We hear you: reporting our monthly services is important. We want to bring you clarity and offer you peace of mind about how we’re keeping your site in good health. Starting June 30th, our SiteCare Core, Plus, and Advanced clients can expect to receive a detailed Maintenance Report logging the major services we’ve provided them over the previous month. 

What Does the WordPress Maintenance Report Include?

Join us on your WordPress site’s health journey and better understand the critical work we’re doing to help your most valuable online asset succeed. Our Maintenance Report will highlight upcoming initiatives or events that could impact your site.

Each monthly Maintenance Report will provide a quick overview of your website’s health: 

• Our team will measure your website’s speed and performance using Google’s PageSpeed benchmark, awarding a score out of 100.
• We will provide a high-level performance summary, which includes additional information on your site speed score, load time, and number of requests made by your site.
• We will also record any WordPress core, theme, or plugin updates we’ve completed, so you can be confident your website is running the latest or best version of everything. 
• Backups are crucial insurance for a website. Our Maintenance Report will record the number, frequency, and size of backups taken, along with a log of backup dates. 

This valuable initiative is available exclusively to our SiteCare plan clients. Our SiteCare plans are the best WordPress maintenance and support solution for clients looking for peace of mind. They also include hands-on and rapid customer support and regular security scanning. 

If you’d like to learn more about our monthly Maintenance Reports, or if you’re interested in signing up for a SiteCare plan, complete the form via this link to contact us.

The post How Our Maintenance Reports Help Your Site and Your Peace of Mind appeared first on WordPress Support & Optimization Specialists.

When it comes to web hosts who provide less than the best, however, there is a lot they would prefer their prospective clients didn’t know. Our COO, Ryan, knows this, so he’s spilling the tea. Here are ten dirty secrets of the web hosting landscape.

1. Three providers make up the backbone of the web hosting industry.

There are thousands of web hosting companies, nearly all of which are ultimately served by a primary cloud provider like Amazon AWS, Google GCP, or Microsoft Azure. What most people are buying when they say “hosting” is the marketing, engineering, support, and website management software, not the server resources themselves.

2. Hosting directly with one of the “big three” is a bad idea.

Savvy buyers know that many popular brands are built on these major cloud providers, so they have the idea to “cut out the middleman” for cost savings and try to host directly on one of these cloud networks. This is a terrible idea. AWS, Google GCP, and Microsoft Azure are incredibly complex systems. And they need to be configured with the proper permissions, ownership, or optimizations to deliver a WordPress website in the most efficient and secure way. 

Unless you have a person skilled in server management minding your web servers, it’s best to sign up with a host that specializes in WordPress.

3. There’s no such thing as “unlimited” in the hosting world.

Unlimited is a marketing buzzword. Every web host monitors your resource usage and will force an upgrade or shut down your website if it exceeds certain thresholds. Read the fine print about what’s actually included if you choose a plan that claims unlimited anything (bandwidth, storage, data transfers, etc.) because it’s usually too good to be true.

4. Almost all web hosting is “shared.”

Even for high-availability plans, it’s uncommon for you to have resources dedicated 100% to serving your website. You’re almost always sharing hardware with someone else. The one exception is when hosting is explicitly called “dedicated hosting.” Even in those scenarios, you should still clarify that no other customer websites are stored on the same hardware as your server. Words like VPS, Cloud, etc., are usually positioned as a tier above Shared. They have more resources available and, usually, technologies like containerization to help solve the noisy neighbor problem, but they’re rarely your own hardware.

5. Your web host will not help you diagnose or solve website issues.

Many web hosts may help point you in the right direction regarding a potential issue with your website application (WordPress). Still, almost none of them will actually help resolve WordPress issues. Their contractual terms won’t allow it because they primarily focus on the hosting infrastructure. You will still need a developer or service like SiteCare to provide support for WordPress itself.

