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Technical support is a must-have for any hosting plan. Even more important is 24/7 technical support. You don’t want to be stuck with a downed website, and no way to get help. The Internet doesn’t close up at 9 pm. People can and will try to browse and purchase at all hours. A technical issue can lower your potential client’s trust in your website, making them unlikely to check back in when your site is working better. Any technical support plan that isn’t 24/7 runs the risk of falling victim to time zone complications.
The Internet doesn’t have operating hours
One of the problems that comes with lacking 24/7 technical support is that the Internet doesn’t have operating hours. You never know when people will be accessing your website. You could have someone from the other side of the world following your blog. Someone in your own time zone might work the night shift and like browsing your shop during their lunch break.
People who leave a site for technical issues rarely return
Technical errors happen, but the public isn’t known for being forgiving. If someone is trying to check out from your website and it goes down, they’re not likely to return. Technical errors lower the trust that the public has in your site. Why should they trust you with their personal information if you can’t even keep your site active? It’s not fair, but it’s a common sentiment. You need to get your site up and running ASAP.
Time zones can be tricky
Time zones are the enemy of the part-time plan. When you’re setting up hosting, you might think that 24/7 support is excessive. Setting aside the fact that people can browse your site from different time zones, you might not be in the same time zone as your support staff. A 9 to 5 technical support plan sounds great until you realize that their 9 am is your 10 pm. At the end of the day, any technical support coverage with a break in it is asking for trouble.
Technical support that’s available around the clock is essential for keeping your website up and running. Time zones can leave even a seemingly good coverage plan without an easy way to use it. Any lingering technical issues can reduce the trust that your site commands. Most of all, however, the Internet is open 24/7. Your technical support should be as well.