If you’ve ever been looking for a web hosting provider you’ve probably been bombarded with ads promising a 99.9% or 99.99% web hosting uptime guarantee or perhaps even a bold 100% one, yes?
Well, if you’re not sure what to make of them, you’re at the right place. We're going to dive deep into the subject of uptime guarantees — what they are, what they really mean, and why you should bother finding this out.
However, before we go any further, let’s clear up what is uptime as well as its flip side –— downtime. Uptime is measured as a percentage of time a service (web hosting in our case) is available. So, for instance, if a web hosting service is available 99.9% of the time, your website will be up and running for that amount of time.
On the other side, downtime is the amount of time a site is unavailable — whether due to scheduled maintenance, cyber-attacks, hardware or software breaking down, server overload, or other unexpected events.
Whichever the case is, you’ll want to maximize the uptime and minimize the downtime of your site, so your customers can reach it at any hour of the day or night.
So, while choosing the web hosting provider for your site, keep an eye out for uptime guarantees.
What is an uptime guarantee?
An uptime guarantee of “three nines” or 99.9% is currently considered to be an industry standard for web hosting services and it translates to less than 0.1% downtime in any given month - less than 45 minutes per month, roughly speaking.
So, if your site suffers more downtime than it’s specified in the guarantee, you should receive some sweet compensation – probably in the form of account credits or a partial refund.
These types of guarantees are often backed by Service Level Agreements (SLAs), so make sure to check them out before signing up for a service – and don’t forget about the small print.
How is uptime calculated?
To calculate your uptime score take the number of seconds that your monitor was down within a specific time frame (we mostly take a month or a year with long-term monitoring) and divide this by the number of seconds your monitor was being monitored throughout that time frame. This will get you the downtime percentage.
There are tons of tools out there that can help you translate these percentages into hours, minutes, and seconds, but for the sake of illustration, let’s say that 99% of uptime per month translates to 7-hours, 18 minutes and 17 seconds for that month – it’s a terrible score.
Likewise, 99.9% of uptime translates to 43 minutes and 49 seconds per month, while a highly-desirable 99.99% uptime would decode to 4 minutes and 22 seconds of downtime per month, which can be safely ignored.
So, as you can see, a difference between 99%, 99.9%, and 99.99% uptime can be crucial to your business's success.
What is a good uptime?
Every moment of downtime can affect your business, as website downtime can cost companies an average of $5,600 per minute.
Still, for most websites, especially those on shared hosting, a 99.9% or 99.99% uptime guarantee is sufficient. However, if you're running a business-critical website, you should aim for 99.999% or higher uptime to ensure maximum availability.
Looking at some popular web hosting providers, here's the uptime guarantee they each promiser:
- DreamHost: 99.95%
- Hostinger: 99.956%
- SiteGround: 99.999%
- Bluehost: 99.89%
- ScalaHosting: 100%
Factors influencing web hosting uptime
Web hosting uptime is a critical metric that directly impacts your website's success and visibility. While many hosting providers advertise impressive uptime guarantees of 99.9% or higher, the actual reliability of their service depends on numerous technical and infrastructural elements.
The complexity of modern web hosting infrastructure means that multiple components must work together seamlessly to maintain consistent uptime. When any single element fails, it can result in website downtime, affecting user experience, sales, and search engine rankings. Here are just a few factors that influence web hosting uptime.
- Hardware quality: The foundation of reliable hosting starts with robust server hardware, including high-quality processors, solid-state drives (SSD), and redundant power supplies. This extends to the data center infrastructure, encompassing redundant power systems, climate control, and multiple network connections. Load balancing systems and content delivery networks (CDNs) further enhance reliability by distributing traffic across multiple servers.
- Security infrastructure: A comprehensive security framework is essential for maintaining uptime, incorporating advanced DDoS protection, enterprise-grade firewalls, and real-time intrusion detection systems. Regular security audits, automated malware scanning, and prompt security patches help prevent security-related downtime incidents.
- Technical configuration: Server optimization plays a crucial role in maintaining uptime, including proper resource allocation, database optimization, and efficient caching systems. Regular maintenance schedules, proactive monitoring, and automated backup systems ensure potential issues are identified and resolved before they impact website availability.
