Why All Sites Go Down
Amazon averages sales of $117,882 per minute. I'll let you think about that number for a second. That's a good deal of cash, so it might not have mattered much that Amazon recently lost around $4.72 million when Amazon's site went down for 40 minutes this past Monday. But for companies that aren't as big as Amazon, 40 minutes offline is a big deal.
Most people attempting to purchase an item from Amazon on Monday probably revisited the site later in the day because, let's face it, it's hard to beat Amazon's content selection or pricing. So the fact of the matter is that Amazon probably didn't lose that much money, and the $4.72 million estimate is likely off-base. However, Amazon is lucky.
Why All Sites Go Down: The Reality
Most businesses that are knocked offline for 40 minutes do lose a ton of money, and consumers that might have purchased goods from a smaller site will likely just go to a site like Amazon when an outage occurs. Once that business is gone, it's gone for good. I'm going to level with you, though, you can't prevent a temporary site shutdown from happening.
Amazon has been knocked offline, and so have Google, Netflix, Reddit, Instagram, and many other sites. Sites go down, that's a fact of life. Some people will tell you that going with a cheap web hosting provider almost certainly ensures that your site will be offline more often than not – but this isn't true. I can prove it.
Why All Sites Go Down: Why Cheap Hosting Doesn't Mean Lots of Offline Time
Netflix uses Amazon's cloud services, and is easily one of Amazon's biggest cloud clients. This past Christmas, Netflix went down on Christmas Eve, causing lots of Netflix users to protest (and angering the company too). Amazon's cloud hosting packages aren't exactly cheap, but they still go down.
So, does it really matter whether or not you aim for an inexpensive hosting option or a pricier one like Amazon? You want to find a host with a good reputation, that's for sure. You also want to find a host that has great package deals and has been favorably reviewed, that much is true too. But, it might not actually be worth your money to go for a really expensive hosting option.
Why All Sites Go Down: Is Smaller Better?
It's not really a matter of size, either, though smaller companies are more likely to provide users with better customer service. It's really all about realizing that all websites go down once in awhile. Choose a hosting company based on features, prices, and customer service – not on the size of the company.
Even sites like Amazon and Netflix go down from time to time. Going with a really expensive hosting option over a cheap host isn't going to stop your site from going offline. If, and when, your site does go down, the best thing that you can do is to make sure that you have a backup plan ready to go.
Got questions? Comments? Let me know!
