Often times when the topic of web hosting comes up with clients, it is something they have not thought about. Some ask for our recommendation and others do a Google search for “cheap web hosting” and are quick to spot the $1.99 hosting from GoDaddy.
There is nothing wrong with cheap hosting if used for a personal webpage. If on the other hand your site is business related or if search engine rankings are important to you, it would be a bad choice to choose the cheapest option.
Here are the top reasons why cheap or bad hosting can not only irritate your visitors but also negatively effect SEO:
1. Web Server Downtime
Cheap shared hosting plans experience a lot of downtime. During these times your website cannot be accessed by either visitors or search engines, which hurts SEO efforts badly.
2. Page Load Time
Slow page load time can directly impact high bounce rates and decreased conversion rates and negatively effect SEO. Cheap web hosting companies promise Unlimited bandwidth but fail to mention how slow it will be. How long your website takes to load has been a ranking factor used in Google’s search ranking algorithms since 2010.
3. Bad Shared Hosting Neighbors
With shared hosting, your website files are stored on the same server space and IP address with other websites. If the other neighbor websites are spammy it can negatively effect your SEO. Use this free tool to see who is sharing your IP address.
If you are losing sleep because of these and other hosting issues, drop us an email. We’ll point you in the right direction.