With the increasing need for our digital presence online through various websites, website hosting has become a crucial factor in the success, sustainability, and security of this presence, as every website needs a secure place in which to store its files and data and then display it to users on the Internet when they request it. This place is the hosting that carries your site to the world of the Internet and makes it visible to users from anywhere in the world. In this article, we will learn the answer to the question: What is web hosting, and then we will take a look at the most important sites that provide a strong and distinctive hosting service.
What is web hosting and how does it work?
How to choose a suitable hosting service for your website.
The difference between free hosting and paid hosting in terms of performance.
What is web hosting?
It is a digital service used to allow your website, which you build using website building tools or with the help of professional programmers, to be visible to others who use the Internet. This process is done by keeping site data, including images, templates, and videos, on a server located somewhere. The server allows users to access your website when the user types the name of this website. Or when he clicks on the link to the website, or when he pastes it in his browser. Through the link to your website that contains your domain name and the appropriate extension, the user will be able to access your website data on the server, meaning he will be able to access the server and review your website with all the details it contains.
For example, your website has the following domain name: “webcommerce”, and it has the extension “.com”. Once the user opens his browser and types www.webcommerce.com, the browser will lead him to the appropriate server that hosts your website, and within a fraction of a second the user will be inside the main page of the site, which is called “index”.
Therefore, web hosting is the service that allows you to upload your website to the Internet through a server within which the pages of your website are saved with all their details. The server acts as a hard disk with very high storage capabilities. In addition to the server acting as a store, it will receive and respond to requests that it receives to display your site or specific pages of it. In this way, users can interact with the website and browse the content or purchase the services it provides.
Types of hosting services
- Choosing both your domain name and hosting is extremely important. As for choosing a domain name, the issue is simple, as there are many sites that help you choose an ideal domain name for your site. As for hosting, although there are great sites to provide suitable hosting for your website, choosing the type of hosting you need falls solely on your responsibility. The type of hosting you should choose depends on the size of your site, the operating capabilities it needs, and many other things that we will learn about together in this article.
In order to make this step easier for you, we have collected for you all types of hosting, all with their advantages and disadvantages, in addition to the places where they are used. So, here are the types of hosting:
Shared hosting.
It is called shared because your website in this type of hosting will share the server that provides the hosting with other sites. Therefore, you will have limited memory, processing capabilities and disk space. However, the cost will decrease due to its distribution among users. Therefore, this type of hosting is the cheapest of all.
Pros of shared hosting
- Low cost: This is because the server, as we mentioned, is shared by several websites, which makes the cost affordable compared to a server dedicated to one website.
- It does not require management: This is because the service provider takes care of all maintenance and problems related to the infrastructure and its management. Therefore, if the user is a beginner in the world of hosting, he will not have to delve into settings and options that he does not master.
- Ease of use: All you need to do with shared hosting is to log in and set simple basic settings for a regular user. There are no advanced professional settings you need to worry about.
- Ability to expand: The user of shared hosting can later expand the basic hosting features such as storage and processing, if the website’s traffic suddenly increases.
Cons of shared hosting
- Less control over site performance: This is because it is simple hosting with limited features.
- It may cause your site to slow down: since the server is shared between more than one website. If a website experiences sudden strong traffic, this will cause your website to slow down in a way that may be noticeable in many cases.
This hosting is suitable for small websites that do not require large processing and storage capabilities, or simple blogs.
Hosted by Wood Press.
If you have used WordPress as a tool to build your site, it is better to use this hosting because it is designed to be highly compatible with WordPress, and offers superior features for it. Although WordPress is a free, open source platform. However, you will need to purchase hosting to host your WordPress website.
Advantages of WordPress hosting
- Ease of installation: WordPress hosting can be installed through most hosting providers with one click, and it will be ready within seconds and will not require much configuration.
- It comes with many additional features: for example, Hostinger hosting comes with a free SSL certificate, daily backup, free domain name, and malware scanning software.
- Ability to expand and improve resources: If your site begins to see significant traffic, you can upgrade to a better WordPress hosting plan that offers greater advantages in terms of storage and processing.
Disadvantages of WordPress hosting
- Less control over site resources and settings: Most WordPress hosting has limited capabilities and relatively few options for controlling site performance.
