Website downtime is a nightmare for businesses and customers. Therefore, it’s important to prevent it from happening entirely or keep downtime to an absolute minimum. Otherwise, it’s going to negatively impact your business and ultimately stop customers from using your website. In the e-commerce space, where around 2.14 billion people shop online (Oberlo), this is something you can’t afford to happen.
Because you’re reading this guide, it’s fair to assume that your business website is always going down. If this is the case, you’ll no doubt be frustrated. However, you can stop worrying, as help has arrived. By the end of this guide, you’ll be ready to take your business website to the next level and stop it from going down like a popped balloon.
Here’s what you need to know!
1. Use API Monitoring
API Monitoring is the automated process of monitoring your different APIs in order to identify any problems before they reach the customer. When a problem is identified, engineering teams are immediately notified so that they can fix the problem — simple.
Or at least in your case, API uptime monitoring will be. The uptime monitors will constantly keep checking the availability of your business website. As soon as anything changes, you’ll be notified within a matter of seconds (or minutes), which gives you plenty of time to act.
Without API monitoring, you run the risk of long periods of website downtime as well as countless other problems. This is why the likes of Google and Amazon (who process literally billions of daily API transactions) use highly efficient API monitoring tools.
2. Choose a Reliable Web Host
These days, there are countless different website hosts that businesses can choose from.
Usually, businesses choose their host based on budget. However, it’s highly recommended that you don’t cut too many corners, as it’s essential that you choose a reliable web host. Otherwise, you run the risk of poor-quality service and lots of downtime.
Some of the most popular web hosts include GoDaddy, Wix, HostGator, and iPage. Make your choice carefully and don’t rush into it. Remember, go with a host that offers at least a guaranteed uptime of 99% or higher.
3. Improve Your Cybersecurity
Cyberattacks are one of the leading causes of downtime amongst businesses. You need to be conscious of this and improve your cybersecurity to keep any threats to a minimum. Here are some useful tips for improving your cybersecurity in 2023:
- Train employees to spot phishing attempts
- Keep your software up to date
- Have a strong password policy
42% of small businesses have experienced cyberattacks at some point — don’t let yours be one of them!
4. Prevent Server Overload
Server overload is usually a problem for big businesses with lots of customers. Usually, what happens is that too many customers try to access their website or app at the same time, and it leads to the server crashing. It’s not ideal — but it’s still possible to avoid.
Backup servers are a great place to start. On top of this, you can use web application firewalls that are designed to stop unwanted customer traffic. Load balancing software is great, too, as it essentially puts customers into an orderly queue and only lets a certain number access your website at a time.
Summary
In the past, you’ve struggled with business website downtime. Now, this will no longer be the case. With the help of the tips you’ve just read, you can keep your website downtime under control and ultimately make your customers happier.