6. Affiliate Managers are incredibly aggressive.

When our Best WordPress Hosting article ranked on Page 1 of Google for a valuable key phrase, Affiliate Managers from popular hosting companies were constantly calling in to have the brand they represent moved higher up in the rankings. They’d offer travel, spa retreats, higher commissions, or anything else I’d request to push their position from third on the list to first. But we never changed the results for a kickback.

7. Buying Windows Server hosting if you’re running WordPress is a bad idea.

Don’t get tricked; the Windows Server operating system isn’t built or optimized for serving WordPress and will add unnecessary technical complexity to your website. Linux is the best option for hosting WordPress sites.

8. Renewal costs are often higher than introductory rates.

Research renewal fees first when signing up for a web hosting service. You may find that although you’re currently paying an attractive, affordable rate as a new user, the lower price will only last a short while. Once you’ve already been enticed through the door, some web hosts will substantially increase their rates when you want to renew your contract. If you’ve researched your new web hosting provider and are happy with their service, sign up for as long a contract as possible.

9. Many hosts store backup files on the same server, which defeats the purpose if there’s a hardware failure.

Your web host must have a fall-back plan for your backups. Check that your backups are stored on separate servers and devices, as any system failure can also result in complete systems failure for your website. Systems can fail for many reasons, including the weather, so understand how backups work to ensure your web host is prepared.

10. Hosting your emails with your website isn’t a best practice.

Having your website and emails in the same hosting package might seem logical, but it’s not a good idea. Firstly, as they are specifically web hosts, email hosting is likely outside your host’s expertise. Because of this you may receive sub-par service. Secondly, as with secret number nine, if one goes, they all go. If a server drops, you could find both your website and email crashing, as opposed to just one or the other. Simultaneously losing your communication channels and website is disastrous, so keep email and web hosting separate and sleep easier at night. With this in mind, check the fine print and ensure you’re not paying for email hosting services you’re not using.

Web Hosting Worries? SiteCare Can Help.

So, there you have it, ten dirty secrets of the web hosting landscape. Keep these in mind when you’re taking another look at your web hosting contract or looking for a new provider. We don’t want to scare you (much!), but we do want you to be aware of the risks.

Know that there are many excellent web hosting companies out there, but as with every industry, some always try to take more by giving less, and we don’t want your website to be collateral damage. 

If you’d like to speak to Ryan further about your web hosting options or concerns, he’s always happy to set up a call. 

Are there any dirty secrets we missed? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 10 Dirty Secrets of the Web Hosting Landscape appeared first on WordPress Support & Optimization Specialists.

Why? Because the web hosting ecosystem is host to less than scrupulous players who pay their way onto listicles such as ‘Top Web Hosting Platforms’ that occupy the top of your search results page’s real estate. 

The problem with these featured companies is that their infrastructure doesn’t necessarily support their claims. Too many unsuspecting customers have fallen prey to unreliable web hosting providers, and the results can be costly and catastrophic. In short, beware of those who make big promises, as they frequently provide small yields. 

SiteCare is more than familiar with the common pitfalls across the web hosting landscape. After operating in WordPress maintenance for almost two decades, there is very little we haven’t seen. So, we recently picked the brain of SiteCare COO, Ryan Sullivan, to learn how to spot the red flags of unreliable web hosting providers. 

This blog is the first in a series unearthing the dirty secrets of the web hosting world, so stay tuned as we spill more tea on the murky underworld of web hosting.  

What is Web Hosting and Why Should I Care?

In a nutshell, a web hosting service stores your business website’s or web application’s files, databases, code, and images on a server space, allowing users to access your website via the internet from anywhere in the world. A web host is also responsible for maintaining your site’s performance, security, and reliability. In essence, when choosing a hosting provider, you’re putting your website’s performance (its uptime and speed), security, and user experience (UX) in their hands. You wouldn’t ask (or pay!) a random stranger to look after your tangible valuables without thoroughly researching them first. So, it’s just as crucial that your online assets receive the same degree of due diligence.

