Top 5 reasons Magento merchants switch hosts

Top 5 reasons Magento merchants switch hosts 366 251 admin

As an open-source, on-premise solution, Magento requires a properly configured hosting environment in order to run well. That means you need to choose a web hosting solution. The hosting solution that you select will directly and fundamentally impact your Magento stores’ success. While many hosts will advertise Magento hosting accounts that you can purchase yourself through their website, that can be kind of like a restaurant advertising “free wifi” in the window. What they’re offering isn’t necessarily fast, secure, or otherwise a business-grade offering capable of meeting your ecommerce hosting needs and expectations.

Not sure how to tell a good host from a bad one? Well, you’re in luck! We’ve put together a list of some of the common issues that Magento merchants often experience with their first hosting vendor:

1) SHARED RESOURCES

You can’t choose your neighbors. With shared hosting environments, this certainly rings true. When you’re hosted on a shared server or in another shared environment, if another site on the server is hacked, under attack, or hogging resources, your site can be negatively impacted. What seems like a cheap solution at the onset can really cost you a lot in downtime and slow loading speeds when you step back and look at the bigger picture.

It’s always best to select a dedicated environment, whether on Dedicated Servers or in a public cloud account such as AWS. This way you can optimize the environment for your needs and minimize the chances that your business will suffer because of issues outside of your control. In a dedicated environment, the entire hosting account and all of the server resources are provisioned for you alone. Everything from firewall settings to caching systems is set up to best meet your specific needs.

2) SERVER MANAGEMENT

Many hosts have a set-it-and-forget-it mentality. Once you’re in a hosting account, they don’t provide ongoing maintenance. That can mean that you’re not benefiting from updates and patches to your version of Linux, PHP, and other hosting software. Operating systems and other software must be kept up-to-date, and other critical maintenance should be taking place. Make sure that your host is going to provide proactive maintenance.