Whether you’re running a small business, a busy eCommerce store, or a larger digital enterprise, safeguarding your website is crucial. Why?
Because an unsecured website can expose your entire business to serious risks, from data breaches to extended downtime. These issues can damage your reputation, erode customer trust, and, in the worst cases, cause financial loss.
One of the best ways to keep your website protected is by choosing the right hosting provider. A good provider isn’t just about reliable performance; they play an active role in your site’s long-term security.
But how can you tell if your provider has your back? Here are 10 key questions to ask to ensure your website remains secure and protected.
10 essential questions
1. How do you manage software updates?
Regular software updates are essential to keeping your website secure. Software in this context refers to the core components that make your site function, such as WordPress, its themes, and any plugins you may have installed. Outdated versions of these are common entry points for hackers, so staying up-to-date is critical.
At CMS Live, we offer automatic updates for WordPress core, themes, and plugins, as well as PHP versions. We test these updates thoroughly before rolling them out to ensure your site remains safe, functional, and up-to-date.
2. How do you handle server updates?
Server updates are just as crucial as software updates when it comes to website security and performance. These updates include patches and upgrades to the server’s operating system, PHP versions, and other key components. Keeping these elements up-to-date is essential because they address security vulnerabilities, improve performance, and ensure compatibility with the latest software and tools.
At CMS Live, we regularly update and patch our servers to keep them secure and running smoothly. We believe in transparency, so we notify our customers about important server updates, including PHP version changes, via our LinkedIn page and website. Staying informed ensures your website is always using the most secure and efficient technologies.
3. Do you provide firewall protection?
Firewalls are your website’s first line of defence against malicious traffic. While most hosting providers offer basic firewall protection, the quality and level of protection can vary greatly. This is where CMS Live stands out.
What sets CMS Live apart is our manual intervention, where we cross-reference traffic logs with website server logs. While Cloudflare offers excellent preset rules, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. We go beyond the standard setup by manually analysing the traffic that passes through Cloudflare. This allows us to create custom rule sets to challenge and block malicious requests, tailored specifically to your site’s needs.
It’s important to note that Cloudflare is just one part of our comprehensive security system. We also utilise other web application firewalls (WAFs), hardware firewalls, IP address banning, and antivirus scanning to ensure your website is thoroughly protected.
Our daily manual intervention gives us real-time insights into the traffic coming to each website, enabling us to detect potential threats early. By combining manual checks with automated processes, we can spot and resolve issues much faster than relying on automation alone.
Additionally, Cloudflare doesn’t just work out of the box—it requires proper configuration by someone with the right expertise. At CMS Live, we ensure Cloudflare is optimised for your site’s security.
4. How often do you back up my site?
Backups are critical for preventing data loss in case of hacking, accidental deletion, or other disasters. A good provider should offer frequent backups, which are especially important for eCommerce and data-heavy sites. You’ll also want to check how long backups are retained, with 30-day backups being a solid benchmark.
At CMS Live, we take regular, automatic backups and offer on-demand backups whenever you make significant changes. Our backup solutions cover everything, from databases to themes, plugins, and media files.
5. What uptime guarantee do you offer?
Downtime not only frustrates your visitors but can also harm your business. A reliable hosting provider should offer an uptime guarantee—typically at least 99.9%—and back it with a Service Level Agreement (SLA).
At CMS Live, we provide a 99.95% uptime guarantee, ensuring your site stays live, even during high-traffic periods. Depending on the nature of your business, the SLA requirements may vary, and we can work with you to establish the appropriate SLA for your specific needs. If you have special requirements, like seasonal sales events, we’ll ensure your site can handle the extra load seamlessly.
6. What happens if my site goes down?
It’s important to understand who is responsible if your site experiences an outage. Your hosting provider should clearly outline their accountability and support in case of downtime. Equally important is knowing what’s expected of you as the site owner.
If your site goes offline, it’s important to determine whether the issue is related to a data centre issue (hardware, power, mechanical), or if it’s caused by something specific to your website.
Sometimes, sites go down due to targeted short-term attacks. For instance, hackers may flood a website with thousands of requests to see how it responds, which can overwhelm the server and lead to downtime.
At CMS Live, we believe in transparent communication. We clearly outline what you can expect from us and ensure you’re aware of any responsibilities on your end. While we aim to minimise downtime, there is always the possibility of planned maintenance. In such cases, we’ll notify you in advance to ensure you’re prepared and disruptions are kept to a minimum.
We oversee everything related to the data centre, ensuring that hardware and infrastructure are working properly. Uptime is our highest priority.
7. What happens if my site gets attacked?
Websites can be targeted by cyberattacks that overwhelm them with huge amounts of data, such as DDoS attacks. Depending on the severity of the attack, your site could go offline.
However, at CMS Live, we have early prevention systems in place to mitigate such events, including real-time traffic monitoring and custom rule sets designed to block malicious activity before it affects your site.
Our manual and automated processes allow us to detect and respond to threats quickly, helping to minimise the impact of attacks and keep your site protected.
8. Can I get a dedicated server for better security?
Dedicated servers provide extra layers of security and performance, especially for businesses with high traffic or stringent security requirements. Instead of sharing resources with other websites, a dedicated server ensures your site’s performance won’t be impacted by others.
At CMS Live, we offer dedicated server options tailored to your business’s unique needs, providing enhanced control, security, and performance optimisation.
9. How easy is it to scale my site’s resources?
Your website needs will change as your business grows. Whether you’re scaling up for a big sale or scaling down in quieter times, your hosting provider should offer flexibility without causing downtime or data loss.
CMS Live works with you to proactively scale your resources, so your site stays fast and reliable, no matter how much traffic comes your way.
10. How responsive is your customer support?
When things go wrong, having responsive, knowledgeable support is a must. Ask your hosting provider about the level of support they offer, especially for technical issues that need urgent attention.
At CMS Live, we offer round-the-clock support from WordPress experts who can resolve problems quickly and keep your site running smoothly. You won’t just speak to a call centre or submit a support ticket; we provide personalised assistance.
Protect Your Website with Confidence
Choosing a hosting provider that prioritises security is key to protecting your website – and your business. By asking these 10 questions, you can ensure your provider is equipped to keep your website safe from threats, whether you’re a small business or a growing enterprise.
At CMS Live, we’re here to provide top-tier hosting, security, and support, so you can focus on growing your business with confidence.
