This is a guest post by Saud Razzak. If you’d like to contribute to our blog, feel free to get in touch with us.
When one wants to create a WooCommerce store, its hosting is often considered a logistical requirement. And unfortunately, this point rarely has the interest it deserves from store owners.
However, the choice of hosting a website is quite crucial, since it has a direct impact on your business.
Therefore, if things are not going well, you should switch your WooCommerce hosting when you see any of these 7 signs:
#1 Support Is Not Customer-Centric
Each web host has one or more support options. Check the Customer Support or Service section. This is important because if your hosting goes kaput and your site is idle for a period of time, the risk of losing visitors will be great (if the period is 2 weeks, for example). Technical support is one of the most important factors, if not the most important. Check the hosting’s customer service channels. Being able to talk on the phone with someone is the best method. Online email support is usually a good option too. If the only way is a discussion forum, your problem may not be resolved for several days.
#2 Negative Reviews from Clients
Read reviews about the company’s service and reputation. Read the most recent reviews to see if people have problems with this host or not. Be careful, many sites that include comments on web hosting companies are run by the companies themselves to make more money with those who refer them. Most reviews on the company’s forum can only be positive because it has probably removed all negative messages. Look for advantages and disadvantages, testimonials on the Internet, or the rate of satisfaction of users. Check their (the web hosts) Facebook page or Twitter. Do they take time to solve a problem? How long does it take approximately? How do they work?
#3 Devious Pricing and Plans
Check the storage space that the host offers for your site. This includes web pages, images, videos, databases and other content. If you do not have a lot of content that takes up a lot of space, you will not need much in terms of data storage. However, a typical website is less than 100 MB. Many companies will mention that storage is unlimited, but that can only be tested if you have a content-rich site. Note that if there is not enough space, the servers can be overused, which decreases the performance of the server and the speed of the site.
#4 No SSL Support
If you plan to sell goods or services through your website, you may need to know if the web host allows you to configure an SSL certificate (a secure server). You’ve probably seen this on other sites where their web address starts with an “https://” instead of “http://”. This set up will normally involve additional charges or a more expensive package. Today, most hosts offer you to define an SSL certificate to your domain name for free, provided they are a partner of Let’s Encrypt, an organization responsible for issuing and generating free SSL certificates.
#5 Unreliable
If the web host is reliable and fast, it should guarantee its uptime (the moment it is functional). Look for a minimum uptime of 99%. In fact, even 99% is too low, it should really be 99.5% or more.
The host must provide some sort of refund if it falls below this figure. Note that the guarantees are often difficult to apply to your favor, especially if the host denies that there was downtime. However, without this guarantee, the web host will have little incentive to make sure his servers are running all the time.
#6 False Advertising
For the same reason as uptime, pay attention also to “unlimited disk space” offers. Many new sites (that do not host videos or music) need less than 20 MB of web space, know that you are unlikely to use this space, so do not let the 100 GB of Space become a factor too big in your consideration when comparing with other web hosts. The hosting company is also aware of what is the reason why they feel free to offer you this offer for you to encourage them to join one of their offers.
#7 Lacks Global Data Centers
The location of the servers directly affects the speed of loading and data protection. So choose a host in an area close to your visitors (so that your site loads faster) and in a country that provides sufficient protection of hosted data.
Here my sermon is over! Now you know when to switch your WooCommerce hosting provider. Would you like to mention any other signs? Do share in the comment section below.
About the Author
Saud Razzak is the WordPress Community Manager at Cloudways – A Managed WooCommerce Hosting Platform. Saud loves creating a buzz, spreading knowledge, and educating people around the globe about WordPress. In his free time, he likes to play cricket and learn new things on the Internet. Follow him on Twitter @hmsaudrazzak