And, if that doesn’t convince you of the value of a reliable web hosting service, then the numbers should. 88% of online visitors won’t return to a website if they have a bad experience with it, and poor web hosting can definitely impact UX. So, if ever there’s a time to choose the right hosting provider to meet your website’s performance optimization needs, it’s now.

What Red Flags Should We Look Out For?

SiteCare’s team members know the ins and outs of web hosting after decades in the industry. Here are examples of some first-hand experiences we’ve had with poor hosting providers to help you spot those red flags.

Red flag 1: inadequate server storage and backups

Have you ever considered how your website could be affected by the weather? No? SiteCare’s Digital Marketing Director, Courtney, has. 

“I once had a client who hosted locally in Tennessee, a state not known for extreme weather and freezing temperatures,” she recounted, “But when a rare but entirely possible ice storm hit, the hosting provider’s server lost power. The result? All of my client’s websites shut down for four days – imagine the loss of web traffic and business!”    

What went wrong on this occasion was that the server was incorrectly stored without adequate backup. The web host had no provision for alternative power sources, and his system remained completely shut down. 

Switching to a cloud-based hosting service would help you avoid this situation and allow for greater flexibility and reliability. In addition, your website would no longer be hosted by a single server, which will also prevent any performance issues. When choosing a web hosting provider, research where they are and where their servers are located and investigate their backup strategies. 

Red flag 2: better-for-less deals

Ryan has some equally painful stories (although he’s holding some back for our next episode!). One occasion that particularly stands out is a glaring example of the adage, “If it’s too good to be true, then it probably is.” 

Here’s his story:

“In 2016, we had a client with over 3 million monthly pageviews looking to reduce costs on their hosting bill. They reached out to a web hosting company that promised them better performance for less than 25% of what they were paying each month.

“We warned them that it didn’t only sound too good to be true, but that it was absolutely too good to be true. We pressed the host to explain the resources they were providing and how they could possibly deliver the same performance for such a large amount of traffic for such a low price. We even went as far as to purchase the plan they recommended with our own money to try and show our client why the limited resources would be a problem.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t show how the site would perform at the scale of our client’s traffic, and the client ultimately chose to go with the web host’s recommendation over ours because the website ‘seemed pretty fast.’

“Within 10 minutes of the site being live on the new host, under the load of live traffic, the server crashed. We fully anticipated that happening, so we immediately switched back to the previous infrastructure.

“When we asked the new host to explain themselves, we were told the problem was “inefficient coding” and that “most sites with 3 million pageviews ran just fine on the same plan.”

“They could never point to a specific code bottleneck or share examples of other sites with the same traffic on the same plan. I was blown away by the casual bravado and lack of ownership from the hosting company.” 

The lesson here? Look out for those companies that promise the world for a suspiciously low fee; it’s often a case of ‘you get what you pay for.’ Plus, if the web hosting company doesn’t choose to be transparent with you regarding their backend set-up, there’s probably a reason for it, and it’s unlikely to benefit you. 

At the end of the day, research and investigation pay off

A bit of online sleuthing could reveal that a hosting provider doesn’t have the capacity to support your website’s visitors that it claims it has. Or, they don’t have a reliable backup strategy in place in case of an emergency. Have you checked how much downtime is reported by websites using the provider? These are all crucial factors to consider when choosing a web hosting service. 

So, we say leave it to the experts. SiteCare supports its clients in choosing the best hosting providers for their needs. Over the years, we’ve gathered a wealth of data on hundreds of web hosts, so we’re fully equipped to guide clients through the good, the bad, and the downright ugly web hosting providers. So, if you’d like to speak to Ryan about your web hosting options, contact him here.  

Have you had any terrible experiences with a web hosting provider? Leave your story in the comments below.

The post What NOT to Look For in Web Hosting in 2023 appeared first on WordPress Support & Optimization Specialists.