Starting your own blog or website is an exciting process. You have chosen your site topic, picked a unique domain name, and are ready to set up your hosting service. However, navigating the waters of web hosting can be tricky and present oft-unforeseen challenges.
Before you decide on a web host provider, educate yourself on common problems and issues, so you can choose the best service for you based on your individual needs and goals. Here are five common hosting issues bloggers face every day and tips for how you can solve them.
1. Slow Loading Time
One of the most common issues with a web hosting service is slow loading time. Google (and other search engines) use loading time as a ranking factor for the SERPs, this can be a very costly problem for your blog or website––particularly for those who rely on traffic to generate profit and conversions.
We live in a world where instant is a virtue. If your page takes more than a few seconds to boot up, your visitors will go somewhere else to find the information or answers they are looking for.
A slow website can result from a few things. Call your website hosting provider to find out if there is a problem on their end. If not, you may need to modify your site’s elements to reduce your bandwidth usage. Using smaller images, uploading shorter videos, and removing unnecessary gadgets and gizmos that require Flash are all simple ways to speed up your load time.
2. Hacked Account
Website hackers troll the Internet looking for security weaknesses in unsuspecting webpages. This is particularly common for small businesses and people with little technical expertise. While there are several ways to protect your account––through security plugins and other malware guards––a hacked site is still a possible threat.
When choosing a hosting service, be sure they have policies in place to protect your site and regularly update the security software. You should also frequently back up your website in case you need to restore it after a cyber attack. Your website host should be able to provide assistance with this.
Of course, the best way to solve a hacking problem is to prevent one in the first place. Keep your code and security plugins updated; you can even hire a professional penetration tester to review your site’s security and offer recommendations.
3. Unreliable Tech Support
One of the biggest issues with website hosting services is a lack of adequate or reliable tech support. While running a website is easier than ever before, it still has its challenges, and you will certainly have your fair share of issues to solve. Having a reliable tech support team from your hosting provider will be a great boon to you when problems arise.
If you can’t get in touch with customer service during a site downtime or a security breach, you risk not only losing valuable time, but also money and hard-earned rankings in the search engine. Search engines factor in your site’s reliability, so when it is down (or having security problems), your rank can decrease dramatically––even after it is up and running again. Having tech support on your side can minimize these kinds of damages and help you maintain a healthy and functional website.
Avoid the temptation to look only at price when choosing a host provider. Find out if they offer 24/7 tech support, and evaluate reviews and recommendations based on their customer services. The level of their customer support can indicate whether their service will be valuable to you.
4. Site Downtime
As mentioned above, when your site is down you can lose valuable time, money, and SERP rankings. Unfortunately, this kind of problem is common, but luckily it is often easily fixed. Sometimes, downtime is simply the result of a settings change or a coding error. It could also be the result of a problem on the host’s end. Call your webhost provider to discuss the problem, and get step-by-step instructions on how to get your site back up and running.
5. Bandwidth Caps
Many websites run into the problem of too little bandwidth for their pages. Though you may not need much bandwidth to start out, when your site becomes more firmly established and you start to rake in more traffic, if you don’t upgrade your bandwidth, you will risk overloading your site––resulting in downtime.
If your website isn’t optimized for high traffic surges, memory, CPU, and database queries can quickly become overloaded. The best way to combat this issue is to increase your bandwidth services from your hosting provider. Boosting your cap or subscribing to unlimited bandwidth can help you avoid costly site downtimes and improve your visitors’ overall experience on your website.
Hopefully, you won’t encounter any or most of these hosting problems in your blogging experience. But even if you do, the best way to handle them is through prevention and a quality hosting service that can guide you through the issue to a solution. With a little bit of preparation and smart hosting, you and your blog will be ready for success. Happy blogging!
