Is Your Web Hosting Provider Killing Your Business?

If you have a store and you decided to run it like a bit of a fool, you have nobody to blame for your failure but yourself. However, when it comes to running an online store or business of any kind, you’re somewhat at the mercy of a third-party that could very well make or break all it is you’re striving for. After all, the most exceptional website ever created is of little to no use if you can’t access it or use it, thanks to a crappy hosting company.So from time to time it’s a good idea to take stock of what’s being handed to you and work out whether or not it might be in your best interests to switch.       Flawed ReliabilityThese days, reliability should be somewhere on the borderline between flawless and so-close-to-flawless-it’s-not-worth-mentioning. Would you allow someone to keep popping around and locking the door to your store from time to time, after first booting everyone out of the door? Of course you wouldn’t, so don’t make the same mistake with your hosting partnerships either.Customer DisserviceEven if they at least seem to be providing you with a winning overall hosting package, it will eventually come to nothing if the customer service they offer is rubbish. It’s inevitable that there will eventually be a question to ask, a problem to solve or a nugget of advice needed, which in the case of hosting providers with poor customer service is far too much to ask.Poor CompatibilityIt’s a painful prospect to face, but as your site grows and expands there’s every possibility that it might no longer be suitable for the hosting provider you started with. For a million and one reasons of compatibility or otherwise, you must remember that if two puzzle pieces don’t fit together, there’s no sense in forcing them.Poor SecurityEven the world’s biggest brands struggle to rebuild their reputations following a security breach – what chance do you reckon you’d have? It’s all well and good to ignore a distinct lack of site security until something goes wrong…by which time it’s too late and your business is toast.Poor PerformanceThe only thing as dangerous for your online business as downtime is a site with pages that are so painfully slow to load, nobody’s going to bother sticking around. Once they’ve seen your site as slow-running, it’s unlikely they will ever bother coming back and chances are they’ll advise their buddies to stay away too. Slow page loading is annoying like nothing else on Earth – are you sure you’re not being dealt a bad hand by your hosting company?Standout AdditionsAnd finally, ask yourself whether you can pick out any specific standout traits about the hosting provider that keep you happy and make you stick around. No matter what it is – ease of use, low prices, excellent staff – there should be at least something that stands them head and shoulders above others. So if you ask yourself the question and can’t answer it, you have your answer right there!