With an increase in online conversions and an internal decision to greater develop our online presence on both social media and web we took the move to invest in a dedicated server.
The thought of moving our site created a bit of a concern, keeping online while migrating was important, to carry on serving our online film output accounts and stock management. To reflect our core business values, a UK based server was on the shopping list.
Moving the site, database and folders proved a great opportunity to tidy up the Javascript, CSS, HTML and MySQL database – we’re still reaping the rewards!
The spread of pricing structure v performance when shopping for hosting is overwhelming, for SME’s cost of hosting is obviously a concern, pair this with license key subscriptions, email hosting, domain name registration, SSL certification and Cloud CDN (content delivery network) costs can soon spiral out of control.
Trying to keep up to date with the who’s who of the hosting world is a full-time job – reaching out to fellow business owners there doesn’t seem to be a ‘one-product-fits-all’ solution, Matt over at Easy Composites runs a few servers with different providers and offered some great advice. Rackspace, WP-Engine & Fasthosts all seemed to offer great solutions, with only Fasthosts offering UK side servers – at a cost (maybe next time!).
My search continued, a quick google search for ‘Best UK hosting 2018’ found a great article via Tech Radar and TSO Host came out on top.
TSO Host’s migration process was easy peasy, not lemon difficult – a fully managed migration to the new dedicated server along with a new SSL installation came FREE! TSO hosts also tailor their servers to your specifications, a nice touch!
AND OUR TRAFFIC IN SEPTEMBER QUADRUPLED.
Server response time and site speed make or break a site, over 5 seconds and your toast – bounce rates kill business. ‘As a rule of thumb, a bounce rate in the range of 26 to 40 percent is excellent. 41 to 55 percent is roughly average. 56 to 70 percent is higher than average, but may not be cause for alarm depending on the website. Anything over 70 percent is disappointing’
There’s plenty of tools out there to test site speed, all must be taken with a pinch of salt, for now, we’re around where we need to be. We’re looking for some more indication on positive Return on Investment (ROI) before site speed and performance will be re-invested in, for now, it’s good work, good content, and rambling blog posts to get you buying print!
