Published on October 21st, 2024 | by Bibhuranjan

The Features to Expect From a Web Hosting Provider for an E-commerce Website

As of 2024, 26.6 million e-commerce websites exist worldwide, and approximately 2,685 new e-commerce websites started each day between 2023 and 2024. In this advanced digital landscape, the longevity of your e-commerce website is not solely dependent on the quality of your products and services. The choice of a web hosting provider is equally crucial. Running an e-commerce website demands precision in website performance, security, and user experience, all of which contribute to your brand’s image. A reliable provider ensures a smooth online journey and secures your e-commerce website but also opens up opportunities for growth and success, giving you and your customers peace of mind and a sense of optimism for the future.

Based on reliable industry standards, this guide will share some features you should expect from a web hosting provider for your e-commerce website. You can use this to check the hosting provider’s features.

Essential Features of Web Hosting Services

The following are some essential features you must look for from the web hosting provider for your e-commerce website.

Uptime Monitoring

Uptime is a crucial factor in running a successful e-commerce website. The main reason uptime monitoring is essential for your website is that, in some instances, it will lose traffic and sales if any website lacks monitoring. When entering the online business, you should have a clear picture of your website performance, and downtime will badly affect your website. For instance, visitors may be delighted with your products and services, but what happens when your website’s performance could be better? Do you still think your visitors will not make this downtime a big deal? They will enjoy visiting your website even though it is troubling.

Even when we are visitors, we don’t even visit a website with these issues. Considering this factor before choosing the web hosting provider for an e-commerce website is necessary to transform your lead into customers or satisfy your existing customers. Most hosting providers will offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee, but some may fail to provide that. But at the same time, despite any rise in downtime issues, some web hosting providers can manage and rectify that quickly. Before going with the provider, checking their uptime is a great way to save your e-commerce website and impair your sales and wrong impressions among your visitors.

Website Load Speed

The other factor that reduces your business’s reputation and revenue is website load speed. A website with slow performance will be an annoying chapter for visitors, making your brand pointless. Eventually, an optimized website with less load time will result in a high conversion rate and decrease the bounce rate. When you ask any e-commerce website owner why this website load speed is vital for their business, most answers will be that they don’t want their visitors to experience a second delay because it will badly affect the website’s traffic. It might also result in losing customers.

According to the statistics, if a website takes more than three seconds to load, then 40% of users will abandon your website. Additionally, in specific periods, the e-commerce website will offer sales and discounts to their users, so during that time, the website will experience high traffic, so while choosing the web hosting provider, ensure they can handle the traffic. This will ensure customers can view the website and take advantage of the sales and promotions. Therefore, choosing a web hosting provider that can handle high traffic and provide optimized website loading speeds is essential.

Dedicated Host vs Shared Host

When it comes to web hosting, there are a handful of options available in the market. Dedicated and shared hosting is the most used web hosting for every small and medium-sized business. When budget is your primary concern in affordable web hosting, going for shared hosting is vital, as you will share a server with the other website. Due to this, the performance and security will be less than that of dedicated hosting. Dedicated hosting is a high cost compared to shared hosting.

It will provide a secure server that will increase your website performance, and most commonly, it will be used highly for enterprise-level business and complex e-commerce websites, which experience thousands of visitors per week. Selecting between these types of web hosting entirely depends on your website requirements. For instance, spending a significant amount on a dedicated server is unnecessary if you run a blog website. Still, in the case of a complex e-commerce website, security is a high priority here so you can choose dedicated hosting.

Security

The first and foremost thing that comes to everyone’s mind when creating an e-commerce website is security, which not only every business needs but also every customer seeks. Customers must provide their personal information when purchasing your product or service, especially when paying. They need to provide their bank details, and because of this, customers mostly prefer to make purchases on a highly secure website. To avoid hackers stealing your data from your website, ensure that your web hosting provider offers an SSL certificate. A specific hosting provider provides a free SSL certificate, which comes with the hosting service, but if you want more security, you can purchase an SSL Certificate separately. Therefore, your site is secured with a digital certificate. That padlock icon on the top ensures that your website is secure and trustworthy and that customers can share their information during the purchase. SSL certificates are also essential for search engine rankings.

Technical Support

Aside from these top features, technical support is another crucial aspect to consider when choosing a web hosting provider. Whether you’re a startup or an experienced business, managing your web hosting can be daunting. Even with various articles and a knowledge base available, having a technical support team can be a significant advantage. It can save you time and effort and help identify and resolve issues quickly, preventing them from escalating. Before you purchase a service or product from a hosting provider, it’s essential to check what options are available to contact the support team and how quickly they respond. Knowing you have a reliable support system can give you peace of mind.

Wrapping Up

Before making a decision, ensure that the best web hosting provider in India you are considering offers key features that are essential for your e-commerce website. It’s important to review their pricing and management tools to confirm they align with your business needs and budget. Take the time to assess whether the hosting solution can accommodate your website’s technical requirements, security needs, and growth potential. By doing so, you’ll be better equipped to choose a provider that helps your online store thrive efficiently and securely.

Tags: Dedicated hosting, e-commerce, web hosting provider

About the Author

Bibhuranjan Editorial Officer, technofaq.org I'm an avid tech enthusiast at heart. I like to mug up on new and exciting developments on science and tech and have a deep love for PC gaming. Other hobbies include writing blog posts, music and DIY projects.