- It may cause slow server performance: Like shared hosting, WordPress hosting causes slowness in your website. This is when a website on the same server as yours experiences sudden high traffic.
This hosting is suitable for owners of websites built using WordPress.
VPS Hosting.
It is a hosting service that takes place on a server called a VPS server, or virtual private server. In this server virtualization technology is used to divide one physical server machine into more than one private server environment. This way each user is allocated specific storage space and server capabilities. Therefore, your site’s performance will not be affected by increased traffic from other websites as in shared hosting.
Advantages of VPS Hosting.
- Complete resource control: Complete freedom in VPS server configuration and great customization options.
- Great privacy: Because your website’s resources are kept in your own part of the server.
- Better performance: This is because your site will not be affected by any other websites as a result of traffic changes.
- Cloud technology support: providing greater access to online services and resources.
- Affordable: VPS hosting combines the low cost of shared hosting with the standalone capabilities of dedicated hosting. This gives us the possibility of greater server customization at a lower cost.
Cons of VPS Hosting.
- High cost for startup companies: Although the cost of VPS hosting is very acceptable, it may be a high cost for a new company. In this case, we recommend using shared hosting as it is suitable for the low traffic of the website in its early stages and has an appropriate cost.
- It needs a specialist: Because configuring a VPS server requires some skills and experience in configuring and adjusting servers. And modify various options.
This hosting is suitable for medium and large sites that need greater storage and processing capabilities. It is suitable for online applications.
Dedicated hosting.
It is one of the most expensive types of hosting, and its name “dedicated” comes from the fact that the server in this type of hosting is dedicated to one user. This means that only your location data exists on the entire server, and there is no participant. In this case you will get superior processing and storage capabilities.
Pros of dedicated hosting.
- The speed of the site’s performance increases significantly: this is because the server is dedicated to you alone, and will not be affected by any other websites at all.
- High storage and processing capabilities: Also, because the server is dedicated to you alone, and therefore the entire space is yours, and the processing capabilities will not be distributed to more than one website.
- Complete control over your server with high customizability.
Cons of dedicated hosting.
- very expensive.
- Requires significant experience: This type of hosting requires technical and technical expertise to adjust and configure the dedicated hosting server.
This hosting is suitable for very large websites and e-commerce sites, in addition to online applications.
How to choose a hosting service provider for your website
Choosing a suitable hosting service is a matter that concerns many people who are working on building a new professional website. Hosting providers in the market have become very numerous, and they offer very different features. Here are 7 tips for choosing the right hosting provider for your website.
Determine the price range that’s right for you.
It is necessary first and foremost to determine your own budget, so every time you get to know a new hosting provider you will compare the available features and their costs with your budget. This step helps you ease the way to choosing the right hosting provider so that you don’t go over your budget without knowing it.
Choose the plan that’s right for you.
All hosting providers have different subscription plans that come with the possibility of a monthly, or annual, subscription for 3 years or more. As a founder of a new website or startup, it will be difficult to pay for a subscription for more than a year. Even if it would provide a good discount. In this case, you must make sure that the hosting provider provides a maximum monthly or annual subscription plan. This is before you waste your time reading and learning about the features, and comparing it with other options.
Make sure you provide good customer support.
As a new user, you may suffer from a lot of problems when you first start using your hosting. Therefore, one of the most important features that a hosting service provider can provide is good customer service via messages and e-mail, 24 hours a day, 24 hours a day.
Don’t neglect security.
One of the most important features that your website must have through a hosting provider is absolute security in maintaining your website data. You may use the site to record very important user data, such as email, password, and credit cards. The service provider must devote significant efforts to maintaining this information. Otherwise, at the first data leak problem, you will lose the trust of all your customers, and thus you will lose the reputation of your site and your traffic will decrease.
Make sure that the service provider provides high security measures, such as the protocols used for communication, encryption, and the location of the service provider’s servers. Servers must be located in countries that have highly restrictive privacy policies, as well as malware and DDoS protection programs. Backup is also very important to avoid losing your information if any damage occurs to the server.
Make sure your hosting provider has the type of hosting you need.
Go back to the top and review the section on hosting types, once you are sure which type is suitable for your website. Make sure your hosting provider has this type. As many hosting providers do not have support for all types of hosting, you may have to search for a new hosting provider.
Check speeds, storage space, and processing capabilities.
