Most of us know that a good website’s design enhances the user experience. So yes, the design has to be attractive. What most non-tech people do not know is that web hosting also contributes to user experience.
Sometimes, web developers and designers do not bother asking their clients about their web hosting preferences. However, they must understand that the decisions clients take before hiring them are equally important. Not only does web hosting impact user experiences, but it also impacts how you design your client’s website.
How Web Hosting Contributes To Building User Experience
Yes, anything that happens on websites improves or worsens the user experience. But not all of this is visible on the website. Hosting works beneath the surface and also plays its part.
Let’s check some ways hosting influences user experience.
Good Web Hosting Provides High Speed
Yes, speed is an essential yet overlooked parameter from a beginner’s perspective. In the early stages, web admins also ignore the website’s speed. It leads to huge trouble when the website starts receiving traffic. Websites have to struggle a lot when that inevitable time comes.
Speed is the first thing that anyone notices when they open the website. According to surveys, the majority of users abandon a page if it takes more than three seconds to load.
And speed has a lot to do with the website hosting provider. Other than user experience, speed can also affect search engine rankings. If you expect significant traffic, never make the mistake of opting for shared hosting. You should either opt for WordPress hosting UK or cloud hosting in that case.
SSL Has To Be There
It is 2022, and end-users are smart enough to understand SSL. Their first impression of any website is terrible when they see an insecure error or warning. Think of it as a red flag, and discuss it with your provider.
Most of them offer free SSL these days. It is also a search engine ranking factor and not just a way to gain clients’ trust. Contact your hosting provider.
You Might Also Like to Read : Benefits of Using a Managed WordPress Hosting in 2022
Good Provider Provides Good Uptime
Websites are not all up and running every time. Sometimes they are down for technical error, and sometimes maintenance. Whichever is the case, a good hosting provider always guarantees at least 99.9% uptime.
Downtime can destroy your reputation as a business or as a brand. Also, you lose revenue for every second you are down. After frequent downtime or outages, customers will start associating your brand with downtimes as they remember your website as a sluggish one.
They definitely want to buy something or retrieve some information. Simply put, if you do not fulfill their need, someone else will.
So be very careful while choosing the hosting provider. Read customer reviews and opt for the one that shows proven uptime records.
Again, downtime is also bad for SEO. Search engines instantly notice downtimes and take them into account while ranking the website.
Security
Your hosting provider also influences your security, just like the software you use. For example, incompetent providers would provide you with incapable servers that cannot handle attacks.
In fact, hosting providers are responsible for handling cyberattacks and implementing proper cyber security techniques. Servers crash when they can’t handle a cyberattack, and the website becomes inaccessible for users.
Also, not every attack will lead to downtime. Sometimes, threat actors will break into your website and hack it. For sure, you don’t want your customers to go to the hacked site.
If you are a developer using unmanaged hosting, you must ensure that your servers are secure. On the other hand, if you are using managed hosting, make sure you have wisely selected your hosting provider. If they do not offer updates, you must keep your software updated.
Disallowed Software
If you plan to try a new CMS or a new plugin on the same CMS, reach out to your hosting provider. They may have a list of plugins and tools that they do not support, and your intended tool or plugin is also part of the list. However, if you have chosen a plugin with simple features, you are in a safe zone. Most hosting providers allow them.
But there are chances that you need to use a complex plugin that calls for access to other services like SMTP or FTP. There is a possibility that your web host doesn’t support it. Imagine the consequences of discovering such errors after paying your hosting provider. So if using any non-popular CMS is on your task list, make sure your hosting provider is compatible before purchase.
Customer Service & Support is Necessary
Many things can go wrong on your website, all of which influence user experience. Worse is when you are unable to address the issues fast enough. Website hosting with poor customer support could destroy your business.
If you are not a tech geek, the hosting provider is your only hope. They must take responsibility for maintenance and addressing bugs on your website.
Yes, it is critical to have a hosting provider who addresses the issue right the moment you reach out. However, this is not the only parameter you should look for during your selection.
However, the ideal web hosting is the one that proactively resolves issues. So if they foresee the increase in your traffic and ask you to upgrade, never let them go.
Backup & Recovery
What is the worst that can happen with your website? Any catastrophic system failure or a data breach can completely crash your website. We know how badly downtime annoys consumers.
A good provider can tackle this as well. An ideal hosting provider always has a backup of the current version of your website. So even if it crashes after an update or a patch or anything similar, they can restore it to its previous version.
The Final Verdict
So quality web hosting is critical for user experience. We provide quality web hosting services with feature-rich plans at TheEmailShop.
