Imagine your Shark Tank episode about to air today. As the Suds2go founder recently revealed by X post, your website will get huge traffic during the time it airs. Did you know the same happens to ScotteVest founder Scott Jordan, who featured in Shark Tank season 15?
But guess what happened? He could not manage the traffic, and traffic crashed down his sites. Not only that, instead of a possible hundred thousand sale, Scott ended up with only 30 orders. Actually, it is not the traffic Scott’s website crashed down. It was because of his hosting plan. So, how do you protect your website without crashing down against sudden traffic surges during Shark Tank episode air time?
Let’s find out why ScotteVest.com crashed down and how to prevent it from happening to you. Make sure your big moment is a success, not a stress.
Why Do Websites Crash When Lots of People Visit?
Imagine your website is like a party you’ve thrown at your house. There’s music, snacks, and games—everything you need for a great time. You’ve told all your friends to come over, and you’re excited to see them. But what if you only have room for 10 people, and suddenly, 100 show up?
The music system starts to glitch because too many people are choosing songs, the snack table gets overcrowded, and the games can’t be played because there’s just not enough space. Pretty soon, your fun party isn’t so fun anymore because your house isn’t ready for so many guests.
The site did go down temporarily due to traffic, though we had been promised that we wouldn’t have an issue. Compared to the thousands of orders I expected, we didn’t get ANY orders. Something like 30 total for the whole night. That’s like a slow Tuesday morning.
Scott Jordan, Founder of the SCOTTeVEST
This is pretty much what happens to a website when too many people try to visit it at the same time. Your website lives on a computer called a server, which can only handle so many visitors before it gets overwhelmed. Suppose more people visit the site than the server can handle. In that case, it’s like too many party guests trying to play the same game at once—the website starts to slow down. It might even stop working altogether, just like your party getting too crowded.
How much can be a “Huge traffic surge” here?
When you’re going to be on Shark Tank, it’s like sending out a party invitation to millions of people. According to statistics, 4.2 million people watch a single shark tank episode. Also, products like Hello Prenup and Sud2Go have shown they had huge search traffic after their shark tank episode aired.
For the Hello Prenup, it was a 545% jump from their average traffic. Also, the Founder of Suds2Go shared his experience during the Shark Tank episode air period. According to that, his website had experienced 16,000 users in 1.5 minutes.
You need to make sure your website’s server is like a huge party hall that can welcome everyone in, keep the music playing, the games fun, and the snacks coming so that every visitor has a great time and wants to stay.
How You Can Avoid and Save Your Website from Crashing During Huge Traffic Surge from The Shark Tank Episode Air
Now that we understand why websites crash when too many visitors show up, like a party getting too crowded, let’s discuss how to ensure your website can handle a big crowd.
As we discussed before, what is the first thing that happens when unexpected people show up? It is not enough space, isn’t it? That is the same thing that happens to your website. Think of web hosting as the size of your party venue. If you’re expecting a lot of guests, you need a bigger space. Upgrading your web hosting is like moving your party to a bigger hall where everyone fits comfortably. Some web hosting services let your site automatically get more space when lots of visitors come, which means your website won’t crash when it gets popular.
We had spoken with GoDaddy prior to airing and they assured us that they would have no problem with the traffic. I was worried it might crash and we were advised by the show to make sure our site could handle a huge surge of traffic.
Gabe Trevizo, Founder of the Suds2Go
Upgrading the hosting plan
Upgrading your hosting plan is like realizing your party is going to be bigger than you thought and moving it to a larger venue to accommodate everyone comfortably.
Here’s how to upgrade the hosting plan step by step
- Monitor Your Needs: Keep an eye on your website traffic and how well your current hosting plan is handling it. If your site starts to slow down or crash during peak times, it’s a sign you need to upgrade.
According to some stats, some website traffic has been increasing thousands of times. As an example, “ZinePak” traffic has increased from “1,489.37%” during shark tank air time. So it can differ from business to business.
The best approach is to assume the highest possible traffic and prepare accordingly to avoid ending up like Scott.
