As we all know, the amount of time a website is out of action has countless business repercussions for site owners, including – but not limited to – losing customers and revenue.
When a website crashes, whether that is due to a sudden increase in traffic or a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, digital campaigns suffer – after all, downtime is downtime, no matter the cause. As a digital marketer, this loss of service reflects badly on your ability to provide a campaign that can consistently deliver and build a positive brand reputation – through no fault of your own.
With the success of a campaign so reliant on the technology behind it, digital marketers need to begin thinking about the tech that they rely on. The best way to ensure that a website stays fully functional is to employ a specialist web hosting service. However, choosing the right web service for your business or client is vital as improper hosting can lead to extended periods of costly downtime.
Website failures such as the infamous Glastonbury crash in 2016, are perfect examples of sub-par hosting. While established brands such as Glastonbury can absorb the impact of extended downtime – for many businesses this simply isn’t the case. As a digital marketer, choosing the right hosting solution can save you and your client from facing the consequences of website downtime.
What is reliable hosting?
A reliable hosting solution should be able to offer a high-performance blend of scalability, security and superior customer service.
Scalability
This is a key factor in ensuring that your creative designs remain online and functioning at all times. Any website that experiences spikes in traffic is at risk of website collapse – particularly at peak times of year. For example, retailers need to be prepared for events such as Black Friday or the Christmas season, as any downtime can have serious consequences for their business. In order to tackle this problem, it is vital that a hosting provider can cope with this ebb and flow of website traffic. Rather than erring on the side of caution and paying extensively for large amounts of data at all times, find a provider that can offer scalable data options. This means that during peak times of year, a server can be swelled to allow for increased traffic, and reduced after the peak dies down. This scalable functionality can be fine tuned even further – companies can plan their hosting needs around key campaigns that will drive extra traffic to its site. Ultimately this results in maximum uptime for the website and maximum exposure for your brand campaign.
Security
In the last 12 months hacking scandals have hit the headlines constantly. For some sites that may be taking personal customer information, using a hosting service that can offer a high level of data security is key. However, hacking isn’t just limited to the stealing of personal information. In the case of DDoS attacks, a website is flooded with data that is sent simultaneously, and will cause a website to crash – again costing precious uptime. Hosts play a vital, proactive role in ensuring website security. By using a hosting company that specialises in protection against these attacks, it will give you peace of mind that the website will stay online and functioning 99.9% of the time.
Service
When choosing a hosting provider it is imperative that you think carefully about your needs. If your main concern is price, there are plenty of hosts that can provide this service. However, if your requirements are more demanding, likely to vary or you need to make changes quickly, find a host with a greater emphasis on service. Even the most protected and prepared website can experience difficulties, but these difficulties are minimised when you have a team of dedicated professionals there to help you – 24/7. This high-quality customer service can also help you prepare for future needs, by looking at how a website is performing and then tailoring the service you receive directly to those needs – helping minimise cost and improve efficiency.
Though technical support is important - it is also worth noting that ‘service’ extends to more than just a helpdesk. It is important that the provider you select also has experience in your market, in order to fully understand what hosting the website needs. The best way to assess this is by looking into how your potential provider caters to current clients. In choosing a hosting partner, looking at a provider’s track record and customer references is a great way to see the level of service you are likely to experience.
As a digital marketer, web hosting is key part of your success. The way a website performs directly impacts how a creative campaign is delivered and received by both your client and the end user. By investing in high-quality hosting that provides scalability, security and fantastic customer service you are ensuring that your campaign achieves everything that you have designed it for – ultimately delivering impressive results for both you and your client.
By Jon Lucas, director at Hyve Managed Hosting
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