Hosting rarely gets attention until something goes wrong. But where your site lives affects how quickly it loads, how safe it is and, indirectly, how well it does in search.
Speed is part of the experience
Visitors leave slow sites. Google also pays attention to how pages perform for real users, so a slow site starts with a disadvantage. Good hosting is not the only factor, but it is the foundation.
What to look for in hosting
- Managed updates. Out-of-date software is the most common way sites get hacked.
- Backups. You want regular backups you can actually restore from.
- SSL. Secure connections are expected by visitors and browsers.
- Monitoring. Someone should notice quickly if the site goes down.
- Real support. A person who knows your site beats a ticket queue.
The hidden cost of cheap hosting
Very cheap shared hosting can mean crowded servers and slow response times. That may not matter for a hobby site, but it can quietly cost a business customers.
Where we fit
We host the sites we build, so design, speed and search are looked after by one team. Read more about our hosting, or ask us about moving your site.