What You Need To Know About Website Hosting
Having a successful website demands proper website hosting services.
When choosing one, you need to consider one that lets you improve your SEO and ultimately increase your sales.
You can find various types of web hosting services today. But it takes knowledge to pick the right option that can give you freedom in your website design and more.
This article will help you how to choose the best website hosting for your website.
Here’s a glimpse of what’s inside:
- Web hosting defined
- Website and Domain Hosting— which is which?
- Why buy web hosting?
- Managed and Unmanaged WordPress hosting—any significant differences?
- Why get a managed website hosting?
- And much more…
So let’s get started.
What is Website Hosting?
Web hosting services let you put up a website or a web page on the Internet.
A web hosting service provider is a company or a business that offers the set of technologies and services necessary for your webpage or website design to be viewed on the Internet.
Servers store or host your website data.
When internet users want to visit your website, they only need to type your domain or website address into their browser. The computer will then try to connect to the service, and your webpages are then delivered through the browser.
Note that most hosting service providers need you to own a domain to host with them. However, if you don’t have one, you can avail help from them in purchasing one.
Check out the web designs made by Web Digital, expert web designers in New Zealand.
What is the Difference Between Web and Domain Hosting?
A domain hosting lets you have your own domain that usually goes like this:
www.youruniquewebsitename.com
When you avail of a domain hosting service, you can have your own domain that’s registered to your name. You pay for it with a yearly subscription fee.
You can get your own domain for as low as $10. Others can cost up to $100. The price mainly depends on how rare or typical the domain is.
Each domain comes with a matching IP address. As long as you pay the annual fee, you own it.
When you have a domain, you then need web hosting so you can build your website. But, unfortunately, your domain only lets you have an address.
So what is web hosting?
With a web hosting service, you can have a space to keep all your website files.
To purchase one, your chosen provider needs you to own a domain. If you don’t have it yet, then the company can sell you one.
Web hosting comes in different types.
You can choose between managed, shared, or dedicated. Then, depending on your choice, you can take advantage of the tools that come with it.
You’ll love how some web hosting offers services that can help run your website with zero hassle. So there’s no need to worry about having little to no technical knowledge about this field.
Do I Need To Buy Them Together From The Same Company?
As implied earlier, you can buy your domain name and web hosting from different companies. If this is your case, you need to point your domain name to your web hosting company. It’s done by editing its DNS settings.
If you’re purchasing both the domain name and web hosting from the same providers, you don’t have to change the domain name settings.
Buying both from the same companies lets you have an easy time managing and renewing them under the same dashboard.
Why Do I Need A Website Hosting?
- You Have Control
If you’re serious about building your own website, doing it on free platforms shouldn’t be an option. Some profitable web designs are taken down for breaking specific rules or conditions. It’s a risk you can’t take if your business depends on your website. With your own web hosting, you don’t end up losing site visitors because you took down your website.
- More Customization Options
Co-branding is a disadvantage when using free hosting platforms. Your site needs to share branding with the host.
Why is this an issue?
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- Your credibility is on the line with your customers.
- The overall look and website design are also affected.
- You can’t expand or customize your website according to your preferences.
- Only limited plugins and tools are available to you.
- Your overall site and, consecutively, sales growth is limited.
- Your Website is Safe
The overall security of your website can encounter problems when you don’t host it. This is because you can’t choose the proper security plugins.
What is the Difference Between Managed and Unmanaged WordPress Hosting?
Hosting plans come with different components. The most basic is the server hardware. In addition, it usually comes with an operating system and various software necessary for running websites.
Some hosting companies let you have the following:
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- Automated Backups
- Malware Scanning And Removal
- Status Monitoring
- Security Sweeps
All these services are what make managed to host what it is. Its essence lies in a hosting plan’s additional services and benefits.
This is where unmanaged hosting differs.
When an unmanaged hosting, you’re getting few to no additional services. Some hosting providers give you a server with only an operating system.
What does that mean?
It means you need to install other necessary software. The hosting provider doesn’t carry out any management tasks on your service. If you need something done, you’re on your own.
Why should I get a Managed Website Hosting?
Services may vary from provider to provider. But are the most common reasons to choose a managed website hosting:
- Automated Backups
You’d want your data where you need them to be. With a managed web hosting, you can enjoy this perk with its automated backup. As a result, you can have peace of mind and zero pressure on making regular backups of your website on your own. This is good news, but here’s the catch:
Not all automated backups are equal.
So before you avail of a managed web hosting service, you should know if:
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- The backup is stored on the same service as your website
- The backup contains your database
Make sure that the backup isn’t stored on the same server.
Why?
It’s because if your hardware encounters problems and needs to be replaced, you don’t compromise your backup. Remember that your database is the most important part of your website. So always do your research before trusting any hosting provider.
- Performance Monitoring
Performance monitoring warns you before any disaster hits your website. You’ll receive notifications when your site comes close to exhausting its available resources. When you know what will hit your site, you can have enough time to contact a support technician and resolve impending issues. Being two steps ahead won’t affect your traffic.
- Automatic Software Updates
Many hosting providers will take care of all the updates for you. You don’t have to learn how to do it on your own.
- Security, Malware Scanning, And Removal
Server security is a top priority when having a website. You don’t want a malicious attempt to expose your users’ data or anything like that. You can take advantage of malware, and security scanning can catch issues on your server. The cleanup services help get rid of these troubles. These are the excellent first line of defense in the long run.
- Control Panel
With a managed server, your control panel lets you:
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- Create Of Databases
- Create Email Forwarders
- Create DNS Records
- Access Logs
- View Performance Statistics And Similar
- SSH Access
Secure Shell or SSH is a secure way to access your service. It can do all things your control panel can, and your developer will thank you for it.
SSH is necessary for installing additional software like the following:
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- Version Control
- Developer Tools
- Scripts
- Other Useful Add-Ons
All of these tools can help you pursue a unique website design with unique functions. If you need web designers in NZ, Web Digital can help you.
- Support Service
You can take advantage of basic support services. Top-rated hosting companies even offer instant live chat support.
Tech support points you in the right direction. Note that they won’t offer free services like installing applications or updating software. But they offer general advice.
Having good support services means that the provider is committed to giving the users quality time.
Is It Possible to Move a Website to Another Web Hosting Company While Retaining The Domain?
Yes. You have to change its settings to point it to your new web hosting company. After that, it’s a simple transferring of files and data.
Takeaways
Knowing how to choose the best website hosting for your website starts with knowing its different forms. Finding out the advantages of managed and unmanaged hosting lets you arrive at an informed decision.
If you want a more secure website, then a managed web hosting is for you. It offers you all the basic software and hardware needs in establishing a website.
While it’s impossible to choose your new host in the next few seconds, at least now you know what to look for in a web design company in NZ.
If you need further help on this topic, Web Digital can help you in many ways. Aside from offering web design services, we also provide web hosting and other plans. We’re a well-established web design specialist in NZ, and we can help your small business web design needs with our assorted website design packages to choose from. So feel free to peruse web design and let us know what you think.
