Bandwidth Limit Exceeded: Why you Should Increase your Website’s Bandwidth

How much bandwidth does my website need? Find out more below as well as how to control it, why exceeding your bandwidth limit is not a good idea, and why unlimited bandwidth website plans will boost your website performance and help you grow your business.

Website bandwidth – What is that? 

Bandwidth is transmitted data measured in GB or MB. This data moves from your website to your website host’s servers whenever visitors open, scroll, or click through your pages.

Bandwidth limit – How your website visits and traffic influence it 

Website visits

Website visits, or sessions, represent the number of times visitors access your website. A visit is initiated when somebody opens a website’s page and ends when the person navigates away from it or closes the browser tab. Each new visit is calculated separately. For example, if a visitor opens your page this morning and then navigates back to it again in the afternoon, it counts as 2 visits. 

Website traffic

Website traffic is measured by the website visits over a given time span and can be classified by its source (organic, paid) or results (number of conversions, here a conversion can be a subscription to a newsletter for example). Traffic leads to visitors interacting with your website.

Precisely when they

• look at your images.
• download your files.
• fill out your registration form.

With each interaction, the server of your website provider (like Webnode) sends data requests to your site and vice versa to display it online. When data is transferred, it takes up server space and costs money. The larger your website is or the more content (images, text, pages) it has, the more data will be transferred and the bandwidth usage will be higher. 

When is the bandwidth limit reached?

The limit of the bandwidth of your website depends on the tariffs of your website host. Free websites and lower Premium Plans always have limited bandwidth usage. Almost every website builder provides a certain amount of bandwidth per month for free, usually 500 MB.

Your bandwidth limit is reached when your visits and traffic are high enough that more data is transferred than your current website plan includes.

More visits + more content + more traffic = high bandwidth

Bandwidth limit reached means:

• your website loads slower (resulting in visitors leaving it)
• images and other media will not show in high resolution to the viewer
• interacting (scrolling) with the content slows down (leading to frustration and a bad user experience)

It is better to avoid such a scenario by knowing what bandwidth your website needs and acquiring a suitable Premium Plan.

Did you know you can change your Premium Plan anytime at Webnode?

How to calculate bandwidth?

Let’s say your website has an average page size of 100MB, the average number of page views per visitor is 10, and the average website visits reach 20. This results in 20000 MB or 20GB, which is representative of the typical bandwidth consumption for a small business website.

A quick formula to estimate your monthly bandwidth usage is: 

Monthly Bandwidth = Average page size (in MB) x monthly average number of visitors x average page views per visitor

You will find your average monthly page views and visits in your website statistics. You can estimate your average page size by dividing the current data storage your site uses by the number of pages on your website.

Each website builder also shows your monthly bandwidth consumption in your website project settings or overview. You can see your current consumption in the project settings:

Bandwidth and website storage usage in the project settings of the Webnode editor

Choose a Premium Plan that matches your current bandwidth needs

Bandwidth Usage – Can I control it?

Yes, of course. You can minimize the data used and reduce your website content by:

• reducing the size and resolution of images
• shortening and distributing content over several pages
• uploading videos from external sites, such as YouTube
• not providing files for visitors to download  
• having no contact forms

However, with these measures, you will quickly compromise the quality of your website content. Ultimately, you limit the success of your website and what it can achieve.

If your aim is to:

• get more visitors and potential customers
• advertise on social media and through online campaigns
• increase your website traffic to grow your business
• hand out your business cards whenever you introduce yourself

… then you and your website will have a better life with extra bandwidth.

What happens if you exceed your bandwidth limit?

Luckily, your provider will inform you, either within the website builder application and/or via email the moment you get close to your bandwidth limit. If you exceed it, your site will no longer operate properly. This means your website performance will suffer. It may load slower and no longer display online.

Consequently, your provider will likely force you to upgrade to a plan that includes a suitable bandwidth.

What are the benefits of unlimited bandwidth?

It is a relief to know that you have the right amount of bandwidth usage selected, because: 

1. the performance of your site will be top-notch (with high speed and a smooth website experience for your visitors)
2. increased speed will load content faster providing effortless navigation (visitors will be happier as they can find what they are looking for more quickly)
3. your website performs during traffic spikes (you can run campaigns and product launches that create sudden visitor surges without worry)
4. it enhances the quality of your website, making it possible to include media-rich content (high-resolution images, backgrounds, and customized videos)

As your website grows, your visits grow, your business growth follows, and you can scale up your endeavours. 

Upgrade to unlimited bandwidth with a Pro or Business Plan