When an online customer is having trouble navigating your website or if your website has a slow loading time, losing sales are much more likely. Improving your customer experience online is not only possible by providing high-quality products and services, but also a website with the optimal web hosting package.

Why Does Web Hosting Matter?

Choosing the right web hosting package for your website can ultimately determine whether or not you experience failure or success in the online world. Web hosts help to provide your web pages to visitors and control the speed in which your website loads. With a website that is slow to load, your bounce rate is sure to drastically increase, causing you a loss of potential sales and dedicated followers.

What to Do to Improve Customer Experience Through Web Hosting

Testing a website's speed on a regular basis is one way to ensure your web hosting service is working as described. Regularly testing the speed of websites can also help to inform you of potential hang-ups and issues you may need to repair and update.

Provide alternatives if customers are utilizing too many plugins, scripts, and add-ons on their website, ultimately slowing down loading speeds. Offer to optimize the use of plugins and add-ons or eliminate individual scripts and plugins that are not entirely necessary.

Implement tools to store cache and increase the loading speed of your clients' pages. Speedier loading times help to keep customers satisfied with their web hosts.

Choosing the Best Web Host for Your Website

When you choose the suitable web host for your website you are much less likely to encounter complaints or the loss of a sale from potential customers. Anytime you are comparing web hosts for your website, there are a few factors to keep in mind before making a final decision:

Bandwidth

Many web hosts promote "unlimited bandwidth" packages but include more details about their definition of "unlimited" within the terms and conditions you agree to during checkout. Always be sure to review whether or not a company truly provides unlimited bandwidth if you have a website that receives a large amount of traffic.

If you are in need of additional bandwidth than what is available from a web host, consider opting for a VPS and contacting the company directly to get your server up and running as quickly as possible.

Storage

Compare the amount of storage you are given with each package available from the web hosting company you are interested in. If you are planning to share files, large videos, and plenty of photos that are self-hosted, storage is an extremely important factor to keep in mind while you are reviewing all of your options.

Uptime and Reliability

Having a web hosting service that has a 99.9% uptime guarantee is also extremely important, especially if you are at risk of losing potential customers and new followers. If the web host you are reviewing does not boast a 99% or higher uptime and reliability guarantee, it may be time to search for a solution elsewhere.

Support

Always ensure the web hosting company you choose provides adequate support in a variety of forms. A web host that offers email, live chat, and phone support is optimal as it allows you to communicate with the company in a manner that is most convenient for you.

Features and Included Add-Ons

Find a web host that offers additional features and add-ons such as the ability to install blogs, live chat plugins, and CMS setups such as WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal. Launching eCommerce websites is also possible with a web host that offers quick-install features with software such as WooCommerce.

Shared vs. VPS Hosting

Compare the options you have available with shared and VPS hosting before choosing a web hosting company for your site.

Most popular web hosts today provide the option of shared or VPS (virtual private server) hosting. Shared hosting requires you to share the bandwidth and server with other users who are also having their websites hosted from the same service provider. With a VPS package, host your website on your very own server, allowing to you maximize the usage of your bandwidth. VPS packages are highly recommended for websites with a high volume of traffic, or eCommerce shops with a steady number of shoppers. Shared hosting plans work best with new websites or small sites that are not looking to grow beyond local exposure over time.

Pricing

Review the pricing of web hosting packages that are most suitable for you to find the most fitting solution for the type of website you want to launch. Most web hosting packages are payable each month, although semi-annual and annual discounts may also be available depending on the web host you have chosen. Consider all features, uptime guarantees, and support available when reviewing the prices of hosting packages that are most appealing to you.

Always Research User Experience Websites

The more you know about the experience of others and their hosting companies, the easier it is to find a solution that is right for your website and its needs. Read user reviews and testimonials to gain more insight regarding the hosting services you are interested in using.

In order to truly improve customer experience of your visitors long-term, researching user experience websites is a must. Learning about other bad user experience websites and how sites and web hosting companies have let individuals down in the past is one of the best ways to ensure you avoid making the same mistakes when developing and hosting your own website.