When Should You Change Your WordPress Web Hosting? (Top 7 Key Indicators)

If you‘ve been running your WordPress site for some time, you may be wondering if it‘s time for a change in web hosts. Selecting the right hosting provider is crucial for any WordPress website. However, your needs can evolve, and your current hosting company may no longer be the optimal choice.

So how do you know when it‘s time to switch WordPress hosts? In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll explore the top 7 signs indicating you should migrate to a new hosting provider.

I‘ve been managing WordPress sites for over 15 years, and I want to share the knowledge I‘ve gained about identifying poor hosting situations and when a switch is needed. My goal is to arm you with insider expertise so you can make the best decisions for your website‘s growth and success.

How Website Downtime Impacts Your Business

One of the first and most noticeable signs of subpar hosting is when your site goes down unexpectedly. Frequent downtime can seriously damage your site‘s reputation and result in major traffic and revenue losses.

To illustrate the detrimental impacts downtime can have, consider these statistics:

• 11% loss in page views for just 1 second of downtime source
• 4% drop in conversions for 10 seconds of downtime source
• 9% less conversion revenue for 1 minute of downtime source

As you can see, even small amounts of downtime can result in major impacts to your key business metrics like traffic, conversions, and revenue.

These downtime effects should give you a new perspective on the importance of rock-solid website uptime. Your hosting provider plays a crucial role here, so any frequent downtime is unacceptable and a clear sign it‘s time to switch.

1. Frequent Unexplained Downtime

One of the most obvious and frustrating signs your current WordPress hosting is underperforming is when you experience regular unexpected downtime.

Ideally, your host should provide 99.9% uptime or higher. Anything significantly lower than that indicates frequent outages that will damage your site.

Pay attention to when the downtime tends to happen too. If it occurs during peak traffic periods, your host may be unable to handle the load on their servers. Shared servers can bog down when one site uses too many resources.

Trouble is – when your site crashes, you may not know it unless you constantly watch your site (which nobody has time for).

That‘s why I recommend using an uptime monitoring service like UptimeRobot. It will notify you immediately anytime your site goes down so you can get to the bottom of it. Most monitoring tools offer basic checks for free.

If you notice multiple downtime alerts per week, it‘s worth investigating whether web hosting factors are to blame. Contact support and see if they can explain the outages. If they occur frequently with no reasonable explanation, migration to a new provider is in order.

The fix: Switch to a managed WordPress host with 99.9% uptime guarantees. Recommended hosts like SiteGround and WP Engine offer optimized infrastructure to maximize uptime.

2. Repeated "Error Establishing Database Connection" Messages

One of the most common errors you‘ll see with WordPress is the "Error Establishing Database Connection" notice.

As a quick refresher, here‘s what can cause this pesky error:

• Database server overloaded with too many requests
• Network connection issues between your site and database
• Database connection limit reached

If you notice database connection errors popping up consistently, it likely indicates hosting-related problems.

For example, shared hosts often overload database servers by cramming too many clients on one server. This makes it hard for the database to handle peak traffic loads.

Budget hosts are also notorious for using outdated database software and technologies. They skimp on resources to offer cheap plans rather than optimized setups.

If your own host seems unable to resolve recurring database connection problems, it may be time to switch to a provider who can. Migrating to a managed WordPress host is best, since their database servers are configured specifically for optimal WordPress performance.

The fix: Choose a managed WordPress host that offers modern database technologies designed for smoothly handling traffic spikes. SiteGround‘s SuperCacher tool improves database performance by caching frequent queries.

3. Repeated Internal Server Errors

Seeing generic "500 Internal Server Error" messages appear consistently can be incredibly frustrating. While this indicates some type of server-side issue, the error itself provides no clues about the specific cause.

Some common culprits behind internal server errors include:

• Outdated server software needing security patches
• Overloaded servers lacking resources
• Misconfigured server software settings
• Outdated WordPress core or plugin code

As you can imagine, troubleshooting server errors requires significant technical expertise. Your hosting provider‘s support team should have the skills to properly investigate and fix underlying problems.

If you find internal server errors keep appearing regularly, and your hosting support seems unable to resolve them, they likely lack competence with server administration and WordPress configuration. Migrating to a managed WordPress host will provide access to more knowledgeable support teams.

The fix: Switch to a managed WordPress host like WP Engine that proactively monitors for server issues and has experts available 24/7 to quickly diagnose and repair problems.

4. Sudden Unwarranted Account Suspension

Web hosting companies typically reserve the right to suspend accounts violating their terms of service. However, some hosts make missteps like:

• Overzealous automated security bots suspending legitimate accounts
• Support staff negligence leading to wrongful suspensions
• Failing to warn customers before suspending accounts

While reasonable suspensions are understandable, repeated wrongful account terminations demonstrate a lack of respect for customers. If this happens to you more than once, it‘s a glowing red flag to switch providers immediately.

