BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: When Is It Time for Your Small Business to Move to a Dedicated Server?
By Space Coast Daily // August 11, 2018
Four Reasons for a Small Business to Move to a Dedicated Server
There is no ‘right’ tome for a small business to move its website to a dedicated server. It’s a major decision that will affect your company in many ways, so you should consider all the pros and cons very carefully.
On one hand, this will give you a boost in website performance, efficiency, and security. On the other, this service is prohibitively expensive for the majority of small businesses.
Four Reasons for a Small Business to Move to a Dedicated Server
It gives you better website performance
If you want your website to provide the highest level of customer satisfaction, you need to ensure it’s stable and extremely fast. HubSpot says that over 79% of buyers who aren’t satisfied with a website will be most reluctant to return. You also should add to that number the 40% of traffic you lose if your website takes over three seconds to load.
As you can see, ensuring speed and reliability is a must, and a dedicated server from a trustworthy provider guarantees both. That’s one of the reasons why this service can be a worthy investment for eCommerce businesses with large catalogs and websites with a complicated structure. A dedicated server is a great insurance against crashes caused by an influx of traffic.
Dedicated servers have better security
Security is key for any business today, and depending on your specialization, investing in the best possible solution might be a must. Web Hosting Media is a renowned source of independent hosting reviews and it recommends using dedicated hosting to the companies that need to offer financial transactions through their website or those that store sensitive data.
Not only will moving to a dedicated server provide a higher level of digital security for these websites. You will also get a boost to stability and speed, so your customer satisfaction rates will be growing.
You have the unlimited flexibility of web design
When you have an entire server to yourself, you get to choose what kind of server to use on it. This allows you to build a website to your exact specifications, without worrying that the OS doesn’t support the plugin you need.
Note that with a dedicated server, you can easily run several websites at the same time. You’ll be the one allocating space on the server, so plan carefully.
Dedicated servers get premium support
Dedicated hosting is an expensive service that can be considered ‘premium class’. And it definitely comes with a support to match. Customers who use it often get a much higher quality of customer service with a shorter response time.
Note that this isn’t the same for all hosts, so be sure to inquire about this detail before signing a contract.
Moving to a Dedicated Server: Cons for a Small Business
The main disadvantage of moving your small business website to a dedicated server is the cost. These packages start at $150 a month on average. As 82% of small businesses fail because of cash flow problems (Business Insider), you might not be able to afford the service by default.
You also need to keep in mind that a dedicated server will require careful and regular maintenance. This means you’ll either hire a professional to do this for you or entrust the job to the hosting provider. As running a dedicated server is rather difficult, some specialist knowledge is a must. This will increase the cost of the already expensive service.
It’s up to you to decide whether your small business should take the risk of moving to a dedicated server. This move will definitely give you more opportunities, but those come at a price that might not be worth paying.
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