If it can go wrong….

…sooner or later it will.

A number of my sites were down yesterday for about 12 hours because one of the hosting companies I use was down. Apparently, the hosting company uses a fibre optic line that was subject to vandalism.

I think one should expect downtime at some point. So therefore I thought I had reasonable contingency plans in place:

• I’ve got 2 machines. A pc that I use during the day and a laptop that I tend to use of an evening. I’ve purchased the software I want for both machines. So, if either machine dies I’ve got a backup box.
• I back up to DVD (note to self…do backups more frequently.)
• If my broadband link or phone line dies then at a push during the week and I can walk up to our local library and make use of their facilities. Not ideal, but do-able. I could also revert to one of the many online dial-up facilities that are available, like nippy for instance.
• But what can you do if your webhost has problems?

Well, first off, if it looks like it’s going be a lengthy downtime then pause all relevant PPC ads - what’s the point in sending paid-for visitors to a dead site?

If possible, direct PPC traffic to another of your sites or straight to a merchants site. Of course, on the Yahoo network you have to wait for approval of an amended URL that can sometimes take an age, so pausing an ad might be the only solution.

This downtime has reminded me of the need to spread my use of hosting companies and also increase the breadth of my income streams. As an affiliate, I shouldn’t become too reliant on one or two strong income streams - because if these streams dry-up I’m looking at a serious drop in my income. Sure, I can make hay whilst the sun is shining down upon a particular product or service but I should always have other pots of income simmering gently.

affiliate marketing - web hosting