Your web server is an essential part of your online experience. When you’re using a web server that doesn’t have your best interest in mind, you could end up with a website that lags, suffers from DDoS attacks, or even prevents potential customers from visiting your site.
Of course, when you’re not familiar with web server hosting, it can be challenging to determine what exactly makes a great web server host, to begin with. To help you make the right decision for your company website, here are three of the most common mistakes business owners make when choosing a web server host.
Mistake #1: Ignoring Physical Distance
The physical distance between your company and your web server host is one of the top three factors that impact latency. Latency refers to the amount of time it takes for your website’s data to be received by the server. Significant physical distance and network distance can negatively affect your bandwidth capacity, leading to slow load times and lagging.
Considering online users will leave a website within 10 to 20 seconds if the website hasn’t loaded, it’s important that the webserver host you choose has the lowest latency possible. Your web server host ought to be close by or have multiple locations across the country with one or more locations near you. They also need to have a high bandwidth capacity and a short network distance.
Mistake #2: Not Considering DDoS Protection
As a business owner, you know how important it is to make sure that your cybersecurity is up to snuff. The last thing you want is for your customers to feel that their data and information aren’t safe with your company. However, hackers aren’t the only ones that can put your business at risk when it comes to your website. DDoS attacks, or Distributed Denial-of-Service attacks, are a common cybersecurity problem. Approximately 35% of surveyed companies report dealing with a DDoS attack in the last year, and cyberattacks have only increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. Even Amazon recently had to defend itself against a DDoS attack with a peak traffic volume of 2.3 Tbps, the largest ever recorded.
A DDoS attack takes place when a network of infected machines called a botnet attempt to overwhelm your web server with false requests to visit your website. Think of it like multiple ghosts attempting to flag down a taxi. When too many false requests come through to visit the website, it can prevent the server from allowing access to the website for real customers. This can keep customers from doing business with you and may even send them to another company. That said, be sure when you’re choosing a web server host that not only offers DDoS protection but also does so for free.
Mistake #3: Forgiving Poor Customer Service
As a business owner, you know how important it is to provide quality customer service to your customers. If you’re using a web server host that’s slow to respond to your needs, then you can only imagine what might happen when you need to contact your web server host when there’s a real emergency such as a DDoS attack or your website crashing.
You want to make sure that you choose a web server host that gets back to your call at least within an hour and can guarantee you quality customer service. If you forgive poor customer service in a time when there isn’t an emergency, you’ll regret it when there is one.
It can be challenging to find a great web server host when you’re not sure what to look for. Fortunately, by avoiding the mistakes above, you can be sure to find a quality web server host for your business, so your website stays up and running efficiently.