What to Expect from your Web Hosting Company’s Server Support
When it comes time to select a web host and build your website, you may feel like you’ve jumped in over your head. Web hosting companies tend to overwhelm their would-be customers with enough technical jargon that they completely miss the fact that they are being overcharged or provided with a sub-par portfolio of web hosting features.
Among the many features that even industry-leading web hosts often gloss over, server support remains a top issue for website administrators across the country. Though the open market is supposed to encourage web hosts to form customer-friendly standards through competition, only a handful of web hosting companies like ServerPronto, are capable of providing above-average server support across the board.
With this in mind, here are just a few of the high standards that web hosting providers like ServerPronto offers. When it comes time to choose your next web host or migrate an existing website, be sure to hold your new server support provider to these following standards:
Standard #1: Fast Response Times
Since high speed internet has been accessible, fast load times have been the name of the game for many website administrators looking to reoptimize their online domain. While you may have found yourself in the midst of such a reevaluation, you should know that…
No matter how much you speed up your individual page load times, your visitors may still experience sluggish HTML rendering if your web host suffers from sub-par server response times.
In order to maximize your website’s usability and minimize the likelihood of visitors jumping ship before engaging with your content, you need to secure a web host with a proven track record of rapid response times. Older webhosts have grown to rest on their laurels in this regard, while modern web hosts like ServerPronto continue to do all they can to improve their own server response times.
When speaking with a web host’s representative, be sure to ask them about key factors related to their server response times. If they simply rattle off an average speed, be sure to ask if they offer dedicated hosting solutions. If not, you’ll know that they aren’t worth your time and money because they simply want to lock you into a slow, shared hosting environment.
Standard #2: Non-Premium Support
When it comes to server support, often the operative word is “support.” In a very literal sense, a web hosting company isn’t worth their salt if they do not offer a reliable, knowledgeable, and accessible support team with multiple methods of contact.
That being said, there’s hardly a web host on the market today that doesn’t offer some form of customer service server support. However, some web hosting companies like Amazon and their AWS hosting have become wise to their customers’ needs and have begun to bleed them for extra cash in exchange for an industry-average level of support.
Unlike AWS, ServerPronto doesn’t ask its customers for $29 extra each month in order to help them troubleshoot their server-side problems. Whether you’re a knowledgeable web administration veteran or a digital novice, you’ll inevitably need some type of tech support. Be sure that you can get the help you need when you need it by selecting a web host with non-premium tech support.
Standard #3: Clear Bandwidth Restrictions
The old “ Error 509, Bandwidth Limit Exceeded,” the bane of website startups the world over. While most websites are unlikely to exceed their bandwidth cap in a given month, websites that see a sudden uptick in traffic are bound to raise their daily bandwidth demands. If you’re stuck on a restrictive web host that obscures their bandwidth restrictions, your newly popular website might hit this cap, leaving you none the wiser.
While there are several steps you can take to lower your overall bandwidth burden, your web host should also provide clear documentation of your bandwidth restriction from the get-go. While a web host might advertise a nice round number in their marketing material, be sure to dig beneath the surface to find the exact amount bandwidth your website can receive per month.
Image description: an example of jargon-rich fine print that amounts to an ill-defined bandwidth cap.
Better yet, you should seek out a web host that provides unlimited bandwidth if at all possible. Though this option comes with some drawbacks as well, this is the sure-fire method for banishing the dreaded “Error 509” from your website forever.
Standard #4: Regular Security Updates
Finally, a key aspect of server support from a web host relates back to their willingness to provide and maintain widely-accepted security protocols. While protections against DDoS attacks and malware have become industry standards, you should still carefully read through a prospective web host’s full security portfolio. Doing so will ensure that you receive the security components that they advertise for no extra cost, as ServerPronto does.
Your website’s security can also come down to how your selected web host runs its remote-access services. Remote-access software is well-known today for its numerous vulnerabilities. As such, you should take time to ask a web host’s representative how they use remote-access software and if they regularly update their software to patch out known vulnerabilities.
The Bottom Line
When it comes down to brass tax, choosing a web hosting company shouldn’t be a split second decision. While you’ll find recommendation for many of the leading web hosts, you’ll also find that many of these hosts provide sub-par security and tech support unless you cough up extra money on your monthly bill.
As such, it’s well worth your time to research alternative hosting options through a trustworthy web hosting company such as ServerPronto. Beyond web hosting, ServerPronto also provides dedicated hosting, managed hosting, and cloud computing solutions to meet an ever-diversifying need for digital hosting.
When it comes down to it, you shouldn’t simply settle for a web host because they provided a cheap introductory price or because their name popped up first on a Google search. Your time and effort will be better spent hosting your website on with a company like ServerPronto that puts their customers’ server support needs first.
Chief Tech writer at Serverpronto. Helping businesses grow with useful tech information.
Originally published at https://www.serverpronto.com on May 22, 2019.
