This is mainly written for ecommerce website or those that are generating leads.  Websites that have been created mainly to generate traffic for affiliate commissions or SEO strategy can get away with cheaper hosting solutions.  But that said, a faster website will always be preferred by Google!

So, website hosting isn’t very interesting! There is your answer!  (And people go for cheap website hosting followed by forgetting about it!)

When was the last time you logged into your Google Analytics (or Google Search Console) and looked at your stats reports?)

Another non interesting topic and activity for website owners!  These are two bold claims but it is the truth.

To recap the opening.  Business owners pay little attention to website hosting and website vistor statistic.

Very few business owners (website owners) are provided with vital information that would make a massive difference to their choices in website hosting. Another bold claim!  But TRUE.

If business owners were aware of the importance of website server performance and how it can impact on user experience and how Google rates websites maybe it would be a different story.

Seriously why would you pay £1000 a month for website hosting when you can pay £10 ?  If you can see your website, everyone else can and it’s working as it should be, yes ?  No !

Check a couple of simple metrics and read the latest (very consistent) stats on user behaviour.

Simple metric 1, your website bounce rate.  Bounce rate is the user leaving your website on the page they entered.

Simple metric 2, how long did they ‘engage’ with your website before leaving?

Generally website visitors leave because of 2 reasons, often merged into one.

1) they didn’t find what they were looking for and

2) the page did not load fast enough!

When pages load fast, decisions are made quicker and if they dont see exactly what they were looking for there may be something else on the page that ‘interests’ them enough to click to another page before leaving / staying.  This will be dependent on how fast the website is responding to their clicking!

Simple?  Here is something else that is really simple.  Free to cheap hosting = slow !  It’s not a con its a FACT.

Increasng your website speed will without any doubt increase your conversions AND Google will also reward your website with more traffic (if you have good content!).

Its all very simple but for most business owners this is of little interest and for those that are interested they make the decisions that ensure they a) get more traffic and b) win more customers.

 

If you have made it to this point you are statistically more likely to be a freelancer SEO / copy writer, a website developer possibly a business owner! If you are a business owner and you have reached this point you should at the very least want to know why different website hosting makes a difference to your profits.  Businesses have to make a profit! Spending less on website hosting is not saving money.

In fact it is costing your business far more in lost ‘visitor enagagement’ that leads to enquiries and online purchases.  Cheap website hosting does not and have never resulted in increasing traffic and increasing visitor conversions.  It is of course the complete opposite.  Cheap website hosting equates to slow websites, stagnant traffic and low conversions.

Myth Buster – Awesome, fast performing website hosting does not have to be expensive.  In fact very good website hosting can be very affordable.  Both Google and AWS offer cloud solutions that can be scaled when needed.  Network performance isn’t hidden and your resources are very clear to understand.

As a consultant I do not sell website hosting I just advise.  The decision as a business owner or website owner is yours to take.  If your website is failing to increase traffic it may not be soley because of your hosting!  Your content for example generates organic traffic (along with SEO).  If you’re running ads your conversions will be effected by the speed of your website.  There are numerous factors to consider as a business owner.  Rushing off to buy expensive website hosting is NOT and will not turn your website into a cash machine.

Run a few checks before you address hosting.  However, if you are using a shared website server and paying less than £50 a month your website will be part of the problem.

First steps to carry out.  Check your analyics (Google) Check your Google Search console for additional website perfomance reports

Review your traffic and gauge your traffic Low – High

Look at how your website traffic is generated.  Is it paid for ‘keyword search phrases’, organic traffic (active SEO and content cration) or social media.  You may have a mix of campaigns depending on your business.  Local leaflet distribution, flyers, radio ect.  The challenge is knowing from what source your website visitors originated followed by a) did they leave upon arrival or stay around to be converted into a customer?

The speed of your website is importanrt so check your website speed (the server can be the cause of slow speeds but so can your clunky WordPress website!)

Check how many other websites are being hosted in the same servers.  Call your website hosting company and ask them what the server spec is and how it is shared with other websites being hosted with yours.  Contacting any of the new breed of website hosting companies and getting any answers that are remotely close to the truth is slim!

If speed, general performance an security is important to your business and website.  Have no doubt and consider moving to a dedicated AWS Instance !  Call 07872121998 and we can make the move for you.

 

 

 

 

Website & Server Report

I would like a checklist to help make the best decision for my website hosting.