Remember this scene from the IT crowd?
For many of our clients, fixing website issues can feel very similar. In this article we will discuss the issues that may cause your website to slow down or even stop working.
When it comes to website performance issues, its usually not as simple as turning it off and on again. The main issues that may arise are to do with Hosting, Website updates and plugins.
Table of content
Hosting
Website hosting is essentially your online store front. While one of the advantages of having an online presence as your primary source of revenue is not having to have a pricy high street location, you still need to make precautions to assure you have the correct online location for your website.
Every website that is active on the internet is located on a physical server. Depending on the size and nature of your business there are different server types.
Just like with any physical store, the size of the premise depends on the amount of customers you expect at any one time. Same goes with servers, and website traffic.
A solicitor or financial advisor dont need a huge space as they generally have a small number of clients and dont need huge space. Same goes for their website.
A popular retailer on the other hand will have lots of people coming in and out of their shop each day and would need a location to fit this foot traffic. Popular retailers also have to assure their website can handle that same traffic for their website.
Having sufficient hosting is tremendously important for your websites SEO. A major ranking factor for the google algorithm is the websites loading speed and making sure there is no down time.
The 2 main hosting options are shared servers and dedicated servers. There are other options also available that you can learn about in our article on website hosting.
Dedicated server Hosting
For larger e-commerce sites with high traffic, having a dedicated server is very important. If too many people are on your site at one time, not only will your website slow down and possibly crash but your SEO will also be affected.
Having a crashed site also means you cant make sales. For every second your site is down you are loosing money.
Website updates
WordPress is a content management system that a majority of websites are built on. WordPress is a complex system and requires regular updates to improve plugin’s and themes.
Failing to keep up with updates can have negative implications on your website speed. In some cases, if your website goes long enough without updates the site will crash.
Website hosting providers will often include website maintenance as a part of their service. If they dont provide this you should find a provider who does to assure your site remains live.
Website plugins
Website plugins are very useful and can add functionality to your website. However, plugins also take up server space. This means you should only use plugins that you need.
Plugins also require regular updates. Failing to update plugins will eventually cause them to stop working.
Do you have website speed issues?
If you are having any issues with your website, don’t just sit there and watch the fire. Fill our our contact form below and a member of our team will be in touch to discuss the issue and get your website back running smoothly.
If your site is in need of major updates, looking at grant funding may be a great help. The Trading Online voucher is a grant available to small businesses looking to either start or improve their website. This grant is provided by the Local Enterprise Office and is available all year round.