If you are thinking of upgrading your hosting, congratulations, it sounds like your website is a success!

Most companies look to upgrade their website when it is not running as smoothly as usual due to an increase in traffic. Upgrades are also made when there is too much content and not enough space to hold it.

When first starting out, it is common to use a shared hosting platform. Shared hosting has major perks, but when your website starts becoming too much for the server, crashes and other problems will start to take over.

So what is next?

What Type of Hosting Should I look for?

With many different kinds of servers, it can be hard to find the right fit for your website. By learning the different kinds of hosting, it will be easier to find the right level your website is at.

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is perfect for anybody just starting out.

Simply put, shared hosting means that your website, among others, is hosted on one server. One server is running multiple websites.

This type of plan is great because it is cheap, you can upgrade as you need it, and is one of the easiest and most common forms of hosting. This is why so many people use services like WordPress or GoDaddy.

Shared hosting is great for any website that is just starting out. But if you are thinking about needing any sorts of upgrades, it is time to look further.

If you would like to learn more about WordPress’s shared hosting, please read: Is Managed WordPress Hosting Worth It?

Virtual private server (VPS) hosting

VPS hosting, or a virtual private server, is a middle ground between shared hosting and having dedicated servers.

Even though others are on the same server, everyone is reserved a limited amount of space.

If you are upgrading from a shared hosting plan, you will be getting more space to customize and control your website. If you are looking for more specific software or upgrades within packages, upgrading to a VPS might be your best option. Here’s a great guide to some of the best VPS hosting services.

Because VPS has other websites on the same server, if one website is booming with traffic, it could affect the performance of the other websites on the server.

If you are still worried about your website not being able to handle traffic, or if your performance is still not at the level you want, try looking into a dedicated server.

Dedicated Servers

Having a dedicated server is exactly what it sounds like. Your server is exclusively owned and used for your website.

This is awesome because you are in complete control of the operating system, security, and everything else. The only catch is that it takes advanced skills to be able to operate at this level.

If a dedicated server seems like something your website needs, do some research on companies who could host your server and help your website operate at that high of a level.

When is it time to upgrade?

Knowing the types of servers is important but none of that matters if you don’t know why you need to upgrade.

Performance is slow

Nothing deters a customer faster than a slow website.

No, really! Maile Ohye, Tech lead at Google, says two seconds is the acceptable wait time for a page to load. After that, you will see a dramatic decrease in users.

There are many different things that can contribute to page loading speeds but if you notice that it’s becoming a serious issue, it might have to do with the bandwidth of your server.

Do not let people be deterred from your website just because it doesn’t load fast enough. Make sure your server is able to hold all your traffic.

If you would like to read more about hosting and overall website maintenance, please read: Maintenance Tips For Your ECommerce Site

Too much downtime

Downtime, or site outages, mean that the customer can search your website, but nothing is loading.

Not only does this take a big hit to sales, but it also speaks to the reputation of the website.

Your website should spend 99% of its time up and running. If anything about that is different, that means it is definitely time for you to upgrade your hosting plan.

There are security concerns

The best servers will make sure that security is a top priority.

Unfortunately as your site grows, it will become a bigger target for security threats. So make sure you are taking the adequate steps needed in order to secure your website.

Hosting plans typically offer upgrades that will help with security. If however, you’ve invested in these and are still experiencing issues, it is probably best to upgrade servers.

If you’d like to know more about security when using WordPress as a host, check out Top 10 WordPress Security Hacks To Keep Your Website Safe.

Hosting Features are getting too expensive

If you are paying extra for hosting features, they should be an investment that is continually making up for itself.

If you find that your features are becoming too expensive, you probably just need to upgrade your hosting situation instead.

You are expanding your domain

If you find yourself in a position where you’re needing to expand your website into multiple domains, congratulations, that absolutely calls for a new hosting situation.

In this case, you are probably going to need your own dedicated servers and will need a team of people making sure that everything is running smooth as silk 100% of the time.

If this sounds like something you are interested in looking into, reach out to us today and we can discuss the process of having your own server.

Looking to switch servers?

If you are thinking about starting the upgrade process, find the kind of hosting you think is best for your website and find a plan that best suits your website’s needs.

Finding the perfect hosting plan for your website can be a trying process, so if you think you need a dedicated server or help picking out the right plan for your website, don’t be afraid to reach out.

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