When you’re creating a website, there are many decisions you need to make from the images and platform to fonts and design. People often don’t put too much thought into web hosting and choose either the one suggested by the web designer or the first one they see on the search results.
Many people don’t understand the importance of web hosting and many ask themselves, “What is web hosting?” Without it, there would be no websites on the Internet. If you choose the wrong type of web hosting, then it could lead to problems such as slow loading speed and even website downtime.
We’ll examine these questions, so you can choose the right web host for your site.
What is Web Hosting?
An easy way to think of web hosting is your Internet property. It’s where everything for your website is stored such as code, images, text, and more. It’s your little piece of the Internet. It’s your website address if you want to think of it that way.
Every website on the Internet is hosted somewhere. Every file for your website is hosted on a web server. When they click on your website in a search engine, link, or type it into the URL, the server loads the files onto the browser so visitors can see the web page.
Shared Webhosting Is Most Common
There are several types of web hosting available and the type you want depends on the size of your website and traffic.
Shared web hosting is the most common. With shared hosting, many websites share the resources of a single server. This is ideal for smaller websites or websites that don’t see much traffic. If another website on the server suddenly takes a good deal of the resources such as a dramatic increase in traffic, then it leaves less for everyone else.
This can lead to slow loading or website crashes.
Private and Virtual Webhosting
Private web hosting services are ideal for large websites, high traffic websites or programmers that like control of their server allocations. With private web hosting, your site has its own server, and all the resources are allocated to your site.
You have complete control of every aspect unlike shared hosting.
A virtual private network is a mix of shared and private website hosting. In it, several websites are hosted on a single server, but each has a specific amount of resources blocked off for their website. If another website on the server has a sudden need for additional resources, it doesn’t take away from your site.
Your site has resources set aside that cannot be touched by another website.
Choose the Best for Your Website
What is web hosting? It’s a vital part of your website’s success and ability to be seen by visitors. Without it, there would be no website. Put thought into the type of web hosting you need for your website and don’t just pick the first one you see.
If you want to learn more about web hosting, web design, or digital marketing or are interested in our services, then please contact us today.
