A lot of business owners get caught up in the web design part of launching a new business site. While it’s definitely important to get your visuals right, did you know that web design and hosting are closely linked?
Make sure your web design is to your liking, obviously. But don’t get so wrapped up in the flashy stuff that you forget to pay close attention to your web hosting options as well. Choose wrong, and it can negate all the amazing design work. But choose right, and the two will complement each other and keep your site running smoothly.
Here’s why your web hosting provider can make or break your web design and what you should be looking for when finding a host.
Let’s Discuss Your Website Goals
Why Is It Important to Choose the Right Website Host?
Your web host plays a much bigger role in the day-to-day smooth running of your website than you may assume. To be clear, good web design is an important aspect that WILL contribute to the success of your website. But it needs to match up well with a quality web host if you want to get the most benefit out of it.
Here are some of the most important reasons why you need to choose the right website host for your business site.
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Website Traffic
When someone lands on your website, you have the chance to convert them to a paying customer, and most of the time, the quality of your sales funnels is the biggest factor.
But a bad web host can hamper this process. If you’re getting a high amount of traffic and your web host isn’t prepared for it, your visitors could experience slow loading speeds or downtime, both of which may cause them to leave before they can be converted.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engines don’t just consider the words on your website when it comes to optimization—they also look at things like page loading speed, server location, and an SEO friendly website. The quality of your web host plays a big role in these factors.
There’s also technical SEO, which refers to things like redirects, server response codes, and XML sitemaps. These help Google or other search engines to index your site correctly so you can be found easily.
User Engagement and Time On Page
The longer people spend on your site, the better for SEO purposes. A reliable web host ensures that your visitors have a good user experience by keeping page loading speeds fast and keeping downtime to a minimum.
Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave your site without clicking to another page. Here’s a shocking statistic—if your web page doesn’t load within 3 seconds, more than half your visitors will leave your site.
High bounce rates have a negative effect on SEO as Google takes them as an indication that the user didn’t have a good experience. Load time is very dependent on your web host, so this is a huge factor in running a successful website.
How Your Web Hosting Provider Can Affect Your Web Design
Web design and hosting are more closely linked than you may think. Whether you’re doing your research upfront or you’ve already got the design sorted, here are the ways your chosen web host can affect your design.
Compatibility and Functionality
If the web hosting provider you choose doesn’t support the tech or features that are used in your web design, you’re going to run into problems. An incompatible web host could lead to certain functions not working correctly, which means users are quickly going to lose patience with your website and, by default, your business.
Your web host needs to be able to handle the technical functions of your web design. It’s a good idea to ask your web designer about this—they may be able to give you some insight into what a web host would need to run your design smoothly.
Server Resources
Websites need resources to run, including CPU, RAM, and storage space. This is provided by your web hosting company, and when it runs short, your website will develop performance issues that could extend to the design.
This means some features may not work as they should (think forms, videos, and funnels). Even smaller issues, like pictures not loading, can leave your site looking unprofessional.
Shared hosting is notorious for resource problems. Dedicated and VPS hosting are better choices, and cloud hosting is probably the best choice. Want to dive deeper into choosing the perfect website plan for your needs? Read more about which website plan you should get to ensure smooth sailing for your online presence.
Loading Speed
A slow loading speed means you’re likely to lose more than half the people who land on your website. A poor web host can lead to your page load speed being poor. And anything over 3 seconds is considered to be slow!
If someone is clicking away from your site in less than 3 seconds, it doesn’t matter how great your website design is. All that work is wasted… Because more than half your visitors aren’t even seeing it.
5 Things That Kill Your Website User Experience
Not seeing great results from your website? Poor UX may be to blame.
Find Out →Uptime and Reliability
The same is true for uptime. If your site is down, nobody can access it, which means your eye-catching web design isn’t being seen and interacted with. Downtime can also negatively impact SEO.
Website Security
Poor web hosts can leave your website open to security breaches. This not only puts personal information at risk—your own and those of clients, colleagues, or partners—but it can wreak havoc on your design, depending on the kind of attack experienced.
Functions can cease to work, leading to frustrated website visitors. The page loading speed can slow, or the page may not open properly at all.
Web Design and Hosting: Conclusion
The connection between web design and hosting is subtle but important. You can pay a web designer to create the most eye-catching, professional, immersive website your heart desires, but if your web hosting is working against you, it’s like throwing money away.
If you’re going to take the time and pay the money for amazing web design, it’s in your best interest to make sure your web host backs it up. Web design and hosting affect each other in small ways, but the knock-on effect can be huge. Get them both right, and you can look forward to a successful, easy-to-run website.
