We all need a website nowadays. Whether you’re an author, a small retail business, or a localized tax filing service, the internet is the best way to reach your target audience without a hassle.
However, it can be a pain to figure out all the terms and jargon that directly affect how easy it is to get your site up and running. One of those terms that causes so much confusion is “website hosting”.
Today, we’re going to go over the basics of what website hosting is, how it works, and how you can pick a proper web host for your website.
Let’s get started.
What is Website Hosting?
Your website isn’t just a digital mass of text and photos. It has a physical presence, too. See, every website is made up of a huge amount of files, and those files need to be stored somewhere.
Website hosting services essentially behave as high-tech, remote storage facilities by letting you store your website’s data on their servers.
How Does Web Hosting Work?
Web hosting actually isn’t too complicated when you get right down to it. The servers we mentioned earlier are maintained by companies or web hosts. These web hosts allow people just like you to put their websites on the servers for a fee, and then they make your website available to browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, or Opera.
That’s how you interact with the internet every day. You use a browser to search for a website, the server the website is on relays a signal to your browser, and the two communicate the information needed for you to see the site you tried to visit.
In order to get your website into that process, you need a host to put all your hard work on the internet.
How to Start a Website and Choose a Web Host
Choosing the right web host for you has a lot to do with the type of site you’re running, and there are different hosts for each. If you’re opening an online store, an eCommerce host will provide you with all the tools you need to start your store upright. If you just want to start a hobby blog without investing too much, there are value-based web hosts you can look at, too.
When you go to pick a website host for your site, and you’ve already determined what type of site you’re going to have, it’s time to think about budget and spec requirements.
Hosts can be found in every price range, but the cheaper ones are typically not suitable for commercial sites that see a lot of traffic. So, choose accordingly.
Then you need to think about capacity. Hosts will only provide you with a certain memory allotment for your entire site. If you have a large site or one filled with memory-hog images and videos, you probably need several GB of data.
Finally, security features are a must. You want your site to be safe from malicious attacks and hackers, and web hosts often provide some sort of protection such as firewalls and penetration tests to ensure your site is safe.
Get Started, Today!
The sooner you find the right host for you, the sooner you can make your site go live and start building an audience. Your options are pretty vast, so we recommend you start researching different hosts now!