What is web hosting?
The term web hosting is usually mixed up with other terms such as hosting servers, web host, and even domains.
All of them are connected, but they mean different things. It can be broken down like this:
A web host is a company that owns servers that store its clients' website files.
Files, like HTML, PHP, Images, CSS, JScript, and other data that is necessary for a website to work properly, are stored on these servers.
Web hosting is an online service that enables a person or a company to publish a site or web application on the Internet.
In other words, it is a service that provides space for websites to be present on the Internet. In fact, all websites on the Internet, need web hosting to host their files.
How does web hosting work?
Alright, let's say that you already found a web host that you trust, chose the most suitable web hosting plan the host has to offer, and purchased it (there are some free web hosting companies as well although I recommend it only for beginners and those who want to create small websites as it is a useful practice tool for trying new designs).
What’s next?
Now you need to create and register a domain name.
It is simply the address of your website that people type in the browser’s URL bar to visit your website. In other words, if your website was a house, then your domain name will be its address.
Without domain names, it will not be possible for people to find your website and without web hosting, you cannot build one.
Last steps - install WordPress or any other CMS (content management system) of your preference, choose a website theme that suits you the most, install plugins that are needed for it, and start adding content.
I should add that this step is not mandatory as you don’t necessarily need CMS to build a website. As an alternative, you can code your own project as well.
Types of web hosting
- Shared hosting is the most suitable option for beginners, small websites like personal blogs, simple websites as well as it is the most elementary form of web hosting available. It is the cheapest hosting plan of all which will be advantageous to smaller businesses. With shared hosting, you share a server with other clients of your hosting provider. All websites will share the same server resources, such as RAM (random access memory) and CPU (central processing unit).
- VPS can be chosen when a client website starts growing (attracts bigger traffic). A virtual private service mimics a dedicated server (your web host allocates a separate partition for you on the server) but within a shared hosting environment. This means you get a dedicated server space and a reserved amount of computing power and memory. By choosing VPS, you get more customization and control options. It requires a lot more knowledge and effort on your end. So, if you are not advanced in the development field, it's not recommended to get VPS. The cost for a VPS is higher than the cost for shared hosting, but not as expensive as running a true dedicated server.
- Dedicated is used for a huge amount of traffic and gives you full root and admin access control. You aren't sharing the server in any capacity, so you can, essentially, do what you want with it. However, dedicated hosting requires a good deal of technical knowledge.
- Cloud offers remarkable advantages from scalability to setup to security. The resources required to maintain your website are spread across more than one web server, which reduces the chances of downtime, making it the most reliable solution on the market. Cloud hosting is scalable, which means you can grow your site using as many resources as possible and only pay for what you need.
- Reseller hosting offers an opportunity to resell hosting services to your clients. Once you buy a reseller hosting package at a wholesale price, you can set the price that you want and sell that hosting under your name and brand to others. Therefore, you are able to have your own web hosting firm.
Choosing the right web host
There are thousands of web hosting companies that offer a wide variety of hosting packages. The task of picking a particular service can be a confusing game.
So what aspects do matter when choosing the host?
- High Processing Power & Memory - to simplify, it is the amount of processor power and RAM that enables quick data transfer and plenty of short-term memory storage space.
- Unlimited Bandwidth - this refers to how much data can pass along an internet connection.
- 99.9% Uptime - this is a crucial aspect of your business. Most likely users will not visit your site if it’s constantly down and as a consequence, you would lose traffic.
- 24/7 Support - this service must be available for you to consult and solve any given issue there might be.
- Reasonable Pricing - some companies offer the same features as the cheaper companies do but ask for an unreasonable price. Make sure you don’t overpay.
- Ease of use - this is important mostly for those who are building their very first website but applies to advanced users as well.
If you get a host that can offer you all the bullet points listed above, consider yourself in good hands!
