Is your WordPress website plagued by frequent downtime, sluggish speeds, or disappearing support tickets? These are just a few of the red flags signaling it may be time to ditch your current web host.
While switching hosting providers can seem daunting, sticking with subpar hosting will ultimately cost you more in lost traffic, revenue, and frustration. Don‘t let your website‘s performance and potential be held back by a lackluster host.
To help you assess if it‘s time to make a move, we‘ve compiled the top 7 indicators you‘ve outgrown your current WordPress hosting.
- Frequent Unexpected Downtime
If you‘re noticing your site is down more than up, alarm bells should be ringing. Frequent outages are a surefire sign your host‘s servers are overcrowded or poorly maintained.
According to a study by Gartner, the average cost of IT downtime is $5,600 per minute. For ecommerce sites, just one hour of downtime equates to over $100,000 in lost revenue on average.
Can you really afford to leave your site‘s uptime to chance? Use a tool like Uptime Robot or Pingdom to accurately track your site‘s availability. If uptime dips below 99.9%, it‘s time to have a stern talk with your host or start shopping for a new one.
When evaluating new hosts, scrutinize their uptime guarantees, server infrastructure, and past performance. Look for hosts with uptime guarantees of at least 99.9% backed by service level agreements (SLAs).
- Sluggish Page Speeds
In 2023, there‘s zero excuse for slow loading websites. Nearly 70% of consumers admit that page speed impacts their willingness to buy from an online retailer. Moreover, search engines like Google use page speed as a key ranking factor.
If your WordPress site is taking more than 3 seconds to load, you‘re likely frustrating visitors and hemorrhaging potential customers. While you can optimize your WordPress site‘s performance using caching plugins, a CDN, and compressed images, your host‘s server speed is the foundation.
When choosing a new host to turbocharge your WordPress site, look for offerings like PHP 7+, SSDs, and built-in caching solutions. For example, SiteGround‘s hosting boasts all of these alongside the latest Google Cloud infrastructure and ultra-fast SpeedTest Runtimes.
- Your Site Has Outgrown Its Housing
Is your WordPress site bursting at the seams of your current hosting plan? That‘s actually a nice problem to have – it means your site is growing! However, trying to squeeze a high-traffic site onto a basic shared hosting plan is a recipe for disaster.
Think of your hosting plan like a home. A starter shared hosting plan is like renting a room in a house with roommates. It‘s affordable but limited in space and privacy. As your site grows, you‘ll need to upgrade to your own "apartment" via a VPS or your own dedicated "home" through a dedicated server.
Not sure what type of hosting is right for your WordPress site? Here‘s a quick rundown:
- Shared Hosting: Good for starter sites with low traffic. Limited resources shared with other sites on the same server.
- VPS Hosting: Ideal for sites outgrowing shared plans. More dedicated resources and customization but still shares some hardware.
- Dedicated Hosting: For high-traffic sites that need their own server. Complete control over server configuration and resources.
- Managed WordPress Hosting: Designed specifically for WordPress with expert support, robust security, and baked-in performance.
For most WordPress sites, we recommend managed WordPress hosting for its perfect mix of performance, security, scalability, and support. Hosts like WP Engine, Flywheel, and Kinsta are popular choices that allow you to scale resources on-demand.
- Disappearing Support Tickets
You have a question about your hosting account or your site is experiencing a weird new error. You open a support ticket with your host and wait. One day goes by, then two. A week later, still nothing – not even an acknowledgment they‘ve received your plea for help!
A quality host should not only have 24/7 support available, but also respond to tickets within a reasonable timeframe – think minutes or a few hours, not days. The best hosts will provide support across multiple channels like live chat, phone, email, and social media.
SiteGround is renowned for its ultra-responsive, helpful support team. They have an average response time of 10 minutes for tickets and 7 minutes for chats or calls. Their support staff are also highly trained in WordPress.
Flywheel is another host praised for its speedy, knowledgeable support. They boast an average response time of 8 minutes for all support queries and a 30-second response time for live chat.
When shopping for a new host, test their support‘s mettle by contacting them with your questions before signing up. Note how fast they respond and how thoroughly they answer your concerns.
