference between GOOD web hosting and BAD website hosting could be the difference between your business growing and dying.
Don’t neglect your web host or think it’s not important! Put some thought into it, analyze your own needs, and compare web hosts so you’re sure that yours is the right one for you. Trust us, you’ll thank yourself later.
About the Author
Paul Wheeler runs a web design agency that helps small businesses optimize their websites for business success. He aims to educate business owners on all things website-related at his own website, Reviews for Website Hosting.