Often times people tend to overlook things when it comes to ecommerce. Something as simple as hosting can turn quickly into a nightmare in a matter of minutes. If a server is down and your host does not fix it immediately then a business is losing revenue every single minute that your site is down. Thinking that all hosting companies are created equal is the first mistake that a business owner can make. Making sure that you have chosen a provider that works predominantly with your type of business and site so if things go down then fixing the problems will be much more efficient. The following are some examples of horror stories when hosting can go wrong.
Website Down During Biggest Time of Year
Personally I know a company that will remain nameless that had their site go down without explanation during their peak time of the year. The company specialized in Halloween costumes and two week before Halloween the site went down for a week. If the owner had not hounded the company like crazy then it could have been down during the couple of weeks that keep the business running for the rest of the year. To say the least, the hosting company was fired but the money that the business owner lost could not be regained.
Your Server is Down But Here is No Information
There have been many different horror stories when it comes to hosting companies. This forum post here talks about how the company took down the server and as you can see did not provide any real information as to why. For businesses that rely on their websites for the main revenue source can single handedly make a company go in the red. In the case that I mentioned at the beginning of this subheading, the poster has clients who actually rely totally on online revenue generating.
Weather Problems
This might seem like something that an online business should not have to worry about. There have been cases when the servers have been taken down because of a blizzard or some other type of naturally occurring problem. This could be the worst type of issue with hosting because there might not be any quick fix. One might have to wait until the weather or disaster has been cleared up which generally do not have stable timelines.
Hacked and Can’t Do Anything
Servers being hacked is a common occurrence especially since the development of hacking groups that have formed over the course of the digital age. This not only can take your site down but then your business information is at risk as well. Not only your business but the businesses of your clients if they have any sensitive information that they hold with you. This can lose clients as well as open your business up to lawsuits which could blackball you in your industry.
As you can see, hosting is something that should be simple and handled by the company that you pay. This is not always the case and holding these companies accountable via message boards and reviews is important so you can save another business from encountering the same problem.
