When to Upgrade Your Shared Hosting Plan
Posted on Wednesday, Feb 16, 2011 in "Random Stuff"
Web hosting plans allocate a certain amount of server resources to each plan holder, and when the plan’s limitations are exceeded, all of the site’s hosted on the web server (or server partition) instantly experience poor performance and site down time. Thus, it is crucial to know when it is time for a hosting upgrade, particularly in the shared hosting environment, which has more limitations and restrictions than any other hosting type.
As a novice webmaster, you may have the urge to get started with your internet endeavors as quickly as possible, and as such you’ll undoubtedly go for the cheapest shared hosting plan available. While this can be advantageous in the beginning, eventually the capabilities of your minimal hosting plan will be exhausted, and knowing when to upgrade will be the only knowledge that will keep you from experiencing the negative effects of low bandwidth and disk space.
Multiple Domains
Although most shared hosting plans allow for unlimited domains, some of them charge multiple domain fees, and some plans only allow for a certain number of domains. If you foresee the need to create a multitude of web sites then you may want consider upgrading your shared hosting plan before the burden becomes too much for your current plan. Aside from the fees and limitations associated with adding new domains to your hosting account, the new domains will likely cause an increase in bandwidth and disk space usage, both of which warrant a hosting upgrade immediately.
Slow Page Loading
Some instances call for a hosting upgrade due to a symptom of low server performance, rather than a foreseen need for more server resources. One such symptom is slow page loading times, which can become an annoyance to site visitors, ultimately contributing to a decrease in web traffic. If any of your site’s pages are loading slowly, then you may need to enquirer with your web hosting company about the limitations of your hosting plan. Upgrading your plan as soon as your site starts to perform slowly is the best way to prevent any of the problems associated with poor site performances, some of which can greatly decrease your profits and counteract your efforts as a webmaster.
Traffic Surges
if your site is starting to experience high levels of traffic and you’re continually adding new content to it, then you may need to consider a comprehensive hosting plan immediately. Upgrading to a strong shared hosting plan is certainly an option, however most experts recommend a VPS or dedicated hosting plan for the serious webmaster. Although increased traffic levels are definitely a good thing, when your hosting plan cannot handle them they can become one of the biggest let downs in your career, as the site visitors may leave your site immediately if it takes a long time for your pages to load. Traffic surges can cause the server to crash completely, or they can cause your web sites to be denied access to the server temporarily, so it is very important that you are prepared for massive levels of traffic by upgrading to a more robust hosting plan before the resources are actually needed.
