Fast, secure WordPress hosting looked after by the person who built your site
Website hosting Ballarat businesses can rely on, set up properly and looked after by me. No call centre queues and no guessing who to ring when your site goes quiet.
The quiet bit of your website that nobody notices until it stops working
Every website needs somewhere to live. Hosting is the computer (a server) that stores your website files and sends them to people the moment they type in your address or tap a Google result. If the server is slow, your website is slow. If the server falls over, your website disappears until someone fixes it.
Most small business owners I talk to have never thought about their hosting. That is fair enough. It usually came bundled with a domain years ago or was set up by someone who has since moved on. The trouble starts when the site gets hacked, runs slowly or the renewal bill doubles and nobody knows where the login is.
When I build a new website I set the hosting up at the same time so everything is in one place and I know exactly how it is configured. I can also look after hosting for a site someone else built.
The things I check before I put any website on a server
Cheap and good hosting are not always the same thing. These are the basics I look for so your site loads fast and stays online.
Pages should load in a couple of seconds on a phone. Slow sites lose visitors and Google notices it too.
The padlock in the browser bar. It keeps form details private and stops browsers warning people your site is not secure.
Copies of your site stored away from the live server, so a bad update or a hack is a setback rather than a disaster.
The server itself needs current versions of PHP and other software so WordPress runs safely and quickly.
Enough storage and resources for a shop, a booking system or a busy blog without hitting a wall.
When something goes wrong you ring me. I already know your site and how it is set up, so there is no starting from scratch.
Why the bargain plan is rarely the bargain it looks like
Budget hosting plans squeeze hundreds of websites onto one server. When a neighbouring site gets busy or gets hacked, everyone on that server can slow down with it. You will not see that on the sales page.
Introductory prices also tend to jump at renewal. Support often means a ticket system and a long wait. For a tradie, a cafe or a clinic in Ballarat that relies on the phone ringing, a website that is down for a weekend is lost work.
I would rather set you up on hosting that suits your site and keep an eye on it, so you can get on with running your business.
Pick the one that fits where your website is at right now
Some people want everything handled. Others just want a second opinion on what they already have.
Building a new site with me? I set up the hosting, SSL and email records as part of the build so launch day goes smoothly.
Most common
Unhappy with your current host? I move your WordPress site across, test it and switch it over with as little downtime as possible.
Happy where you are? I can still look after updates, backups and security through a maintenance plan.
How a hosting move works from start to finish
Moving hosts sounds scary but it is a routine job when it is planned properly. Your old site stays live the whole time until the new one is ready.
1
I look at your current hosting, domain, email setup and website so nothing gets missed, especially email.
2
Your files and database are copied to the new hosting and checked while the old site keeps running.
3
Forms, pages, images and any shop or booking features are tested on the new server before anyone sees it.
4
The domain is pointed to the new hosting, the SSL certificate goes on and I keep watch for a few days afterwards.
A quick plain English guide so the bills make sense
A lot of confusion comes from these three getting lumped together. Your domain is your address, like yourbusiness.com.au. Hosting is where the website files live. Email can sit with your hosting or with a separate service such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.
They can all be with the one company or spread across a few. What matters is that you know where each one is and that the logins are in your name. When I set up website hosting for a Ballarat business I write all of this down and hand it over, so you are never locked out of your own website.
If you are not sure where your website is hosted right now, send me your web address and I will find out for you.
Answers to what Ballarat businesses ask most about hosting
Got a question that isn’t covered here? Ring me or send a message and you’ll hear back within one business day.
Website Design Ballarat, run by Nick Fritzkowski, sets up and looks after WordPress hosting for small businesses in Ballarat and nearby towns. Nick builds the sites himself, so the person who answers when something goes wrong already knows how your site is put together. He can host a site he built or take over one built by someone else.
Website hosting is charged separately from a new website build at Website Design Ballarat, along with your domain name. Nick sets the hosting up during the build so it is ready on launch day. He explains the yearly cost before anything is purchased. The build itself includes a free first year of WordPress maintenance.
A Ballarat business can usually move its website to new hosting with little or no downtime if the move is planned. Nick copies the site to the new server and tests it while the old one stays live. The domain is only pointed across once everything works. Email settings are checked first so messages keep arriving.
A slow Ballarat business website is often caused by crowded budget hosting, oversized images or too many plugins. The hosting is a good place to start because no amount of tidying fixes a slow server. Nick can check your site, tell you where the time is going and suggest if a hosting move or a clean up will help most.
Every business website in Victoria should have an SSL certificate, which is what puts the padlock in the browser bar. Without one, Chrome and other browsers warn visitors that the site is not secure and many people leave straight away. Nick installs SSL on every site he hosts and keeps it renewing automatically.
Your domain stays registered in your own name when Website Design Ballarat sets up your hosting. Nick believes business owners should always control their own web address, so he hands over the login details and keeps a record of where everything sits. If you ever move on, you take your domain and website with you.
Email can be set up alongside website hosting for Ballarat businesses, although a separate email service is often the better choice for teams. Nick will talk through what you need, then set up the email records correctly so messages from your website and inbox do not land in spam. He works over the phone, email and video calls.
Send me your web address and I will tell you where it lives, what it is costing you and if it could run better.
