In this era in which technology is vastly improving, almost every company have its own website to interact with their clients or potential clients and at the same time provide information to the general public. It is a must for companies that solely depend on the Internet for their marketing and transactions, namely online businesses. Before you engage web hosting service providers to help you host your website on the Internet, you should know that the uptime in hosting is very important to keep your website ‘alive’.
First of all, what is uptime? Uptime is the amount of time that your web system is up running and available to the online community. The amount of uptime is usually presented in percentages. Thus, a near 100 percent of uptime will be the best for your site. Hence, before committing to a web hosting service, it is essential to know what the guaranteed uptime is, preferably 99.5 and above. Having said that, a perfect 100% uptime as sometimes advertised by less than reputable web hosting providers is impossible.
Next, how important is uptime? Let’s put it like this. It is to common knowledge that the first impression is crucial to build a long and lasting relationship. So, if a potential patron visits your
website and coincidentally the server is down, well, there goes your potential sales!
So, the implications of less uptime (higher downtime) are obvious. Less uptime means less communication time with the online community, more specifically your customers. And without
customers, the viability of a website to stay afloat lessen too.
Therefore, before signing any contract with your web service provider, please be sure to find out the guaranteed uptime and look through the providers’ records to verify their credibility. Though web hosts with higher uptime will definitely cost more, think of it as an investment. It will bring you better returns as well as increase your site’s reputation with the online community.
