Hosting is one of those things most business owners set up once and never think about again. It is easy to pick the cheapest plan you can find, especially when the website is new. But hosting has a big effect on how fast your site loads, and speed matters to both customers and Google.
Here is why cheap hosting so often means a slow website, and what to look for instead.
Why speed matters
When a page takes too long to load, people leave. They are usually on a phone, often on mobile data, and they have other options a tap away. Google also uses page experience as one of the signals when deciding which sites to show, so a slow site can cost you visibility as well as visitors.
Images, plugins and design all affect speed, but if the server itself is slow, there is only so much you can fix from inside WordPress.
How cheap hosting slows you down
Crowded servers
Budget shared hosting puts a large number of websites on the same server. They all share the same processing power and memory. If a neighbouring site gets busy, or is badly built, your site can slow down too, and you have no control over it.
Strict resource limits
Cheap plans often cap how much processing power your site can use. WordPress is a dynamic system that builds pages on request, so it can hit those limits quickly, especially with page builders, online shops or busy periods.
Servers on the other side of the world
Many budget hosts run their servers overseas. Every request from an Australian visitor has to travel there and back, which adds delay to every page load. For a business serving the Sunshine Coast, hosting in Australia makes sense.
Old software
Some cheap hosting runs outdated versions of PHP and server software. Newer PHP versions are noticeably faster for WordPress, as well as more secure.
No caching
Good hosting includes server-level caching, which stores ready-made copies of your pages so they do not have to be built from scratch each time. Budget plans often leave this out, or leave it to you to set up.
What to look for in WordPress hosting
- Australian servers, so pages load quickly for local visitors.
- A current PHP version and modern server software.
- Caching built in at the server level.
- Free SSL, so your site shows the padlock and loads over https.
- Daily backups kept separately from your site.
- Real support from people who understand WordPress, not just a ticket system.
Signs it is time to move
- Your site is slow even after optimising images and removing unused plugins.
- It slows down or shows errors at busy times.
- Your host keeps emailing about resource limits or wants you to upgrade.
- Support takes days to reply, or cannot help with WordPress problems.
- You are not sure where your site is hosted, or who has the login.
Hosting, email and domains
Cheap hosting deals often bundle in email, and that can cause problems of its own. If your website and email share one small server, a busy website can slow your email down, and a security problem with one can affect the other. Many businesses are better off with email on a dedicated service like Office 365, and the website on hosting built for WordPress.
Domains are another thing to keep an eye on. If your domain name lapses because a renewal notice went to an old email address, both your website and your email stop working. Keeping hosting, domains and email in one place, with someone watching the renewal dates, avoids that.
Is moving hosts hard?
It can be fiddly, which is why many people stay put. A move involves copying the files and database, updating settings, moving DNS and email records, and checking everything works on the new server. Done carefully, visitors should not notice anything except a faster site.
Managed hosting from a local team
Our managed WordPress hosting runs on fast Australian servers, with free SSL and daily backups, and we move your site from your old host for you. We can also look after your domain renewals and business email, so everything is in one place with one number to call. It is $420 a year, or $35 a month, with no GST.
Not sure if hosting is the problem? Ask for a free site check and we will test your site’s speed and tell you what is slowing it down.
