When choosing which web hosting to use, one of the most important tasks is. In addition to deciding whether to host the website on your own or to hire a web hosting service, you also need to consider the different types of hosting available on the market.
In this article we are going to look at what web hosting is, the various approaches on how to host a website on a server, and the crucial factors to consider before deciding on a provider.
To discuss what you need to consider when choosing a service, we’ll discuss some of the most important features and functionality that a quality service should provide.
We will also discuss the reasons why hosting a website with a web hosting company instead of opting for your own hosting is the most convenient and cost-effective option.
How does web hosting work?
The (or hosting) is a service that allows you to publish a website online so that it is accessible to the public. When you sign up for this service, your website rents space on a physical server that it uses to store all of its files and data.
The server where the files and data of a web page are stored is a physical computer that works continuously. This ensures that all websites hosted on that server are available and accessible on the Internet 24/7.
A web hosting provider, such as , is one that rents space on its physical servers to website owners. It also offers services to ensure that the pages are secure and run smoothly, such as regular software updates, automated backups, and security monitoring.
Why do you need web hosting?
The most favorable way to publish a website online is to use a hosting provider. This is a great option for beginners or anyone who wants a more convenient way to maintain their site.
This is also a good option if you are someone who prefers to focus their attention on the visual appearance and content of the site rather than its technical aspects.
In most cases, vendors take care of security monitoring, software updates, and maintenance.
Hosting your website through a provider is also a comparatively cheaper option than doing it yourself, especially when you consider that there are many additional benefits beyond technical support. These often include 24-hour and continuous web performance monitoring.
What to look for in web hosting?
With so many options available on the market, it is essential to go through a thorough research process to find the right option for your website needs.
It’s also helpful to think long term. A quality web hosting service offers different hosting plans with flexible customization to support website growth.
reliable performance
They abandon a web page if its load time is more than three seconds, so reliable performance is a crucial factor in web hosting. Poor performance can also affect the site as a whole, from conversion rates to marketing strategies.
This is because Google penalizes sites with slow load times and high bounce rates by placing them lower on the search engine results pages (SERPs).
If you have an online business, poor website performance can even be decisive when it comes to making a sale. Kissmetrics research shows that a one-second delay in page response can reduce sales conversions by up to 7%.
To determine if a service provides reliable performance, look for factors like high website uptime and regular maintenance processes like caching. Also, consider the following factors:
- Time To First Byte (TTFB). This measures the responsiveness of a website according to the time it takes for a web server to respond to a visitor’s HTTP request. Ideally, this period of time is .
- Component loading time. This measures how quickly a web server loads the , which should take no more than a few milliseconds.
offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Since we switched to on our main server, performance has increased significantly.
Using LiteSpeed Cache also ensures fast loading speeds. That’s why it comes pre-installed on all accounts.
Additionally, a website analytics tool like this helps to quickly determine how reliable a hosting service’s performance is. These reports give ratings on overall performance based on different metrics.
For example, has an “A” rating with a performance score of 99%.
‘s TTFB is 150 milliseconds, which is well within the ideal metric value.
Guaranteed Security
Clear and comprehensive cybersecurity protocols are a critical component of large providers. These include regular updates and backups, SSL certificates, firewall protection and secure.
Even the smallest websites can be prone to malicious attacks, considering that they tend to target small businesses.
Using Cloudflare also helps speed up website response time while protecting against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.
DDoS attacks occur when multiple requests overwhelm the website with a volume of bogus traffic, preventing it from functioning properly and sometimes causing the site to crash.
Full Features
Regardless of your website needs, choose a hosting service that offers full features and allows for flexibility.
For example, the best hosting services offer features such as a 30-day money-back guarantee, free website transfers, and beginner-friendly site building tools.
Choosing a website hosting service that offers various resources also makes managing your site much easier because they already provide you with the tools or software that you will need.
Helpful resources to consider include domain name registration, email hosting options, automated website backups, and software integrations with various CMSs.
user experience
A great user experience is vital when choosing where to host a website. Since you will be accessing the provider’s control panel daily to manage your site, we recommend looking for an intuitive user interface and well-designed tools.
For example, is easy to use and has a simple custom control panel, the hPanel.
It is easy to navigate and offers convenience to manage your web hosting account. With an intuitive design, you can configure everything in one place: FTP users, domains, tools, MySQL databases and email accounts.
Value for money
In addition to hosting, other expenses like domain names, SSL certificates, and regular maintenance processes like backups and caching add to the cost of hosting a website. Therefore, offering excellent value for money is essential for you to be able to afford hosting your website in the long run.
For example, to €1.49 per monthour plan simple shared hosting includes 24-hour customer support, , two , 99.9% uptime, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
24/7 customer support
An excellent provider offers 24-hour customer service. This is especially critical if your website is experiencing unexpected delays, crashes, or even security breaches.
However, it is important to choose a service that offers other support resources. These can include active customer support channels, tutorials, or even live chat.
It is also useful to find a provider to host our website that provides general information about web hosting to support customer learning.
‘s database, for example, is full of quick fixes to common problems, making it a great resource for customers who want to expand their knowledge on the subject.
Scalability
Look for a provider that offers scalability, so you can increase bandwidth, storage, traffic capacity, and other resources as needed.
With scalable web hosting, long-term sustainable growth is possible as features and resources can be gradually upgraded as a web page expands.
For example, you can start with a simple shared hosting plan and progress to VPS or cloud hosting plans in the future.
How to host a website on a server in 4 steps
Now that you know how web hosting works and why you need it, it’s time to talk about the four steps involved in hosting a website:
- Decide the type of website you want to create
- Research and choose a provider
- Select a hosting plan
- Choose and register a name
Let’s take an in-depth look at each of these points.
1. Decide the type of website you want to create
When deciding how to host your website, keep in mind that there are two main types of websites: static and dynamic.
A static website offers the same page and content to all users. Examples include blogs, and business websites. Static sites can usually work with a more basic web hosting plan, as they require less storage space and other server resources.
A dynamic website displays adaptive content that varies for each visitor based on site settings or user behavior. Examples include social networking sites, e-commerce sites, and subscription-based websites such as Netflix.
Dynamic sites often need a more comprehensive and customizable plan with more storage space, memory, and bandwidth.
Once you have determined what type of website you want to create, it will be easier to select web hosting services that offer adequate server resources.
Most services offer a variety of for static and dynamic sites.
In most cases, each plan has clearly defined features and functionality, making it easy to determine which one best suits your needs. Additionally, each type of hosting is categorized based on who it’s ideal for, from small blogs to large-scale businesses.
2. Research and choose web hosting providers
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