- White Screen of Death Welcomes You
You eagerly type in your domain, hit enter, and hold your breath as your WordPress site loads. But instead of your thoughtfully designed homepage, you‘re greeted by an ominous white screen. That‘s it – no error message, no explanation. Houston, we have a problem.
The dreaded White Screen of Death (WSOD) can have a few different causes, like a plugin conflict, depleted memory, or a theme issue. However, if you‘re seeing it frequently, your host could be to blame.
Frequent WSODs could signal your hosting environment is missing a crucial component. For example, many budget shared hosts skimp on memory allocations to save a buck. The second your site gets an influx of traffic, the server runs out of memory and throws a WSOD.
To prevent WSODs, look for managed WordPress hosts that fine-tune servers specifically for WordPress. WP Engine and SiteGround both custom-compile PHP and MySQL to jive with WordPress seamlessly. They also have robust, isolated environments so one site can‘t hog all the resources.
- Mystery Malware Appears
You thought your WordPress site was squeaky clean and secure. Then one day you‘re alerted your site is redirecting to spam or is flagged for malware. What gives? It must be a plugin vulnerability or weak password, right?
While those are common culprits, sometimes shoddy hosting is actually to blame for hacks and breaches. Budget shared hosts often cram thousands of sites onto the same server. If one site has a vulnerability, it can spread like wildfire to its "neighbors."
To add insult to injury, many cut-rate hosts shrug their shoulders when it comes to helping you clean up an infected site. Unless you‘re paying for a security add-on, you‘re on your own to purge the hack.
Quality managed WordPress hosts take security seriously to prevent break-ins in the first place. Kinsta‘s hosting features hardware firewalls, SSL support, malware scanning, and security audits. They also have a hack-fix guarantee if your site is compromised.
Flywheel boasts a cloud-first architecture with an intelligent IP blocking system to proactively prevent attacks. In the event your site is hacked, they‘ll fix it for free.
Don‘t trust your WordPress site‘s security to a bargain host. Invest in secure, managed hosting and backup services so you can sleep soundly.
- Lack of Staging Sites & Other Essentials
Trying out a new WordPress theme or testing a major code change? A staging site allows you to safely experiment without fear of crashing your live site. Unfortunately, not all hosts offer one-click staging sites, especially entry-level shared plans.
SiteGround and Flywheel both include one-click staging sites on all plans. WP Engine also offers one-click staging plus one-click backups and restore points.
In addition to staging sites, other handy features to look for in a host include:
- Automatic WordPress updates
- Pre-installed SSL certificates
- Automatic daily backups
- Global CDN
- Caching solutions
- Git support
- SSH access
- Dedicated IP address
While no single host may have every bell and whistle, you want to choose one that at least ticks off the essential boxes for your specific WordPress site.
Making the Switch
If you‘re nodding your head to any of the red flags we‘ve outlined, it‘s time to consider switching WordPress hosts. While the migration process can sound overwhelming, many managed WordPress hosts now offer free migrations to make the transition virtually hands-off.
Before switching, we recommend thoroughly vetting potential hosts based on the criteria we‘ve discussed, like performance, security, support, and scalability. We‘ve highlighted some of our favorite WordPress hosts below, but you can also consult WordPress hosting reviews and comparisons.
Once you‘ve settled on your ideal host, follow these steps to make the switch:
- Sign up for your new hosting plan.
- Backup your WordPress site files and database.
- Export your WordPress database.
- Import your WordPress files and database to your new host.
- Reconfigure DNS to point to your new host‘s nameservers.
- Test your site thoroughly to make sure everything works.
- Cancel your old hosting plan.
If your new host offers managed migrations, they‘ll handle the nitty-gritty transfer process for you. For example, SiteGround offers free WordPress site transfers on GrowBig and higher plans.
Pulling the Plug
Breaking up with a subpar host can be awkward, but it‘s essential for your WordPress site to thrive. By moving to a faster, more secure host, you‘ll enjoy better performance, happier visitors, and even a potential boost in search rankings.
If any of these seven signs sound painfully familiar, it‘s time to pull the plug on your current host. Use the criteria and recommendations we‘ve outlined to find your WordPress site a new home worthy of your hard work and content.
Remember, choosing a quality managed WordPress host is an investment in your site‘s future. You‘ll rest easy knowing your site is in good hands with the power and support it needs as it grows.
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