Why should you take website downtime seriously? How does it affect your business? Learn more about it here and keep your business running.
The dawn of the internet and computers gave birth to eCommerce. Entrepreneurs made use of this advancement to reach global customers and increase sales. The industry sees a massive future in the new business model. Fast forward to 2021; online businesses have become the behemoth business model that helped many companies grow bigger and small entrepreneurs achieve success.
No business has zero risks; this includes online businesses. Various resources, for example, Emily and Blair, will teach you the common risks of eCommerce from tough competition, online security breaches, data theft, scam, and many more. But one issue that is not often addressed is website downtime.
What is Website Downtime?
Have you accessed a website to buy or look for information but are unable to do so since it is inaccessible?
Website downtime is a condition wherein the website is completely inaccessible. The website could not perform its primary functions, as a result, the viewers or users are unable to access the website. It is, likewise, referred to as a website outage.
Is Website Downtime a Serious Problem?
Website downtime is an inevitable risk in eCommerce and poses a serious threat to business. It could create a domino effect on your online store.
First, it causes customer dissatisfaction. When customers are displeased, it can lead to poor reviews that could likewise influence the action of potential customers. Bad reviews tarnish the website’s image and trustworthiness; as a result, potential customers might hesitate to transact with you.
When the brand’s image is viewed in a bad light, it could affect future sales. Poor reviews mean lesser customers, and a low number of customers mean poor revenues.
Moreover, website downtime may drop your website’s traffic and search engine ranking. Low traffic and search engine ranking could affect your website’s internet visibility. Thus, lesser people could find and view your website.
Why does it Happen?
There are four main causes of website downtime. These are server overload, software malfunction, cyber-attack, and miscellaneous causes.
When there is a surge of traffic on the website, the hosting provider sometimes glitches, causing website downtime. So, the host usually suspends the website with the highest surge to protect the other site it hosts. When it happens, some of the website’s functions won’t perform well, leading the web to crash.
Hardware and software issues are other causes of website downtime. Lack of maintenance is the main cause of this problem. Also, incompatible hardware, software, and plug-ins trigger the issue.
Malicious cyber-attack is another risk of online business. If you notice an unusual traffic surge or suspicious transactions, then chances are your website is under attack. Website downtime is likewise a result of hackers attacking your website.
Other potential issues that may give rise to website downtime are accidentally unplugging a cord while running the server, rough managing of servers, and improper code review. These issues are easily addressed by correcting human errors and stopping them from happening.
You can protect your website from an outage by strengthening its security layers. Also, look for a reliable hosting service that could handle the surge of traffic.
