Hosting Your Web Site Demystified

When you’re getting a web site set up, one of the first things you’ll need is hosting for your web site. It’s also one of the most confusing steps. In this article, we’ll explain what hosting is exactly, the most common types of hosting, and how to choose the best hosting company for your site.

Hosting is just the first step in our Six Steps to a Successful Web Site.

What is hosting anyway?

A web site is nothing more complicated than a set of files, with possibly some data stored in a database. Some web sites are only one file or a couple, while others are hundreds or thousands of files. Hosting the web site simply means putting those files on a server and making them available to anyone with an internet connection. A server is just a computer – not so different from the one that sits on your desk – with some special software installed that allows it to handle requests to view those files.

When you pay for web site hosting, you’re just renting space on a server to store the files that make up your web site so that your site is accessible from the internet.

Types of Hosting

There are some variations on these themes, but these are the three basic types of web site hosting available from most web hosting companies:

1. Shared Hosting

With shared hosting, you share a web sever with dozens or possibly hundreds of other web sites. This is ideal for small web sites or web sites that don’t get a lot of traffic. The biggest advantage of shared hosting is the price – you can often buy shared hosting for as little as $4 to $6 per month.

With shared hosting, you’re at the mercy of all the other web site owners that are sharing your server. If any one of them makes a mistake with their web site or suddenly gets a lot of traffic, then all the web sites are in danger of slowing down or becoming completely unavailable. Think of what would happen on your own computer if you were running dozens or hundreds of programs at once. You also don’t often have access to modify or change settings on the server.

2. VPS or Virtual Private Server

With a virtual private server, you’re still sharing one server with several other customers, but in this case, there’s software in place that helps keep the different web sites separate from one another. You’re better protected against what your neighbors might be doing on their sites.

You also usually have a lot more control over the server – you can change settings and install software if you like. Of course, that’s only helpful if you know what you’re doing, so you might also look for a managed VPS account, which would include customer support services to help you change settings or install new software.

3. Dedicated Server

With a dedicated server, you actually have your own physical server all to yourself. You can do whatever you like with it. You won’t be affected by anyone else’s web site no matter what and your own web site won’t impact any neighbors. If your web site really grows, you can even have multiple dedicated servers.

Just like VPS servers, these are sometimes also available as managed accounts – giving you access to a server administrator who can help you adjust settings or install software.

How to Choose Hosting

What do you need?

First, you need to figure out exactly what you need. What kind of web site will you have? If it’s a simple brochureware site, then a shared hosting account is probably sufficient. If you’re going to have e-commerce or generate revenue directly from the site, then you should probably consider stepping up to at least a VPS.

Also, identify which technologies you’ll be using. Many web sites these days are built on open source software like WordPress and Drupal, which require PHP and a database of some sort, usually MySQL, so you’ll need a web host that offers those technologies. If you’re building an application in Ruby or Django, then you’ll want to look for a hosting company that specializes in hosting sites built with those technologies.

This question will also help you answer the Linux vs. Windows question. Some hosts offer both Linux or Unix hosting and Windows hosting. Which you choose depends on what technologies you’ll be using to build your site.

How much support do you need?

Next, figure out what level of support you need. Keep in mind that your web site will go down – it’s inevitable. Computers break, hard drives wear out, blackouts leave areas or cities without power, etc. Think about the impact of your site being down. If you’ve got a busy e-commerce site that generates thousands of dollars in sales every hour, your web site being unavailable for a couple of hours could cost you a lot. The hosting package that you pay for should be commensurate with that impact. Don’t host an e-commerce site that pulls in thousands of dollars every hour on a shared hosting account that costs you $5/month. That’s like trying to run an incredibly busy four star restaurant with a microwave and a hot plate.

Make sure you can upgrade to the next level

Then, make sure the hosting company makes upgrading easy. If you’re just getting started and not getting much traffic, it might make the most sense to go with an inexpensive shared hosting account at first. But make sure that your hosting company makes upgrading quick and painless. You should be able to call them at any time and request an upgrade to the next level of service if your site grows or starts getting a significant amount of traffic.

Look for great customer support

Finally, and most importantly, make sure the hosting company you choose has a stellar customer service reputation. Always look for live 24-7-365 support. Search Google or Twitter to see what people are saying about the company. Call their customer service line a few different times at different times of night and day to see how long it takes to get to a person, and how helpful, knowledgeable and friendly the customer service representative is when they come on the line. That will give you a really good idea of what kind of service you can expect when you’re panicked at 3am because your site is down and you’re making a big presentation in the morning.

Wrapping Up

Now you should know enough to make an intelligent decision about buying a hosting package for your web site. You can always get recommendations from other site owners or your web site designer or developer, but always make sure to do at least a little legwork on your own to make sure the hosting company fits and will offer you great service when something goes wrong. You’ll also know that if you suddenly become a blogging superstar, that you’ll be able to upgrade your hosting service accordingly in just a few minutes time.