People often focus on design, content, and functionality when building a website. However, behind the scenes, one key factor determines your site’s success: your hosting provider. From emerging businesses to companies that have been in the industry for decades, the right hosting company can make or break your website’s performance, security, and scalability.
If you are looking for a new hosting company and want to know what to look for in these providers, keep reading.
1. Fast Loading Time
Web visitors are often put off by websites that struggle to load. If your pages take over a few seconds to load, they may leave. This quick turnaround impacts not only how well your site ranks but also your bottom line. If you want to ensure a low bounce rate, generally below 40%, for your website, you should work with a hosting company that can guarantee your website loads quickly when visitors select a link.
2. Strong Security Measures
Security breaches can be a nightmare, especially if you work in the medical field and want to protect digital documentation. When you choose to work with a reliable hosting company, you can trust they take proper security precautions, including firewalls and malware protection, to protect your websites from potential hackers. With cyber threats on the rise, you can trust that a dependable company will keep your information and the information provided by web visitors safe from prying eyes.
3. Scalability for a Growing Company
While you may start out as a smaller company, you want to work with a hosting company that is equipped to handle you at any stage in your growth. As your business or website traffic grows, you’ll need a hosting solution that can scale with you. High-quality providers offer flexible plans and resources to accommodate increased traffic without causing downtime or performance issues. If your company cannot provide these accommodations, you may have to deal with transitioning once your business grows, which can be difficult.
4. Technical Support
Even if you have experience taking care of your website on your own, working with a hosting company can protect you when things go awry. Even the most tech-savvy website owners encounter occasional issues. The best hosting companies provide 24/7 support through multiple channels, such as chat, email, or phone. This ensures that any problems are resolved quickly, minimizing disruption to your business. As mentioned above, this quick recovery is essential for protecting your bottom line and bounce rates.
5. Cost vs. Value
When you start your website, the capabilities of a free hosting service may be sufficient to meet your needs. However, as your website and company begin to grow, these free services may no longer be adequate. These free services often come with limited resources, poor support, and unreliable performance, which won’t work for larger websites. Investing in a quality hosting company might cost more upfront, but it provides long-term value through consistent performance, security, and scalability.
6. Frequent Backups
A reliable hosting company will frequently back up your website, ensuring your data is secure and recoverable. Regular backups protect your site from unexpected issues such as hacking, server crashes, or accidental deletions. If something goes wrong, you can quickly restore your website to its previous state, minimizing downtime and data loss. This peace of mind allows you to focus on growing your online presence without worrying about catastrophic setbacks or losing valuable content.
7. Reputation Matters
When choosing a hosting company for your website, reputation is incredibly important. A company’s track record speaks volumes for what you can expect from them for your website. When shopping for a new company, look for reviews, testimonials, and industry awards to gauge a provider’s reliability and customer satisfaction. Trustworthy hosting companies have a reputation for delivering on their promises. If you see plenty of positive reviews from their clients, you can trust that they’ll also be reliable for you.
8. Alerts When Your Website is Down
If your website is down, the last thing you want to discover is that it was down for hours or days on end. If you want to avoid this downtime, you need to work with a hosting company that monitors your website and gets alerts when things aren’t working properly. Not only will this save you time and frustration, but it also plays a major role in how well your website ranks on search engines, boosting your overall SEO.
Choose PDM as Your Hosting Company
Your hosting company is the backbone of your website’s success. Choosing a reputable hosting company ensures reliability, security, and scalability, laying a solid foundation for your online presence. Don’t settle for less—invest in hosting from Performance Driven Marketing that supports your goals and delivers the performance your audience expects.
Our expert team will help you every step of the way. From designing and developing your website to ensuring it runs smoothly, we can do it all. Once you’re online, we’ll also ensure your website stands out among the competition with our expert SEO services. When you’re ready to make an investment in your website, contact us for support.