When You Should Upgrade to a VPS Hosting Plan: 5 Indicators

Web hosting plays a vital role in running a successful website. For many beginners, building a blog or website for a small business, shared hosting is a preferable low-cost solution. However, once the website’s traffic grows to a certain level, your current hosting plan may become insufficient. 

In that case, consider migrating to a virtual private server (VPS) hosting service. This article will help you make the right decision considering various factors like security, pricing, and features.

If you have difficulty deciding when to upgrade to VPS hosting, read on to discover five indicators of why you should do so. Let’s get started.

Shared Hosting vs VPS Hosting

Before migrating from shared hosting to VPS hosting, it’s important to know the difference between these two in terms of features, benefits, and downsides.

Purchasing a shared hosting package means you get hosting resources at a lower cost. A shared hosting environment uses a single physical server to host multiple websites, meaning you will share resources with other users. Because of this, site owners might experience slower loading time or unexpected downtime during traffic peaks.

When you buy VPS hosting, you will still share the same physical server with other users. However, VPS hosting uses virtualization technology to create resource partitions, so each user gets allocated resources.

Due to these virtual partitions, websites on VPS have better performance, such as improved site speed and higher uptime. However, VPS hosting plans come at a higher price.

Unlike shared hosting, VPS hosting offers more control over server management. It grants full root access, enabling you to install your preferred operating system (OS), software, and control panel. However, it also means you need technical knowledge of how to host your own website.

5 Indicators You Should Upgrade to VPS Hosting

If you’re wondering if it’s time to upgrade from shared hosting to VPS hosting, consider the five indicators listed below.

1. Poor Website Loading Speed

Shared hosting is typically a good starting point for many website owners. It is enough to build a simple site, such as a personal blog, a business website, and a digital portfolio.

However, as your site grows, it might experience issues during traffic peaks, making it slow and unresponsive. The same performance issues may arise if you publish dynamic content or use interactive website elements like pop-ups and animations.

If you plan to build an enterprise-level website or add eCommerce functionality, upgrade to VPS hosting to maintain optimal performance.

2. Frequent Downtime

Besides website loading speed, uptime is another important factor that affects website performance. It measures the duration that a server is operational or available. High uptime is important for your website because it helps improve search engine rankings, minimize lost revenue, and build customer trust.

Downtime is a common event for all website owners – for example, in the event of regularly scheduled maintenance. However, it can also happen due to physical hardware issues, traffic surges, or resource limits. Downtime becomes a problem if it frequently occurs.

For instance, when a shared hosting server experiences too much downtime, all websites on the same server will be affected. Consider migrating your site to VPS hosting, where this is less likely to occur, if your site experiences frequent downtime.

3. Your Website Is Growing

New websites don’t need to worry about exceeding resource limits, so shared hosting is a sufficient starting point. However, you might find it challenging to maintain your hosting resources once the website has more content, media, and additional features.

You can always upgrade to a higher-tiered shared hosting plan, but another problem may arise – website performance. With this in mind, VPS hosting might be the best option to prevent a lack of server resources and poor site performance.

VPS hosting also offers easy scalability, meaning that you can upgrade resources seamlessly via your web hosting control panel. As such, there’s no need to transfer files or risk compromising your site performance.

4. You Have Security Concerns

Cyberattacks are one of the biggest concerns among website owners. So, investing in a web hosting service that offers robust security is crucial to minimize risks.

Shared hosting isn’t an ideal solution for ultimate security. That’s because if one website falls victim to a cyberattack, all websites on that server risk the same issue. This is especially dangerous if you run a website that processes sensitive user data, like credit card details.

With virtual private server hosting, your site will not be affected by other websites. It provides various security features, such as automated backups, live snapshots, a dedicated IP address, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protection.

5. Increased Web Traffic

The amount of web traffic a website can receive is significantly affected by its hosting plan’s bandwidth. Let’s say a basic shared hosting plan can handle approximately 2,000 to 3,000 visitors daily. You might experience performance issues like slow loading time if your website traffic exceeds this threshold.

So, we recommend upgrading to VPS hosting once your shared hosting plan cannot sufficiently handle the expected web traffic. With VPS hosting, there is no need to worry about exceeding traffic limits, as it can handle around 10,000 to 50,000 visitors daily.

How to Find the Right VPS Hosting Provider

There are several important aspects to consider when purchasing a VPS hosting plan since each web hosting provider offers different features and benefits.

Here are several best practices for choosing the right VPS hosting provider:

• Price. Ensure that your budget can cover the cost of your VPS plan, including renewal costs. You can also decide whether to use managed or unmanaged VPS since they have different pricing.
• Resources. Since VPS hosting providers offer multiple plans with different resources, make sure to choose the right one that matches the website’s needs.
• Support. Having reliable customer support is important, especially when there are technical issues you can’t solve.
• Reputation. Check the web hosting provider’s credibility by reading customer reviews. It will help you determine whether its VPS services are worth purchasing.

Conclusion

At a certain point, almost every site owner will have to upgrade their hosting to keep up with website growth. However, some might find it challenging to decide when the perfect time is to upgrade their hosting service.

To help ease the decision-making process, this article has gone over the differences between shared hosting and VPS hosting.

We have also covered various indicators for when to upgrade your shared hosting to VPS hosting. Here is a quick recap:

1. Poor website performance.

2. Frequent downtime.

3. Your business is growing.

4. You have security concerns.

5. Increased web traffic.

We hope this article helps you decide when to upgrade your web hosting plan. Good luck on your online journey!