It seems you are finally ready to bring your business online. As soon as your domain name is sorted out, the next thing you need to do is build a website. But before you can even get it up and running, you need somewhere to host it.
It holds true that choosing a web hosting provider entails confusion, which is especially the case if you have a little tech background. You can go perhaps go with the best WordPress hosting or something else. At the end of the day, choosing a web host is subjective – it generally boils down to what your business needs and wants.
In that case, we have separated the wheat from the chaff. Take a look at this hefty guide to understand more about the world of web hosting.
Web Hosting Explained
Before, many believe that domains and web hosting could be interchangeable. However, these two are completely different from each other. While a domain name provides visitors the means to find and access your website, a web hosting is where the latter can be published (or, in this sense, hosted).
In order for your website to be online, there are various files that need to be stored somewhere and for them to be publicly accessed. This is where a web host plays a crucial role. It is basically responsible for providing you a service on which you can store the said files. From there, whenever a visitor wants to view your site, the computer automatically connects to a server via the domain name and delivers the site directly.
Why You Need a Web Hosting Service
This is a no-brainer really. By essence, you would need a place (server) to host your site in order for it to be available on the World Wide Web. Obviously, this is the task that a web hosting provider can deliver. But a web hosting is more than just providing your site the hosting avenue. That is because it also comes with different features that help in ensuring data security, building tools, and a whole lot more.
Why the Hosting Provider Matters
In case you did not know, the server that your chosen hosting company provides is being shared by many other websites. And because of this, it is possible to experience issues that could impact the overall performance of your website. Here are some noteworthy scenarios that could happen if your provider offers a poor web hosting service.
Server Cramming – A lot of cheap hosting providers tend to host a great number of websites on a single server. As a result, various issues arise and affect all websites connected to it. The main point of doing this is to apparently cut costs. Unfortunately, this method can significantly increase load times and, worst, cause prolonged website outages. Not only will your website load slowly, but it will also be totally unavailable for your visitors. And if the server is down, there is a huge loss to sales conversions.
Hacking – Even if a single website is hacked, it is possible for other sites to be vulnerable. This server exploitation, in particular, can prove detrimental to many website owners – and this could happen in different ways. Make sure that your provider offers a variety of ways that help in protecting your site from these exploits.
Server Updates – If your provider fails to release updates or go lazy with patching, you may notice that some versions of web platforms and even applications are not functioning correctly. What is even worse is that they will no longer run as they should be. In other words, your website is vulnerable to cyber-attacks and is unavailable to your visitors.
Benefits of Good Web Hosting
There are many benefits to having a good web hosting provider. For starters, you are guaranteed of 100 percent uptime, which means your site will be available 24/7. It is also possible for your website to have faster loading times. And if it does, you will be able to improve user experience and, thus, increase sales conversions.
Moreover, having a good web hosting gives you the opportunity to improve your Google rank. Keep in mind that Google has been vocal about using page loading time as one of the factors necessary in ranking sites. A reputable provider will make sure that its servers can keep your site available and fully functional.
Apart from the aforementioned, you will have access to daily site backups. Basically, your hosting provider can give you the means to back all data and content up. So if there is a possibility of eliminating everything on your site – usually due to cyber-attacks – you will have a back-up for all of them.
Choosing a web hosting provider can be a make or break for your business. That is why you must think about it carefully and make an informed decision.
