Starting a website can be confusing and daunting for many. However, in today’s world where everything is done online, it is necessary to have one.
For many people, understanding the basics of how to place websites, web hosting, domain names, bandwidth, uptime, data storage and the type of hosting that is appropriate for their website is a struggle, although it is important to understand these concepts whether they are building their own site or hiring a web developer for their site.
What is web hosting
Web hosting is the physical space granted by a hosting service provider and is used to store your website and make it accessible over the internet. The storage space is located on a web server which can be both physical and virtual depending on your needs.
To host a website, you first need to have a domain name, which acts as an internet address for your website. The domain name is what people looking for your site use to locate it. It is a permanent location on the internet, which when called, serves web pages to internet users.
To get web hosting services, a user is required to get a web hosting provider and choose a web hosting plan.
Selecting a web hosting provider
A web hosting provider is a company that is responsible for providing a space where a website will be hosted. Most web hosting providers also provide domain registration. However, it is also possible to acquire only a web hosting plan and buy a domain name from a different company.
While hosting a website, enough consideration should be made on web hosting providers to determine whether they are the right fit for your website. For instance, some hosting providers do not host websites developed by C#, Java and Python, therefore, it is important to have background information about what you want before making a decision on whether to go with a web hosting provider.
Selecting a web hosting plan
After doing a background check on a web hosting provider, the next thing that is required is a web hosting plan. A domain hosting plan is a package that you need to acquire in order to host your website using a specific web hosting provider.
The cost of a web hosting plan depends on a lot of factors including the type of hosting you need, server type, database type, the amount of space you need, the projected traffic you expect for your site, which determines the bandwidth you need for your site and the type of website you are developing, for example, a video streaming site is more resource-intensive than a static website.
Types of web hosting plans
Depending on your web hosting provider, the following web hosting plans are available for your site.
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Shared hosting:
This is the most basic type of hosting available in any web hosting provider’s services. It is cost-effective and requires users of the package to share resources on a server with other websites.
The reason it is cheap is that users are required to share resources and costs. However, this type of hosting has limited resources for a website and users have to choose the amount of storage they need on their plans.
This type of hosting plan is highly recommended for websites that are on a tight budget. It is also efficient for blogging sites, WordPress sites and small business sites that have low traffic.
A website expecting about 10,000 to 20,000 monthly visitors can opt for a shared web hosting plan due to its cost-effectiveness. -
Virtual private server (VPS) hosting:
This type of plan is just above the shared hosting plans, and users can acquire this plan when they need to upgrade and gain more control over their websites. In this type of plan, the website still shares a web server with other websites, however, the number of websites on the server is low and it also gives users the advantage of managing their own processes such as having root privileges.
With root privileges, users are able to set their own user roles, interact with their servers on a more personal level and be able to run more complex applications than in shared servers.
The main difference between shared hosting and VPS is that on VPS, the main server is split into multiple virtual servers that act as stand-alone servers. Therefore, a virtual private server is able to have dedicated resources by using the VPS. Custom configurations are also possible in a VPS.
Users are able to enjoy all the benefits of a dedicated web server without actually subscribing to the more expensive dedicated server plan through VPS.
The plan is good for people looking to have a website running on dedicated server resources, be able to make custom configurations, a site that has high uptime and loads faster and more cost-effective. -
Managed WordPress hosting:
This plan comes with a pre-installed WordPress and is very appropriate for users looking for a WordPress website. It is offered in both the shared and dedicated hosting plans.
The top reason to choose this plan rather than installing the WordPress yourself is that the site is managed and comes with added features such as optimized caching, staging and faster-loading speeds. It also has enhanced security. -
Dedicated hosting:
This is the best hosting plan for website hosting. In this plan, a user has total control of their server, and they do not share resources with other users. However, it is also the most expensive plan available.
In this plan, a user is able to utilize a whole server without sharing resources with anyone. This makes the websites hosted with this plan to operate at peak performance.
Users are able to choose software for their sites, do server configurations and anything else they can think of that can optimize their website.
The hosting plan is perfect for websites that have more than 100,000 visitors per month. A dedicated plan is used to host large eCommerce sites and enterprise websites, social networks, video streaming sites and other resource-intensive websites.
People looking for hosting that promises complete control of a server, are not willing to share server resources, high security for their sites and fast load times should consider this plan. -
Cloud hosting
This is a hybrid version of VPS which is more effective, faster and with higher uptime than the VPS. It is appropriate for sites that are expecting an average of over 50,000 monthly visitors.
People looking for high security in their hosting plan and less downtime should consider going for this plan. - Reseller web hosting package:
This plan is for people looking to vendors of web hosting plans. The plan is built for users looking who want to resell the services that they have bought to other users.
As resellers, they are given the option to set the pricing options for the clients. The plan is mostly developed for web designers, agencies and web developers who already have clients looking for web hosting services.
The plan is perfect for people looking to have a recurring income from reselling their services.
