When choosing the ideal web host for your website, there are a lot of factors to take into consideration. Obviously you want one that will provide adequate storage, fast loading speeds and a minimum of downtime.
One thing you may not have taken into account, however, is the environmental impact of your preferred web host. With more and more eco-friendly web hosting companies cropping up, it may be time to think about making the switch. Here are the top 6 reasons to switch to a green web host today.
1. Lessen Your Carbon Footprint
This is the most obvious reason, but that’s because it’s also the most important. To safeguard our environment for generations to come, it’s key that we try to offset our energy and fossil fuel usage.
Most data centers use a huge amount of energy, and not the renewable kind. When you make the switch to an environmentally friendly web hosting company, you can feel confident that your site will be powered by sustainable, renewable energy sources.
Eco-friendly web hosts that don’t have their own sources of renewable energy earn their name by purchasing renewable energy credits instead. No matter which you choose, you can rest assured knowing your website won’t contribute to environmental pollution.
2. It’s Comparably Priced
It’s a commonly held belief that switching to a green web host will result in much higher fees. The truth is that if you go with one that creates its own energy, pricing can be lower than that of a standard web hosting company.
The reason is simple: a company that has its own wind or solar farm doesn’t rely on the standard energy grid. Therefore, they don’t have to pay for the massive amount of energy required to host a multitude of sites.
As a self-powered web host grows and is able to offset the initial cost of setting up their energy source, those savings get passed along to you. Saving the environment just got a lot cheaper.
3. Possible Tax Credits
To make the price of going green even better, if your website is particularly large, you could potentially save hundreds or even thousands via tax credits.
Many governments these days allow companies to write off expenses that they deem to be environmentally friendly. If your hosting bills are quite high, it may be worth making the switch just for the tax incentives.
Of course, not all environmentally friendly web hosts qualify, so if this is important for you, do your homework and don’t be afraid to ask!
4. It’s Marketable
“Going green” isn’t just for hippies anymore. These days, promoting green energy and renewable resources is a sign that your company or website cares about the environment.
This builds trust with your consumers or reader base. Having an eco-friendly badge displayed on your site says that it’s modern and actively works toward building a better world. With the emphasis placed on moving toward eco-friendly practices, this can keep people coming back to your site over and over again.
5. Inspire Change
Having a badge on your site that proclaims it to be eco-friendly won’t just help you build a consumer base; it also helps to inspire others to make the switch to green hosting.
This may not seem like a big deal, but if you’re passionate about reversing your carbon footprint, it stands to reason you’d want others to try as well. Displaying your green status prominently can help others not only find out about eco-friendly web hosting, but learn more about how they, too, can offset their energy consumption.
6. Potentially Less Downtime
Not all green website hosts are “green” in the same way. Some have their own sources of renewable energy. This kind can benefit your site because they aren’t subject to the same power outages that may affect traditionally powered data servers.
Plus, even if they do happen to lose power, they often have large reserves to draw from. This ensures that your site won’t go down often, and if it does, it will be back online faster than you thought possible. This is great news for those who simply can’t afford to lose power to their sites.
Conclusion
Making the decision to switch web hosting companies is never easy – there’s the task of switching your site to new servers, the uncertainty about uptime and technical support and all the little details that need to be ironed out.
However, making the switch from a traditional web host to a green web host is almost a no-brainer these days. With a growing list of options to choose from, you can rest secure in the knowledge that you are not only getting a great service, but helping out the environment at the same time.
If green website hosting is something you’re considering, look for one that creates its own energy, whether solar or wind-powered. Also look for a company that provides site badges advertising their eco-friendly status.
Bringing your website to the forefront of the green revolution never made more sense.