- Contact Your Hosting Provider: Reach out to your hosting provider and explain that you’re expecting a surge in traffic. They can recommend the best plan for your needs. You must explain your situation to your hosting provider. Sometimes, when a website experiences a sudden surge in traffic, the hosting provider may mistake it for an attack and shut down the website as a safety measure. To avoid such an unfortunate situation, it’s best to discuss your situation with the hosting provider before the air date.
- Explore Available Plans: Compare the plans offered by your current hosting provider. They usually have a range of options, from shared hosting to VPS (Virtual Private Server), dedicated servers, or even cloud hosting.
- Look for key features that match your needs. For instance, look for plans with enhanced security features and e-commerce optimizations.
- Backup Your Site: Before making any changes, back up your website. This is crucial to prevent data loss. Most hosting providers offer tools to create a full backup of your site, including files and databases.
- Upgrade Through Your Hosting Provider: Log in to your hosting account and navigate to the control panel or dashboard. There should be an option to “Upgrade” or “Change Plan.” Click on it. Select the new plan you want to upgrade to and follow the prompts to complete the process. This might involve choosing new billing cycles and payment methods.
- Verify the Upgrade: Once the upgrade is processed, check your hosting account to ensure the new plan is active. Verify that all the features you paid for are enabled.
Here is a video guide for different hosting plans for different hosting providers. Hostinger, Bluehost, and a dedicated server.
More tricks
- Plan Ahead: Upgrade at least two weeks before your Shark Tank episode airs. This gives you time to make sure everything works smoothly with the new plan.
- Test After Upgrading: Once you’ve upgraded, do some tests to ensure your website performs well under the new plan. You might want to run another load test to see how your site handles traffic better now.
Choosing and upgrading your web hosting plan might seem like a big task, but it’s like ensuring your party venue is perfect. It makes all the difference in giving your website visitors—a.k.a. your party guests—a great experience, so they’ll want to stay longer and come back for more.
Not only hosting upgrades.
Upgrading your hosting plan is a big step toward making sure your website can handle a flood of visitors during your Shark Tank episode. But there’s more to the story than just hosting. Just like throwing the ultimate party involves more than just finding a big enough space, preparing your website for a huge traffic surge means looking at other details, too. Let’s explore what those are:
Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
Imagine if you could clone your party and have it in multiple locations across the city simultaneously. This way, your friends choose the location closest to them, making it easier and quicker for them to join the fun. That’s what a Content Delivery Network does for your website. It stores copies of your site in different places around the world, so visitors access the site from the nearest server. The result? Faster loading times and a smoother experience for everyone, no matter where they are.
Make Your Website More Efficient
A smooth party experience means having everything organized—from easy-to-navigate layouts to quick access to games and snacks. For your website, efficiency is key.
This means:
Compressing Images: Large images can slow down your site. Compress them to speed up load times without losing quality.
Cleaning Up Code: Remove any unnecessary code to make your website leaner and faster.
Simplifying Navigation: Ensure that visitors can easily find what they’re looking for, making their experience enjoyable and frustration-free.
Think of it as setting up your party so everyone moves freely, finds what they need, and has a great time without any bottlenecks.
Prepare for the Big Night with Load Testing
Before the big day, you’d want to make sure your party venue can handle all your guests. Similarly, load testing your website is like conducting a trial run. It involves simulating a large number of visitors to see how your site performs under pressure.
This is crucial because it helps you identify any potential issues—like that snack table that’s too small or a music system that can’t handle all song requests. By identifying these problems early, you can make the necessary adjustments to ensure your site remains up and running smoothly when the real traffic surge happens during your Shark Tank episode.
By addressing these critical areas—using a CDN, optimizing your website’s efficiency, and conducting load testing—you’re not just preparing for a surge in traffic; you’re ensuring that every visitor has a positive and smooth experience on your site. This approach helps you capitalize on the Shark Tank effect, turning viewers into customers and fans.
Conclusion
This might seem like a bunch of tech stuff, and you might think, “That’s not really my thing.” But remember, you’re an entrepreneur. You’re great at solving problems and managing situations. If this all sounds overwhelming, you don’t have to do it alone. Consider hiring an expert who knows their way around these tech challenges. Yes, it’ll cost some money, but when you think about the extra sales and attention your website could get, it’s definitely worth the investment.
