Cloud Hosting Improves Site Profitability

By Gary Elfert | May 14th, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Now that almost every company has a website, it’s sufficed to say that companies are looking for a competitive advantage on the web.  As a result, the need for an optimal hosting environment has become more important than ever.

The usage of cloud hosting is increasingly popular and the benefits easily outline why.  The scalability, cost-efficiency and velocity of cloud hosting continue to drive the popularity of this technology.  Cloud hosting and cloud computing yields overall faster loading pages, and sites with faster loading pages yield profitability.

Here are 3 of the reasons cloud hosting creates a more profitable website:

1. Positive User Experience - Cloud hosting enables faster loading pages by utilizing multiple load balanced servers.  When end users experience faster speed times, they’re more likely to click through pages or return to the site.  This also helps to reduce bounce rates.  Just last June, Google conducted an experiment testing the affect of speed levels on the end user.  Slowing down the search results page by only 100-400 milliseconds impacted the number of searches per user of -0.2% to -0.6%. What may appear as miniscule numbers actually amounts to 0.2% to 0.6% fewer searches for changes under half a second!  Even the slightest delay can negatively influence a user’s decision to continue accessing a site.

2. Reduce operating costs –Cloud hosting already can save you money with a pay-as-you-grow usage model, but the ability to increase page loading speeds can save you even more.  Last summer Shopzilla reported the results from a year-long performance study stating a 5 second speed-up resulted in a 25% increase in page views, 50% reduction in hardware, and 7-12% increase in revenue.  This stat not only demonstrates the obvious profitability from speedier pages, but also the operational cost savings from a reduction in hardware.

3.  Web Search Ranking – The latest announcement from Google stated site speed will factor in to the search ranking algorithm.  Google states, and Google software engineer, Matt Cutts, reiterates that page relevance will still carry more SEO weight with less than 1% of queries affected by site speed, at this point.  This is not to say that site speed can’t positively impact your site, however.  Cutts also states the importance of embracing this change and turning it into an opportunity – the opportunity to improve your site speed thus improving your site.

Most websites are still limited to a single server through dedicated or shared hosting.  For companies seeking a positive end user experience, lower costs, and potential higher search rankings, opt for hosting in the cloud with a company such as ReliaCloud.

Learn more about ReliaCloud cloud server costs.

Curious about your site’s speed?  Try a free test.

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