A common grouse which most web hosts have is collection of payments and fees. Delayed payments from customers can mean that web hosts have to rework their monthly budget and cash flow and adjust their outward payments accordingly. This itself can be time-consuming and expensive. The advantage that web hosts have over other businesses is that they have full control over the clients account and can suspend the services or terminate the account at will. This article highlights a couple of reasons why you should pay your renewal fees or hosting charges to your web host, on a timely basis.
Prevent Account Suspension
Most web hosts automatically setup their services to Suspend or even terminate an account, if the renewal or subscription fees are not paid on time. This can be managed by an Automated Billing System which integrates with the Hosting Server and controls the Accounts. The billing system can send out automatic reminders for the payment and can also provide an online payment collection service. This means that clients can pay their renewal fees online at any time of the day, from anywhere in the world. If the deadline is missed, the account may be suspended after giving a Suspension Notice to the client. Account Suspension can lead to services becoming unavailable and visitors seeing a Suspension Message on all the pages.
Prevent Last Minute Delays
Last minute payments can be subject to several delays and failures which will ultimately lead to non-payment and the account getting suspended. Last Minute payments are often affected by bank delays, postal delays, payment processing issues, expired credit cards, connectivity issues and so on. Don't wait till the last minute to make the payment, lest one of these factors prevents you from doing so and your payment becomes overdue and your account getting cancelled.
Prevent Your Website Ranking from falling
With a suspended account, you can't do much. Search Engines will realise that your account is suspended and that no fresh content is being served up from it. This will lead to your ranking falling in various search engines. It may also lead you to fall so drastically that you are unable to recover from it. A prominent financial analyst Saneil Shah pointed out that "the cost of remembering and paying your hosting fees on time is minuscule compared to the loss your website will face if your website is suspended". He went on to say that "losing your website ranking could lead to a permanent loss, which may be irrecoverable".
Avoid Late Fees
Some hosting providers charge a Late Payment Fee to penalize clients for paying late as well as to deter procrastinators. While this may not be very helpful in getting payments on time, it surely helps the web host by compensating for the delay in payment. Late fees can be a fixed amount or even a percentage of the outstanding payment. This could increase the payment to a significantly high amount. When the payment due is high, there may also be interest on the outstanding amount along with the other charges. The simplest way to avoiding all these excess payments is to pay your dues on time.
Build Trust and Goodwill
When your payment for web hosting or related services is made on time or before time, it eases the burden of your web host in collecting the payment. Web hosts keep a mental note of your payment patterns and how many times they have to chase you up to recover the dues. Having a client who pays on time is a pleasure for any business and may lead to your host being helpful and even going beyond the line of duty to help you out when you most need it.
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