Reliable web hosting is essential for businesses and serious website owners. Choosing a superior web hosting provider can make your website less vulnerable to security issues, prevent down times in the server, and make your website noticeably faster.
Unfortunately, not all web hosting providers are created equal. They have different standards for monitoring, backup protocols, and scalability options. Others offer additional tools and software packages that will help you build the e-commerce site or media delivery service that you wanted to create. Looking for a web host that offers not only the basics of security and reliability, but some extra help in getting your business online can result in a big value boost.
Read on for four tools and services you can use to increase the performance of your website. Many web hosts will offer these as optional add-ons when you sign up for a domain.
1. Cloudflare
Security is a primary concern for all website owners. Web hosting providers have their own security measures in place, but it doesn’t cover everything. A useful tool for preventing attacks from bots and spammers is Cloudflare. The plugin does this by filtering and essentially denying malicious requests from getting through a website.
Additionally, Cloudflare can also boost the speed of a website through a content delivery network or content distribution network (CDN). A CDN is a system composed of several servers that cater to specific regions, as oppose to one, large universal server that everyone is plugged into. CDN’s can also be used to decrease denial of service attacks by absorbing the bad traffic.
2. Shopify
E-commerce platforms are difficult to build due to complex internal structures and buying processes. Moreover, the process of updating your inventory while managing online orders can be extremely confusing and only becomes more difficult as the business grows. For a complete solution to e-commerce management and inventory, Shopify has stepped up as a useful tool for website owners and online businesses.
Shopify is an easy-to-use e-commerce platform that simplifies the entire process of building a reliable, revenue-generating site that is equipped with a standard cart, payment process, inventory management tools, accounting services, and more. Users also have the ability to customize their website with colorful themes.
Behind the scenes, Shopify offers numerous add-ons and plugins that can improve your web hosting infrastructure. Such tools range from apps that manage third party payment services to plugins that automate sales orders. All of the add-ons are designed to work with the Shopify platform, making your site more reliable and easily accessible to customers.
3. PRTG Network Monitor
Web hosting providers limit and allocate bandwidth depending on the package that was chosen by the user. Surges in traffic and large files can easily cause a website to become slow and choppy. As a result, a superior bandwidth management tool like PRTG Network Monitor is required to help closely monitor network usage.
The application provides a comprehensive look at how bandwidth is being used, where it is coming from and how it’s affecting your server. It also backs up all the data, allowing users to generate reports and pinpoint weak areas in their infrastructure. PRTG Network Monitor uses a number of trusted systems such as NetFlow, WNI and SMNI to efficiently gather information from high traffic networks.
4. WordPress
WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) in the market today. It works extremely well with web hosting providers in making sure that what’s working in the front part of the website is also working in the back-end. After installing WordPress, which takes around 5 minutes, users can have a basic website up and running before the day is over.
WordPress has an easy learning curve and is scalable from personal websites to large businesses. Plugins can be installed, activated and removed with just a few clicks. Making CSS and HTML customizations have their own place and integrate smoothly with other basic functionalities. Lastly, WordPress communities are abundant online, which means you can find and work your way around most problems without calling a support line.
Improving your web hosting infrastructure is a straightforward process. With all the tools available to website owners, it’s just a matter of knowing what is lacking and finding the right services to effectively address the concern.
What are some tools you use to increase the reliability of your web hosting infrastructure? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.