In today’s digital world, having a strong online presence is crucial for success. But before you can share your products and services on the internet, you need a website—and a reliable platform to host your site on.
Today we’ll discuss the basics of website hosting, including how it works and a few common web hosting terms you might hear. We’ll also give you a few tips on choosing the best web hosting company for your unique business.
How Do Web Hosting Services Work?
Web hosting is the process of storing your website’s files on servers, and therefore on the internet. Choosing the right web host is important because it ensures that your website maintains stable service and doesn’t crash or go down. There are different types of web hosting available including shared hosting, cloud hosting, and dedicated hosting.
What’s the difference between web hosting and domain hosting?
Domain hosting and web hosting serve different purposes for your website, but they’re equally important for a successful website launch. Your website’s domain is the physical address of your website. A domain allows visitors to easily find your site instead of having to plug in a complex IP address each time they want to visit your website. Your website’s hosting is the server that stores all of your website content.
Common Web Hosting Terms
Like many other things, website hosting comes with its own vocabulary set. If you’re not very familiar with web hosting, it can be overwhelming trying to understand what everything means. Here’s an overview of some of the most common web hosting terms you might encounter:
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IP Address: An IP address is a unique number that’s assigned to a specific device on a network. IP addresses are used to identify devices connected to the Internet.
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Server: A server is a device or computer that manages resources and provides services to other computers known as “clients” over a network. They’re typically connected to each other through a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN). Servers can be physical machines or a software that performs server services.
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Dedicated server: A dedicated server is a physical server that hosts a single account, giving you full control over the operating system. Having a dedicated server often results in higher website performance.
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Domain provider: A domain provider, also known as a domain registrar, is an internet company that manages domain names.
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Managed hosting: Managed web hosting is when the website host takes care of operating the server so that you can spend your time doing other tasks. If you’re not as comfortable setting up your own server space or working on your own server, managed hosting may be a good option for you.
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Unmanaged hosting: Unmanaged hosting is a type of web hosting where you handle all server operations. Due to its complex nature, unmanaged hosting is typically only used by those with extensive hosting experience.
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Bandwidth: Your site’s bandwidth is the amount of data transfer that’s used on your account.
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Uptime: Your site’s uptime is the amount of time that your website service is uninterrupted and your website is accessible online. Uptime is normally shown by a percentage—the higher, the better.
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WordPress: WordPress is a popular open-source platform that’s free and completely customizable. WordPress offers numerous plugins and top-notch security and support. While WordPress used to be known as a blogging platform, it’s evolved over the years into the preferred platform for creating websites.
Interested in learning more about other web development terms?
Things To Consider When Choosing A Web Hosting Service
In 2024, there are more web hosting services available than ever before, and it can be difficult to choose the right one for your business. Many website hosting companies offer different hosting packages for different customers, making it even harder to decide which one to go with. Here are a few things to consider when choosing a website hosting service:
Reliability
A reliable provider will have a strong reputation and consistent server performance. Before picking a web hosting service, be sure to check online reviews from multiple sources.
Security
It’s important to choose a hosting provider that offers advanced security measures to help protect your website and keep it secure. Look for hosting services that offer access management, malware detection, automated backups, and updates.
Customer service
Choosing a web hosting provider with around-the-clock customer service comes in handy if your website unexpectedly runs into problems like lags, crashes, or security breaches. Some website hosting services also offer support resources like videos or tutorials to help you solve some problems yourself.
Storage
When you’re looking for a web host, consider the storage and bandwidth that your business needs. Hosting platforms may offer different levels of storage, so it’s important to research all of your available options before choosing one.
Speed
Your site’s performance is greatly affected by speed and optimization. Look for website hosting services that offer fast web servers for the best results. Some website hosts also provide additional features to help improve your site’s speed.
If you choose a web hosting platform and end up changing your mind, it’s not too late to change providers. However, there are a few steps you’ll need to take. To switch web hosting providers, you’ll need to choose a new host, back up and move your files, update your Domain Name System (DNS) records, and then test and review your new site. Some website hosting services even offer free migration services to streamline the process.
At 434 Marketing, We Can Help!
Your website is the foundation of your brand’s digital presence. We understand that building (and managing) a website can be stressful — that’s why we take the guesswork out of it. Our experienced team partners with your organization every step of the way to ensure a seamless experience.
At 434, we build custom WordPress websites designed for your company’s unique needs. We build our sites on WordPress, a well-known and trusted hosting service in the development and web world. Over the years, we’ve built more than 270+ custom WordPress websites.
Learn more about how we can help you build and host your website!
Brianna Arnold holds the role of Content Manager at 434 Marketing. As part of the 434 team, Brianna brings with her a career of experience in the agency world. She is responsible for ensuring client goals are achieved with measurable success. Brianna's digital marketing experience spans a myriad of skills,..
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