When evaluating new WordPress hosts, scrutinize their suspension and termination policies closely. Look for providers offering a fair appeals process before taking any drastic actions. Transparency and communication are must-haves.

The fix: Choose a managed WordPress host with clear policies and procedures before suspending accounts. For example, SiteGround has a warning system in place and only disables sites in severe cases after multiple cautions. Their priority is keeping your site secure while avoiding unnecessary interruptions.

5. Subpar Customer Support

One thing that can make or break a hosting experience is customer support. When issues arise, you need to know someone knowledgeable is available to help. Slow, uninformed, or outsourced support teams are immensely frustrating.

Here are a few points to evaluate regarding your current host‘s support:

• Wait times: How long do you have to wait for a response? Live chat and phone should connect quickly.
• Knowledge: Do support reps seem to have WordPress and technical expertise?
• Communication: Are they friendly and able to explain things understandably?
• Resolution: Do they resolve your issues adequately and in a timely manner?

Quality WordPress hosts provide different channels like live chat, phone, helpdesk tickets, and community forums. They also have specialized WordPress infrastructure teams to expertly troubleshoot environment issues.

If your own host‘s support wait times are intolerably long or their staff lacks technical competency, a switch is definitely merited. Before choosing a new provider, research reviews to see how existing customers rate support quality.

The fix: Select a managed WordPress host like SiteGround with 24/7 WordPress-specific support teams. Their reps are extensively trained in WordPress and web hosting to deliver exceptional assistance.

6. Worsening Page Speed Issues

Your website‘s page load speeds impact numerous aspects of your business:

• User experience – Faster sites have higher visitor satisfaction and engagement. 79% of users dissatisfied with page speed are less likely to return. Source
• SEO – Google uses page speed as a ranking factor. Slow sites can drop in rankings. Source
• Conversions – Improved page speed can increase conversion rates by up to 20%. Source

If your pages are loading noticeably slower despite optimization efforts, the underlying cause may be hosting-related. Here are a few common culprits:

• Traffic overload – Too many visits on shared servers can overload resources and slow things down.
• Resource limitations – Your site may be outgrowing your server‘s available bandwidth, memory, etc.
• Software issues – Outdated platforms, plugins, PHP versions, etc can bog things down.

Your current provider should be able to help identify and correct speed problems. Solutions may involve upgrading your plan, implementing caching, or updating software.

However, if your host seems unable to get page speeds back on track, they likely lack capability to handle your site‘s continued growth. In this case, switching to a managed WordPress host with more scalable resources is the solution.

The fix: Choose a managed WordPress host like WP Engine that offers site speed optimizations like built-in caching, CDN, and auto-scaling infrastructure. Their experts can fine-tune environments for optimal WordPress performance.

7. Outgrowing Your Shared Hosting Plan

Many users start with shared hosting plans due to the low cost. However, shared hosting comes with finite resources and limits how much your site can grow. If your needs exceed these ceilings, a switch may be necessary.

Here are some typical resource limitations you may hit with entry-level shared hosting:

• Bandwidth cap – Monthly data transfer allowance
• Storage space – Available disk space for your files
• Memory – RAM allocated to your site
• CPU – Processor usage time

If your site incurs overage fees regularly or gets shut down for exceeding limits, upgrading to a higher tier shared plan may help. However, even upper shared tiers have traffic and visitor thresholds your site may eventually surpass.

In this case, switching to a managed WordPress host is the better long-term move. Their cloud infrastructure is designed for easy scalability when your resource needs increase.

The fix: Choose a managed WordPress host with flexible, rapidly scalable plans like SiteGround‘s GrowBig tier. As your traffic grows, you can scale up for more resources without migrating hosts again.

When Is It Time to Make A Switch?

If your current WordPress host shows one or more of these red flags, it may be time to find a new provider. Don‘t settle for subpar hosting that holds your site back.

Instead, take the opportunity to migrate to a managed WordPress host truly optimized for WordPress. When comparing new providers, look for hosts that offer:

• Speed and uptime through optimized infrastructure
• Easy scaling to accommodate growth
• Proactive monitoring and security
• 24/7 WordPress-skilled support

The switch process sounds potentially risky, but most managed WordPress hosts can migrate your site seamlessly with minimal downtime. This ensures no major disruptions to your business operations.

Investing in rock-solid WordPress hosting gives you peace of mind that your site has a strong foundation for continued expansion. You can focus on creating stellar content and fostering your community without technical hiccups dragging you down.

I hope this guide gives you clarity on identifying when it‘s time for a new WordPress hosting company. Please let me know if you have any other questions! I‘m always happy to help fellow site owners make smart hosting decisions.