- Network architecture: The quality and redundancy of network infrastructure significantly influence uptime. This includes multiple tier-1 network providers, redundant routing protocols, and sophisticated traffic management systems. Geographic distribution of servers and data centers provides additional reliability through redundancy.
100% uptime is rare
We’ve talked about “the nines,” but what about a 100% uptime guarantee? The truth is, it’s not just rare — it’s statistically impossible. No site can be guaranteed to stay up all the time, especially with unpredictable events like natural disasters, labor strikes, or pandemics.
Plus, did you know planned maintenance doesn’t usually count as downtime? If your hosting provider notifies you in advance about scheduled maintenance, that downtime typically isn’t eligible for compensation, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
So, if a web host promises 100% uptime, make sure to check their terms of service or ask their sales team what that guarantee really covers.
What happens if your web host cannot fulfill its uptime guarantee?
Choosing the wrong web hosting provider is a common cause of site downtime, especially with cheaper options that rely on off-shore servers. It’s no surprise that corners are often cut to keep costs low.
If your site is experiencing frequent downtime, a small account credit as an apology isn’t enough to make up for the losses.
Most hosting providers offer compensation like a percentage of your hosting fee, a free month of service, or even a full refund. While this may sound fair, it often falls short — especially if you’re running a growing ecommerce platform where even a few minutes of daily downtime can cost thousands in lost sales.
Downtime hurts your business. If your current provider can’t deliver reliable service, it’s time to find one that can.
Read the fine prints on uptime rates
If everyone took the time to read the fine print on uptime guarantees before signing up for web hosting, there would be far fewer frustrated customers.
For example, a 99.9% uptime guarantee doesn’t mean your site will always be up 99.9% of the time. It simply means you might be compensated if it’s not.
And remember those exclusions we mentioned? Certain situations don’t count toward the uptime guarantee, so it’s important to review these carefully before committing to a service.
Even if your outage qualifies for compensation, you usually don’t get to decide how it's handled. When you do, the compensation is often minimal—around $0.50 for many entry-level shared hosting plans.
On top of that, hosting companies rarely offer cash refunds. Instead, they’ll credit your account with a small amount—usually not enough to cover even a month of hosting.
Why does your website’s uptime matter?
The more downtime an ecommerce website suffers, the more sales will come to a halt, which will result in a loss of revenue.
It doesn’t matter how beautiful your website design is, if it goes down far too often or takes too much time to load, it’s all for nothing — a customer's trust and loyalty will take a critical hit.
Also, if your site remains down for a devastating amount of time, search engines will find it difficult to crawl your web pages. You’ll fail a search engine optimization (SEO) test, too.
If all this wasn’t already enough, too much downtime could indicate serious security issues such as out-of-date software, server vulnerabilities, and a lack of security measures overall. So, if your site is constantly going down, it’s high time to take a look at your web hosting provider’s security protocols.
How to find a hosting provider with good uptime
While uptime guarantees are important indicators, they shouldn't be the only factor in your decision-making process. Many providers advertise 99.9% uptime guarantees, but the real measure of reliability goes beyond these marketing promises.
To make an informed decision, you need to evaluate multiple aspects of a hosting provider's service quality and infrastructure. A comprehensive assessment will give you a better indication of their actual ability to maintain consistent uptime. Look for key indicators like:
- Transparent uptime reporting and historical performance data
- Multiple data center locations with geographic redundancy
- Comprehensive security measures including SSL certificates and regular backups
- 24/7 technical support with multiple contact channels
- Clear compensation policies for downtime incidents
- Modern server technology including SSD storage and current-generation processors
- Proactive server monitoring and maintenance protocols
- Scalable infrastructure that can handle traffic spikes
- Strong customer reviews focusing specifically on reliability
- Clear terms of service regarding resource usage and limitations
Downtime is inevitable, so it's better to be safe
While with all web hosting providers you’re doomed to suffer some level of downtime, you’ll be safer if you go with the one who offers 99.9% of uptime at the least and backs it up with an SLA — suitable small letters included.
Also, instead of focusing all your attention on a good-looking uptime guarantee, it’s smarter to look at ratings and reviews (both professional and customer ones) before choosing the right web hosting provider for your site.
- Check out our list of the best website builder services on the market
