The importance of web hosting to your digital marketing strategy?

A vital part of running a website, when it comes to the creation of your next site, the reviewing of web hosting options is often overlooked. In fact, we can predict that the web hosting that you choose for your website will be a last thought and rushed decision.

An essential part of the running and functioning of the site, were you aware that your web hosting could be a vital addition within your digital marketing strategy? 

From the speed of your site, the updates that you can make, to the overall uptime of your website.

Keep reading to discover the importance of web hosting and its part within your digital marketing strategy.

What Is Web Hosting? 

For those not yet familiar with web hosting, web hosting is an essential service that is required when hosting and posting a website onto the internet. Conducted through a web hosting company, each company will use their resources to host and store your site on one of their many large computers, known as servers for a monthly fee. 

With your site stored safely on servers, when a browser stumbles across your website and clicks to review your site, their computer will connect to the server, where your site is stored before the requested pages, are sent back and distributed onto their screen.

Apply for Guest Post: Guest Post For Categories like Health, Home and Improvement

Importance of Web Hosting In Your Digital Marketing Strategy?

We have covered the role of web hosting and the part they play when it comes to storing and presenting your site to browsers. But why is web hosting such a vital element of your digital marketing strategy? 

Whether you are building an ecommerce store or a lifestyle blog to discuss the latest health trends, making sure that you are storing your site on a high quality web hosting service is paramount.

From the speed, security to the location of the server, by ensuring that your web hosting is chosen correctly, this can result in more website traffic and revenue over time. 

Speed

Within digital marketing, there is the golden rule that a website should load no slower than 2 seconds. This is due to the ever-changing behaviours of internet users and their short attention span, resulting in the need for a fast loading site.

The web hosting that you choose cloud play a crucial role in the overall speed of your site. A fast web hosting company and a site stored on a server that is not too overcrowded can result in your site loading quicker, than that on a shared server.

Security

We are all aware of the importance of a secure and safe site to ensure the protected transmission of data from server to browser. Along with the site being secured through the addition of HTTPS, a secure server can ensure that all data stored within the computer remains private instead of ending up in the wrong hands.

By using only a trusted company, you can ensure that all vital and private data remains just that, private. 

Location

A key point that is often overlooked, the location of where your server is located can prove important. The server that you choose to place your website on can be seen as an extra validation to Google and another search engines of where your website is located and the audience that it caters to.

There is no point placing a US site on a Russian server. Along with the added load speed required for US visitors when visiting your site, this location difference and the IP address could also affect your SEO rankings caused through the change in location and the slower load speeds. 

What Should You Look For When Searching For Web Hosting?

You have discovered the importance of web hosting, but what should you look for when searching for web hosting? Whether you are contemplating creating a new website or moving the location of your web hosting as your contract comes to an end, keep reading to discover our tip tips on what to look for in a web hosting company.

With hundreds of companies offering what appears to be a similar service, shopping around and making sure that you don't scrimp on the service is key to running a fast, successful website with high user experience. 

            1. Uptime

One of the first things you should look at when reviewing web hosting companies is the reliability and uptime of the hosting. Uptime is referring to the amount of time that the website will be up and accessible online. What is often forgotten about is the need for server maintenance and this can in turn cause your site to be temporarily unavailable and offline. The average uptime is 99.9% and should be a figure that you look for when searching for your next web hosting.

Many companies are so confident in their uptime figure that if they exceed it, they may even reimburse you for any time that your site is inaccessible and offline.

2. Storage

As your website grows and expands over time, so will the amount of space that you require. Another top tip when looking for your next web hosting and that is to review the amount of bandwidth that your site can handle monthly, as well as the amount of storage that you have to play with.

Bandwidth refers to the page views and traffic that your site receives throughout the entire month. You need to ensure that if you were to run a successful seasonal sale that the added influx of visitors to the site would not overwhelm the site can cause it to crash and go offline.

When it comes to the storage, this can be seen in terms of video content and images that are collected over time which could potentially cause the site to slow. Unless you are featuring masses of large filed media, the need to review storage should not be an issue.

3.  Ability To Scale

A lot like the above comment, over time as you develop, so will the need to expand your site. By finding a web hosting company that offers the ability to scale, you can be prepared no matter what the future brings.

When starting out a new site, a simpler share hosting plan is often recommended, but as you develop, expand and grow, the movement to a cloud hosting plan may need to be considered.

By reviewing and checking that this feature is included within your plan can prove valuable if a rapid development of your site is required in future years.

4. Customer Service

We often underestimate the need for reliable customer service until the dreaded time comes where we have to reach out and contact them. One way that you can begin to get a true idea of the quality of service offered by the customer service team and that is to do some research online and read the reviews.

By doing some research you can discover which of the web hosting companies offer only live chat, while the others that allow you to pick up the telephone and call their team, proving valuable in unsure times.

5. Clear Pricing

To fully understand the company and the service that you are signing up for, clear and transparent detailing is key. One of the biggest things to look for and that is the clear communication of the pricing of the service. 

With increases in web hosting commonplace over time, look for a company that makes it clear their prices, but also the different services that they offer. This requirement for clear and transparent information can help prevent any nasty surprises in the future. 

6. Domain Management Tools Available

The final of the top elements to look for when choosing your next web hosting service and that is to review the domain management tools that the company offers. This point to consider is only really relevant for those keen to see their site grow and the possible creation of further domains in the future.

If you are planning the potential creation of new domains and subdomains, have a look around to see if the web hosting offers tools that offer easy domain management. You may discover through the research of domain management tools that your chosen company only offers the ability to add a single domain on the level of service that you have chosen. By researching in the initial stages, you can minimise a costly mistake in the future.

Summary

A vital and important part of your website, the web hosting of a site is often overlooked. Not simply just a location where the website is stored, the web hosting can in fact affect the security, speed and even play a part in the overall location of the site within the SERPs.

When creating a new site or reviewing new web hosting companies, taking the time to search around for the best option can allow you to expand and develop your site over time with minimal headache.

From the uptime of the site to the storage and bandwidth for those seasonal offers that you expect to be a huge success, making sure that your site is ready for potential future measures is essential for success.

Have you followed these recommended tips when choosing your web hosting company, or perhaps you have only just discovered the importance of web hosting for your digital marketing efforts. We would love to hear from you and your experience so feel free to share your experience by commenting below.