Any move is risky in business. It could mean downtime and even the loss of your existing customer base with you. That’s the main reason we go above and beyond to ensure success in a physical move. Without proper planning, the entire process could backfire.
But, we speak less about moving our online presence. For the most part, that’s because business owners aren’t willing to take this risk. But, that could be a problem if it means getting lumped with a website host which no longer suits. In reality, we should be as willing, if not more, to move our websites when they struggle.
That’s because the right website host is essential for success. Thinking that you can stick with the page that you started when you had ten clients simply isn’t right. What’s more, moving a website doesn’t need to be difficult. With the help of migration services like those available from agency WordPress support services like Fixed, it’s possible to move with ease and 100% uptime. That means you can move your website with far less disruption than you’d experience from, say, physical expansion.
Instead of burying your head in the sand, then, sit up and take notice of the following signs that your website would be best off migrating to sunnier hosting climes.
Constantly beating your bandwidth
Bandwidth is, arguably, the main reason for website migration. When you’re starting, a host with a small bandwidth can more than cope with your traffic. But, as your business grows, you may find that same server struggles to keep up. In some instances, excessive bandwidth use could even land you with hefty fines. Not to mention that it can do untold damage to the other websites hosting on that server. Think of this as a business which starts in a small office within a shared building. They get along fine to start, but then struggle to fit all their clients. Plus, the line of people waiting outside stops other companies in the building from operating. That’s what happens if you don’t move to a new host when business traffic picks up. Your best option in this instance would be to find a new host which can withstand much higher levels of traffic. Then, you’ll never need to worry about getting punished for doing well again.
Struggling for security
Security is another pressing reason to consider a website migration. Matters of online security have been making the headlines a lot in recent years. We’ve reached a stage where a significant security breach online is enough to close a company down for good. Not to mention that you would have to compensate anyone whose information was stolen. From every angle, this is something which you should avoid at all costs. If your current host doesn’t take steps towards security, your efforts might not be enough. For example, you won’t have any control over things like firewalls on the network as a whole. As such, you may find that even your security attempts can’t stop hackers gaining access. This is an issue which you need to address right away. And, the best way to do that is to move your website to somewhere with far better security. In an ideal world, a secure site comes about through joint efforts on the side of the website owner and host. If you don’t feel like you can work with your host as it stands, it’s time to get out of there.
Limited e-commerce opportunities
In some cases, hosts aren’t poised with e-commerce in mind. While you may be able to add an online shopping plugin, then, you may well still struggle to make a success of your e-commerce business. That’s because you would be limited in what you could do, and how far you could take it. Anyone looking to sell online has to consider all manner of website capabilities. You’ll need plenty of bandwidth (there it is again) for your online store and product pictures. You’ll also need to consider how you’re able to store client information. And, of course, you’ll need to have easy access to things like online payments. This isn’t something you can find with every website host. While you might be able to get by to start, you should jump ship the second your host threatens to hold you back here.
As you can see, there are plenty of reasons to migrate. We won’t lie to you; it isn’t always easy to do. But, it is always worth your while.