Hosting โ The Heart of Your Website
If a domain is an address, hosting is the plot of land on which the house stands. In the case of a psychological practice, you cannot afford "just any" server. Why? The choice of hosting directly affects your patients' experience, the security of their data, and your practice's image as a professional place of help.
Loading speed and patient stress
A person seeking psychological help often acts under stress or in crisis. If your website loads slower than 3 seconds, a potential patient will close it and look for another specialist. This is not an exaggeration โ research shows that 53% of users leave a website that loads longer than 3 seconds.
Choose hosting based on NVMe SSD drives and using LiteSpeed technology โ this is currently the standard ensuring lightning-fast operation. NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) is the latest generation of drives, offering up to 10 times greater speed than traditional SSD drives.
Additionally, hosting with LiteSpeed Web Server technology can handle up to 3 times more simultaneous connections than traditional Apache servers, which is crucial during periods of increased traffic on the site.
Data security (GDPR)
This is a critical point. As a psychologist, you process sensitive data โ information about health status, psychological problems, family situation. Your hosting provider must meet the highest security standards.
Server location in the EU
Your hosting provider must have servers located within the European Union. This is a GDPR requirement โ data of EU citizens must be processed within the EU or in countries with appropriate data protection agreements.
Check before purchase where the servers are physically located. Some companies offer "cloud hosting", but servers may be in the USA or Asia โ this disqualifies them for psychological practices.
Regular backups
Provide regular, automatic backups โ preferably every 24 hours. In case of a hacker attack, technical error, or accidental data deletion, a backup is the only chance to recover information.
Check if the hosting provider offers automatic backups and how long they are stored. The minimum is 7 days back, optimally 30 days.
Data processing agreement
Enable signing a data processing agreement. This is a document required by GDPR when you entrust personal data processing to an external entity (in this case โ the hosting provider).
Professional hosting providers have ready-made data processing agreements and help fill them out. This is not optional โ without this agreement, you may violate GDPR regulations.
Protection against attacks
Your hosting should offer protection against DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks, which can block access to your website. Additionally, the system should automatically detect and block intrusion attempts and malware.
Check if the hosting provider offers a firewall and a real-time security monitoring system.
SSL Certificate
The padlock next to the website address is an absolute necessity. A website without an SSL certificate will be marked by browsers as "Not Secure", which in our industry is disqualifying.
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encrypts data transmitted between the user's browser and the server. This means that even if someone intercepts the data, they won't be able to read it.
For a psychological practice, an SSL certificate is mandatory, especially if:
- You have a contact form on the website
- Patients can book appointments online
- You process any personal data through the website
- You want Google to display your website in search results (Google favors HTTPS sites)
Most professional hosting providers offer a free SSL certificate (Let's Encrypt) or include it in the hosting price. Don't accept hosting without SSL.
Looking for hosting that combines speed (NVMe drives) with security required in the medical industry and great support?
Check offerWho will build and maintain your website?
Choosing hosting is just the first step. Often therapists try to build websites on their own, which ends with technical errors or security gaps. A professional psychological practice website requires not only good hosting but also proper execution and continuous care.
Website development
If you care about aesthetics that build trust and a website compliant with legal requirements (e.g., privacy policy, cookies, GDPR), it's worth entrusting this to specialists familiar with the medical industry.
A professional team will take care of:
- Design based on color psychology and typography
- Responsiveness (functioning on phones and tablets)
- Compliance with GDPR and data protection law
- Optimization for loading speed
- Integration with booking and communication systems
The MedycznaStrona.pl team specializes in creating websites for therapists and psychologists, understanding the industry's specifics and legal requirements.
Technical support
The website requires updates, monitoring, and "keeping a finger on the pulse". Here, the support of administrators who watch over the continuity of your service is invaluable.
Professional technical support includes:
- 24/7 website availability monitoring
- Regular system and plugin updates
- Backup management
- Responding to failures within minutes
- Protection against attacks and intrusions
Experts from Czujowski.pl (Hosting & Monitoring) will ensure that your online practice is always open and secure.
Summary
Choosing a domain and hosting is a strategic decision. Don't be guided solely by the price "for the first year", but look at quality, speed, and security. Your website is a safe space for your patients โ ensure its foundations are stable.
Remember:
- Loading speed is the first impression โ choose hosting with NVMe SSD and LiteSpeed
- Data security is a priority โ servers in the EU, backups, data processing agreement
- SSL certificate is an obligation, not an option
- Professional execution and technical support is an investment in patient trust
If you have doubts, consult with an experienced specialist. It's better to pay for professional help at the beginning than to fix costly mistakes and lose patient trust later.
Need help choosing?
Consult your choice with an experienced specialist. Book a free consultation.