Choosing the right web hosting plan can be daunting, and many customers fall into common mistakes that can negatively impact their websites. In this blog, we will explore 11 typical mistakes web hosting customers make and provide valuable insights on how to avoid them.
From solely focusing on price to selecting the wrong plan, overlooking the fine print, and neglecting load time optimization, these mistakes can significantly impact your website's performance and user experience. We'll also discuss the importance of backups, testing hosting providers, acquiring sufficient knowledge before making changes, prioritizing data protection, and preparing for future growth.
Understanding these common mistakes and taking proactive steps to avoid them can ensure a smooth and successful web hosting experience. Whether you're a novice or an experienced website owner, this guide will equip you with the knowledge and tools to make informed decisions and optimize your web hosting journey. Let's dive in and discover how to avoid these pitfalls and set your website up for success.
I have been running my websites for more than 20 years and have had a lot of experience with hosting providers during this time. Of course, I made some mistakes at the beginning, and even today, I still see beginners who make certain mistakes in web hosting.
To ensure this does not work, and your website runs smoothly, I have collected 11 mistakes and explained how to avoid them.
Especially when planning your first website, you try to keep costs as low as possible. That is understandable, but you should not save in the wrong place.
Good and appropriate hosting is the basis for a successful website, so you should look at a good price/performance ratio instead.
In general, I would advise against free hosting, which has far too many disadvantages and risks, but it would be a good idea in the long term.
Of course, this error is often related to the previous one. But even offside, many are unclear about what it needs for hosting.
Therefore, you should look at which factors are important in your website and also generally look at the main selection criteria.
This applies, for example, to required scripting languages, the necessary performance for the selected CMS, but also possibly expensive additional offers, such as additional domains or the possibility of SSL certificates.
It's not fun, but you should always read the small print on the hosting offerings. There are traps that you do not want to step into.
For example, the guaranteed bandwidth of many shared hosting offers or whether it is a real traffic flat rate.
Likewise, one should look at the information on notice periods and prohibited applications.
With this point, I already come to practical use and which mistakes are made there again and again. Many simply load the photos of their digital camera onto their own web space just as they come out of the camera.
It isn't good because they have a much too high resolution and load forever, especially smartphones.
Therefore, you should either downsize photos with an image editor to the right size or leave this to the used CMS. WordPress automatically creates miniaturized versions of the uploaded photos.
It's a bad idea to host videos on your own web space.
Of course, videos are becoming increasingly popular, but you should always use a specialized provider to host these large files, such as YouTube or Vimeo.
Otherwise, the data transfer is fast and high, and your hosting provider is causing problems.
Just because you spend more money on hosting does not mean you should forego optimization.
In particular, while loading time brings better hosting already visible benefits, the loading time optimization of the CMS and other aspects is still important.
Although German hosting providers are now required to make customer backups, you should not rely on them. Most of these are rather sporadic and do not last long.
Should there ever be a loss of data by the hosting provider due to technical or other problems, you should have your own, preferably daily backups available.
To ensure this. There are various backup options.
If you have gained experience or got a reliable recommendation, you can choose a hosting provider without a test. Otherwise, you should make use of the test options.
Many hosting providers offer test accounts that allow you to test the performance and service for free for a certain amount of time.
Again and again, I see big problems with the hosting caused by wrong settings; for example, at the last niche site challenge, a niche website was unavailable for a while because something was wrong in one place.
Of course, one should try to "befriend" the settings of your hosting. That is the only way to learn, but rather on a test account if you are unsure what to do.
In case of doubt, you should ask for support for certain changes, which is not a problem with Managed Hosting plans.
Data protection in the EU is becoming ever stricter, and using hosting providers outside the EU is already risky. Finally, the hosting provider himself collects a lot of data, including IP addresses.
Therefore, I can only strongly advise you to rely on a German or European hosting provider.
Ideally, the number of visitors and, thus, the load on the server will increase. You should be prepared for that.
Therefore, you should make sure when choosing the hosting provider that a later hassle-free upgrade to a higher tariff or even on its server is possible.
