Several businesses today appreciates technology and are incoporating it in their daily business life so as to professionalise their work.
For websites to work they need to be hosted by hosting service providers and it sometimes comes with challenges which can significantly cost a business.
The challenges can have huge implications on the business if downtime and other issues cannot be fixed on time.
For a would be website owner, or those already owning one, should read this writeup so as to get an insight in some of the challenges that might be faced and find out a recourse to the challenges.
What is Web Hosting?
Web hosting is a service that allows organisations and individuals to post a website or web page onto the Internet.
A web host, or web hosting service provider, is a business that provides the technologies and services needed for the website or webpage to be viewed on the Internet.
When internet users want to view your website, all they need to do is type your website address or domain into their browser.
Their computer will then connect to your server and your webpages will be delivered to them through the browser.
Challenges of Web Hosting
- Downtime and Server Errors
- Lack of Help and Support
- Slow Loading speeds
- Security and PCI complaince
- Limited Resources: Shared hosting and high traffic
Many business do not have qualified personnel who handle their website business, though it normally depends with the type of business, Public Relations Officers normally attend to website business.
In some sole owned businesses, the owner does everything upto the updating of the website.
These people lack technical know how of operating the website and this write up seek to fill in the knowledge gap so that everyone can know what challenges to expect and how to address most repeat challenges.
Downtime
This is a killer when it comes to establishing a reliable website in the eyes of the audience and Google’s algorithm.
The best way to handle downtime is to pick a web hosting provider with a high rate of uptime.
Uptime rate need to be monitored rigorously. If it is enabled one can see individual site’s statistics and notification alert can be set to alert onself of any downtime.
Industry uptime recommended rate is 99.9 percent.
It is prudent to find web hosting companies that promise industrial uptime rate.
Slow Loading Speeds
To see your wage speed, you head to Page speed insights and enter your page URL, a diagnostic will be run and advice will be made on areas ofsecurity and performance improvement.
Limited Resources
Limited resources lead to a shared hosting plan and this will impact the website when the traffic increases.
Many people start new websites mainly on a shared hosting plan since it is the cheapest type of hosting to get a site online.
However, shared hosting is most limited and can cause problems when the website start to gain high levels of traffic.
When a site is lagging or crushing it might because the sitr has outgrown its hosting plan.
SSL and PCI Compliance
It is important to get SSL certificate which encrypts information passing through the website which includes payment and login details.
Payment Card Industry (PCI) is a Data Security Standard mandatory set of strict security measures designed to safeguard cardholder data on any websites where it is being shared.
Another way to safe guard a site is through using third party payment provider, such as paypal or stripe. These handle all PCI compliance for customers as they take a cut of the transaction in exchange for facilitating the transaction.
Lack of Help and Support
It is important to opt for hosting providers which offers 24/7 support live web chat, email support tickets and other key help features.
Good hosting provider offers good quality level of support when things do not go according to plan.
It is challenging when you are trying to resolve technical issues on your own.
It becomes more stressful when you are struggling to contact the web host or its centre.
The solution
When you seldomly find assistance from the support team it is imparative that you switch website hosting service providers.
The solution is hidden in finding out whether the web hosting service providers you intend to swith to or which you intend to engage; if they have a clear spelt plan to some of the challenges outlined above.