It is necessary to check the speeds provided by the hosting, you will find this type of information in reviews of different programs. Where actual tests of speed and performance are conducted.
As for the available storage space and processing power, these are features written in the paid subscription plan that you will choose. Make sure it is sufficient for your website.
The difference between free hosting and paid hosting in terms of performance
There are many hosting providers on the market who offer free hosting, but is it sufficient and suitable for your website?
The free hosting option may be suitable for a demo website or a newly created website. As it will help to know your actual site traffic, and your overall site performance on the Internet. Therefore, it may help you choose a hosting subscription plan that is right for you. However, it will not be sufficient to create a professional website in terms of reliability, security, and available services.
Best hosting providers
There are many companies that provide excellent hosting service in the market. But to see the best of them, we have collected the companies that have received the most attention from the public and have had a good reputation over the years. If you want a comprehensive comparison between the advantages, disadvantages, and advantages of these companies, you can browse the comparison of the best web hosting platforms provided by our website. Or, here are the best hosting service providers: There are many companies that provide excellent hosting service in the market. But to see the best of them, we have collected the companies that have received the most attention from the public and have had a good reputation over the years. If you want a comprehensive comparison between the advantages, disadvantages, and advantages of these companies, you can browse the comparison of the best web hosting platforms provided by our website. Or, here are the best hosting providers:
Bluehost.
One of the popular companies in providing hosting for large and professional websites, it may be your best choice if your site is built using the WordPress platform due to the plans with great features and reasonable prices that Bluehost provides for WordPress sites.
The only problem with this hosting provider is that they do not offer monthly subscription plans, instead they have paid subscription plans for 1 or 3 years. An important feature is that all Bluehost subscription plans come with a free SSL certificate.
Ionos.
It is interesting that once you enter the official website of Ionos, you will find a set of options that will help you choose the appropriate hosting plan for you. Ionos supports all types of hosting and paid subscription plans start from $5 per month. One of the most important features of Ionos is its high download speed, reasonable prices, and the possibility of returning money for 30 days if you do not like the service.
Hostinger.
Hostinger offers shared, cloud, and VPS hosting, all of which come with affordable subscription plans and great features. The additional features Hostinger offers are countless, all plans come with a free SSL certificate, unlimited package width, and weekly or daily backups. All paid subscription plans come with a 30-day money-back option.
The only downside to Hostinger is that it doesn’t offer dedicated hosting, which makes it insufficient for large businesses, online applications, and large e-commerce sites.
Dreamhost.
The amazing thing about Dreamhost is that they provide all types of hosting: shared, cloud, VPS, dedicated hosting and WordPress hosting. All paid subscription plans come with many additional free features. The only downside to Dreamhost is that it’s only Linux-based. It is not available for Windows operating system.
Hostpapa.
Hostpapa is known for unlimited bandwidth on all paid subscription plans, as well as great and fast customer support. All subscription plans come with unlimited free features like unlimited SSD storage. With a free SSL certificate, in addition to high speed and security features.
However, Hostpapa does not offer dedicated hosting, and some consider it a bit pricey.
Reg123.
Reg123 does not provide all types of hosting, but it does provide managed WordPress hosting. Which means that the service provider will be responsible for all hosting updates and maintenance. Impressively, all Reg123 shared hosting subscription plans come with daily backup storage.
Web.
It is one of the leading providers of hosting services for e-commerce websites. One of the best features of Web is that all subscription plans come with multi-code support. This enables the hosting platform to deal with different programming languages and scripts. This is in addition to a 30-day file backup. However, with Web there are no cloud hosting or VPS hosting plans.
Wpx.
Wpx offers very good managed WordPress hosting. It comes with free SSL certificates, a free cloud CDN, and fast site loading times. With free DDoS scans.
GoDaddy.
In addition to providing all possible types of hosting, GoDaddy offers managed WordPress hosting and commercial WordPress hosting. However, you can’t get additional free features with GoDaddy. Instead you’ll need to pay an additional cost for each added feature.
In conclusion, it can be said that web hosting plays a crucial role in the success of any website. Providing secure storage space and reliable service around the clock is extremely important for any professional website that wants to gain a good reputation and gain the admiration of users. Therefore, by relying on a hosting provider that is suitable for you, and choosing the optimal type of hosting, you can be confident of providing a great user experience for everyone who visits your website.
