Everything To Know About Web Hosting

Web hosting has become one of the most commonly used online services and many people are unfamiliar with what they receive with it. In a world where pretty much all of the information is looked up online, numerous businesses need websites as a way to connect with their customers.

Now, setting up and maintaining a website may seem like a simple thing to do, but it is not as black and white as you may think. That is why many companies leave that part to the professionals. Maintaining the functionality of a website is what web hosting is all about.

Every website that you come across is hosted on a server maintained by hosting companies. The allocated space for that website depends on the type of web hosting. That is exactly what we are going to cover in this article. We’ll be taking a look at all types of web hosting, its advantages and disadvantages and how to choose the best web hosting services. Let’s start breaking down the details.

Web Hosting – The Basics

As just mentioned, web hosting is the process of renting/buying space on the Internet so that you can house your website. For your content (CSS, HTML, images, etc.) to be visible online, it needs to be housed on a certain server.

The server will connect web users with your website and help them engage with you. Thanks to these servers, web users will be able to access your website from any corner of the planet.

There are a few reasons why you should pay for these services. First off, web hosting providers will guarantee you reliability/uptime. Thanks to these providers, your website will be operational 24/7 and it will guarantee you uptime. Uptime represents the number of times that your website will be opened when accessed by a user from any part of the world.

The higher the uptime percentage is, the better. In most cases, web hosting providers will guarantee you 99% uptime. Not only that, but web hosting providers will ensure that your site is fully optimized and pages will load fast.

Research has shown that if pages take more than 2-3 seconds to load, around 90% of the users will not engage with you. The bottom line here is, that the faster your page is, the higher the chances are of users engaging with you.

Web hosting providers will support you if you encounter problems/bugs in your website. They’ll make sure that they are resolved in the timeliest manner and will be at your disposal 24/7.

Finally, if you wish to have a host email through which users can contact you, the web hosting provider will set up an address that is associated with your domain. In most cases, these emails are [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], etc. They spark professionalism and reliability and will increase the chances of users engaging with you.

How to Choose the Best Web Hosting Service  

As a final note to this guide, we are going to provide you with a few guides on how to choose the best hosting service. Small details play a huge role and can make a lot of difference in the process. Let’s take a look at some of our tips.

Estimate the Amount of Traffic

If there’s one thing that we can conclude from the server types, it’s that many of them depend on the amount of traffic that you have on your website. The higher the traffic, the more expensive the hosting service will be.

So, to pick the best web hosting option and save money in the process, you need to estimate the amount of traffic on your website. For example, if you are an individual that is just starting, it is expected to have low traffic, hence, it might be better to go with shared hosting. However, if you are a business with huge traffic, hosting options like VPS (not VPN) can be considered.

Understand Server Types

Previously, we provided you with details concerning the 5 most popular server types. However, that doesn’t mean that they are the only types. There are several other web hosting types – WordPress hosting, managed hosting, etc.

Make sure that you get all the information needed about web hosting types and compare their services to your requirements. In doing so, you will be able to determine which one is the best option.

Double-Check Subscription Plans

Each web hosting provider offers monthly and annual plans. Compare the information between numerous providers and see which one offers the most cost-effective solutions. Not only that, but annual plans are usually cheaper than monthly plans. Check this information and pick which option is the cheapest at a given time.