Powerful Web Hosting

For any business, having a website is essential. You could be selling jewellery out of your spare room or running a successful and established business, either way you still need a website if you want to be or remain successful.

Your website should be so much more than just a dumping ground for contact information and then abandoning apart from the occasional blog post. If it should be a living entity that represents the very best of your business,  something to be proud of and tells any potential customer why they should work with and trust your business. A well designed and managed website will help your business grow and stay competitive, but only if your web hosting provider is reliable and your site is being managed.

What is Web Hosting?

Website hosting (web hosting) is a service that companies offer to allow you to share your website online. They provide storage and server space, giving you access to plugins and builders so you can make your website unique.

Think of them as a ‘digital landlord’, you pay them to use their space, and you can do whatever you like once you’re set up inside, with only a few rules to follow.

Like with many online services, web hosts often have package deals for their subscriptions. Higher prices mean more features, and more control over your website. A cheaper package can be limiting, and even small businesses can outgrow them quickly if they focus on branding.

The one thing that is essential, is being able to contact and speak with your host provider when something goes wrong. Cheep hosting may seem like a good idea, but if you can’t speak with a human when something goes wrong it can be very costly to the business and frustrating for you.

We’ll explain later what to look for from your web hosting provider, but first let us explain a little more about it.

How does Web Hosting work?

When you host your website with a new provider, you first set up your new domain name. This is the URL, usually the name of you or your business (like www.wandc.com/). This will be unique to you, no matter how many websites are being hosted on the same server.

When someone searches for your website, or clicks a link to it, your web host’s Domain Name System (DNS) converts it into an IP address and sends them to the server your website is hosted on. All HTML, images, and content on your site will be contained within this server.

In its simplest terms, web hosting is a way to make a website that’s guaranteed to work from the moment you make it live, and you are free to customize it to suit you.

Types of Web Hosting

  • Shared Hosting
  • VPS Web Hosting
  • Dedicated Hosting
  • Managed Hosting
  • Cloud Hosting

Shared Hosting

This is the most common form of web hosting. As the name suggests, your website will be on the same server as many others, but still with your own domain name. Server resources like RAM and CPU are all shared, keeping the costs low for your provider.

If you have a small business or want your own website to use as a portfolio, blog, or for personal reasons, this is the ideal option. The setup will be nice and simple, often with plenty of tools to help you build and personalize your website.

The main downside of shared web hosting is that it can be limiting for a growing business. If you plan on expanding your business or investing in SEO from day one, the large amount of traffic you bring in will slow down the server, therefore ruining the experience for your customers.

VPS Web Hosting

A Virtual Private Server (VPS) works well for an individual or company that doesn’t need a dedicated server (more about those in a moment) but wants more control.

Like a standard shared server, your website will be hosted alongside others. However, this time you’ll have your own space. This means more storage and customization options. If you have some experience with building a website and have specific software or tools you want to use, VPS hosting gives you a few more options.

Large amounts of traffic will still cause problems for your server, so if you or another site on your server is growing quickly, it can create a few headaches in the future.

Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated web hosting gives you the most control over the server your website is stored on. This is because the server belongs to you, and only you. You have complete admin access, and are free to change the operating system you run, and the security measures the server uses.

If you have a web expert on board or know a lot about the technical side of websites yourself, this can work well. You need a high level of expertise to even begin building your website on a dedicated sever, and the initial asking price is the highest compared to other types of web hosting, making this option only worth it if you need that extra control.

Managed Hosting

Managed hosting has all the benefits of a private server, but with a range of technical support services from a hosting company. This can be everything from helping you set up your new site to monitoring it and keeping your plugins updated.

You’ll find a lot of managed hosting options, all with different packages to suit your needs. It’s a great option if you’re starting your first business website.

Cloud Hosting

Last but not least is cloud hosting. This is the latest innovation in web hosting; it enables you to host your website on either a virtual or physical server, making it easier to scale and make quick changes whenever you need to. It can also give you better international outreach and has better security overall.

Unlike other types of hosting, which have fixed packages, cloud hosting is often provided as a pay-as-you-go system, meaning you can pay for what you use, and aren’t being charged for features you don’t care about.

Although still relatively new, cloud hosting is being offered by a lot of different web hosting providers, and it shouldn’t be ignored as an option for your business.

 

How to Choose the Best Web Hosting Provider 

As you can imagine, with so many ways to host websites, no two web hosting providers are the same. It’s tricky for us to recommend a specific type of web hosting without knowing your business, your goals, or the level of control you want over the server.

The main piece of advice we can offer is to make sure whatever option you choose is scalable. If you aren’t expecting much growth for the first few years, or don’t need many eyes on your site, shared or VPS hosting might be right. For larger companies with a bold growth strategy, you want a web hosting solution you won’t outgrow.

Then all that’s left is to find a provider offering reasonable prices, plenty of support if you need it, and reliability. There are plenty of trusted brands out there, and you could even work with a company that provides services like SEO and marketing on top of hosting, giving you more ways to grow your business under one roof.