You’ve invested time, money, and plenty of other resources into your website. Your branding is impeccable, and you’ve successfully launched a beautifully designed website. In addition to all of these factors, have you addressed the web hosting platform that your site is built on? Is it scalable? Simple to use? Secure? Easy to make staging updates when necessary? If there are issues, are resources and responsive customer support readily available?
Your website is one of the most important tools your business has in communicating to your customers and informing the world about what you do. In many cases, it IS the way you do business. Don’t let web hosting issues negate all the work that you have put into your brand or online store.
Web Hosting Defined
Websites need a place to ‘live’ and web hosting is the service that provides the infrastructure for your site to store all its content and effectively share it with people around the world.
Every site has its own set of hosting requirements, and having a knowledgeable web development partner helps navigate the particular needs of your hosting setup.
What’s Right for My Business?
With all the features that various web hosts offer, it’s hard to know where to begin. Not to mention, hosting can get very expensive. So, what’s the sweet spot for your business?
From disc space and bandwidth, to ssl’s, cdn’s and more, web hosts offer a ton of features. In addition, there are many types of hosts. Each company has to decide whether they need a shared, reseller, vps, cloud, or dedicated hosting account.
Here is a sample list of important considerations to make when choosing a web host:
- SSL’s (These are necessary for site security, ranking, and trustworthiness)
- DNS Management (DNS issues can cause havoc on a website without proper hosting)
- Site/Hosting Security (Hackers are a legitimate threat to websites and each host has it’s own set of precautions that they take to prevent and fix sites that have been subjected to hacks/malware/etc.)
- Cost (Depending on the needs of a site, you can spend $5/mo or $500+/mo)
- Backups (How often are they made and is it easy to restore as needed?)
- Staging (What is the process for creating and launching staging changes?)
- CDN Functionality (When it comes to load times, CDN’s help servers get content to a user as fast as possible)
- Site Speed (Considering 1/4 of users will abandon sites that take longer than a few seconds to load, site speed optimization is a must when choosing a host)
- Caching Options (Caching options vary considerably from host to host, and can be very helpful for site performance/speed when done properly))
- Uptime (If your website isn’t hosted properly, you may have recurring issues with your site not being available to users)
- Server Space (How much ‘room’ do you need for all your site files?)
- Traffic/Bandwidth (Site hosting becomes much more important when traffic is a big part of your business model)
- Support (Some hosts have very knowledgeable support staff available 24/7, while others only have chat functionality or barely any support to speak of)
- Malware Protection and Removal (When security issues do come up, a good host can help minimize the damage considerably)
- Email Accounts (Some hosts offer no email management, while others make it a priority)
- Domain Management (Not every web host offers the ability to purchase or own domains)
Peace of Mind
What is your plan when something unexpected happens with your website? For anyone that has experienced a hacked or broken website, it’s easy to recall the feeling in the pit of your stomach. Compromised websites can lose revenue, negatively impact the trustworthiness/perception of your brand, or worse: endanger visitors and any sensitive information being used on the site.
Keeping data safe and sites secure is a huge part of why a reliable web host is essential for any brand. Every day, 10’s of thousands of sites get hacked. Having a quality web host plays a big role in being proactive to prevent hacks and quickly resolved issues if they ever occur.
Trust plays more and more of a role in online purchasing and content consumption. By making site security a priority, you’re making a very pragmatic and worthwhile investment in your brand.
The Best Defense is a Good Offense
Considering your website is one of the most crucial ways to establish your brand online, sell goods/services, and communicate to users, having a proper strategy in place for hosting is a must. From keeping SSL’s current, updating plugins, monitoring login attempts, and tracking user activity, there are a lot of factors that go into keeping a website humming along efficiently and making conversions.
The ability to quickly and seamlessly create, edit, and launch website changes and staging updates is not always the top priority for companies. However, when the time comes, this process has got to be user friendly and efficient without affecting the uptime of the live site. Staging functionality is paramount for the majority of brands. The difference between a quality host and a cheap alternative can be quite drastic. Basic website updates and testing can either be a simple process or an incredibly tedious and arduous one depending on the type of hosting you have
Being forward thinking goes a long way, and not every host is created equal. From quality security plugins, proactive hosting infrastructure, managed plugin updates, and one click staging/dev environments, it’s easy to avoid a lot of the hassle that can come with maintaining a website over the life of the brand.
Tayloe/Gray has You Covered
Whether you are an established brand, e-commerce giant, or simply looking for your big launch, Tayloe/Gray will provide peace of mind, stability, and flexibility with our hosting. We are a true partner, and will adapt as your business needs change. Over time, you may need more storage, bandwidth, support, etc, and here at Tayloe/Gray, we’re equipped to provide the level of service that you need.
With our preferred hosting platform, Flywheel, we are able to utilize one-click staging, CDN’s (Fastly) and a 99.9% guaranteed uptime. They provide 24/7 support and use a WordPress managed hosting approach that optimizes our custom sites from all aspects.
For your e-commerce needs, Miva and Shopify span the range of hosting needs you have, from start up to enterprise level.
Let’s Talk
Interested in learning more? Please fill out a Contact Form
Have questions about the what hosting needs you are facing? Email Us
Want to talk about your options? Call Us