INSIGHTS

What is website hosting?

December 5, 2022
Est. Reading: 4 minutes

Web Hosting is as much a ‘who’ as it is a ‘what’, in that there are many individual Web Hosting Service Providers (the who) that are offering to allocate space on their server (the what) enabling a website to store its files. These files include features such as images, videos, and code. In non-technical speak, this means that Web Hosting is what supports you on your journey to a digital future so that your website can be viewed and functional on the internet.

But how does Web Hosting work and why do I need it?

All websites on the web, need Web Hosting. Most people assume that a domain name plus a website is equal to a live site ready to be seen on the internet. But, the truth of it is that without a Web Hosting Provider, your website is not only not seen, but it’s not accessible to anybody. Think of it this way, your domain name is your address, but your Web Host, that is your house.

Your website, which is being hosted by a Web Hosting Provider, will be stored on high-tech computers called; ‘Servers’. When a user types in your address (your domain name) into their search bar, the Web Host connects their computer to your server, and wallah! They arrive at your house and your website becomes accessible to see via the internet while your business becomes accessible to use via the internet.

In a nutshell, you are renting space to house a website on the web.

It is essential to know that Web Hosting is a vital and fundamental step in making a website functional on the internet. There is no missing the importance of their server during the process of website building because there will be no access to the website without Web Hosting.

OK, but what is a server?

A server is a computer that connects other web users to your website from anywhere in the world. A Web Host offers you a variety of hosting plans all tailored to cover a large spectrum of website needs, from small, growing blogs to large corporations and E-commerce conglomerates.
What does a good Web Hosting Company do??
Well, if you’re planning on creating an online presence, reliable Web Hosting is an essential item. When it comes to choosing a good Web Hosting Provider, understanding ‘the-what’ can give you some much-needed direction when searching for ‘the-who’.

Most, if not all Web Hosting Providers offer many beneficial and crucial features in their hosting plans for a website to run efficiently on the web, such as:

• Speed
• Security
• Support
• Back-up Services
• Email Accounts & Features
• Domain Names
• Quick tools
• Storage
• Bandwidth
• Database Support and more.

What is a good Hosting Plan for me?

The plan you choose should cater to your long term goal, or at least, can expand and be upgraded as your business expands and grows. The more specialized your website is, the more specialized your Hosting Plan should be. The plan you choose should be determined by how you plan to utilize your website.
These providers rent out their services and maintained technologies to host websites on the web and tech support should be a primary feature in each and every plan. As we’ve established, Web Hosting makes you and your brand accessible through the browser bar on the internet. There are so many Web Hosts out there that trying to choose one can feel a little overwhelming. However, when choosing a company to host you online, it’s true, that the devil is in the details.

Those details include:

• Speed
• Security
• Support

These are essential features. Try thinking in the long term. The right Hosting Plan will mean having fast access to resources that keep your website loading quickly and reliably for your visitors. You need your level of expertise to be maintained and matched by your hosting provider so that your visitors can religiously rely on you for continuity of service.

If you are new to the operations of a website, back-end lingo can seem like a foreign language to you and good tech support within your Hosting Plan is an absolute must have.

A good Web Hosting Provider should offer you solutions.

Solutions to every foreseeable and unseeable tech issue your website may run into. Solutions to managing support, bandwidth, speed, and so on. These solutions need to solve each tech issue within an expanding business as their needs grow and change. The Web Host Provider should make these solutions accessible via offering high-standard customer tech support for when you do run into problems. You never truly know the value of time, until time is money. So, reliability is extremely important in a Web Host. A site that is down frequently loses visitors and loses revenue. A site that takes too long to load, doesn’t extend a feeling of trust to a user. They will click somewhere else giving their business to websites with a faster loading time.

Before you decide on a Host, be sure to read their reviews and check their uptime guarantees.

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