Publishing a website is a must these days if you wish to succeed in business. Even those that are not regular surfers of the internet know they require a web presence in order to properly market their wares. While most do know launching a website is a must, they might not be completely familiar with the web hosting side of the equation. This is not something that can glossed over. Selecting the right website hosting service is a must if you want to maximize the success of the site.
So, it is time to delve a little closer into the subject of website hosting.
What Is Website Hosting?
Web hosting is the actual process that allows a website to actually become accessible on the internet. The actual website will exist of the server of the hosting company. The server can be both shared or dedicated. The server may also be owned or leased by the website publisher. Generally, the average person or small business will opt to lease space on a server from the hosting company. Large scale businesses will be more likely to invest the significant funds to actually buy a server.
The Difference Between Shared and Dedicated Servers
There is a significant difference between shared and dedicated servers. A shared hosting server means more than one website from different clients would be stored on the same server. A dedicated server would be one a single, sole server for a single client and his/her corresponding website. Both have their positives and their drawbacks. Dedicated servers may offer better security and greater bandwidth, but they do cost more than shared servers. Most publishers opt to use a shared server because they really do not need a dedicated server unless they have to deal with a high volume of traffic. This does bring us to the next important point about web hosting: bandwidth.
Bandwidth and Its Relation to Traffic
Bandwidth relates greatly to the ability for a website to handle traffic. It is vital to match the amount of traffic the website can reasonably expect to receive to the amount of bandwidth available with the web hosting plan selected. What does bandwidth refer to? This is the maximum amount of data that goes from the server of your website to the computer of the person viewing the website. There is only so much allocated to a client of a web hosting company. When the bandwidth of the client has been exceeded due to too many visitors on the site, the website will crash. Rather than see this occur, it is best to sign up with a plan that offers the right amount of bandwidth for your needs. If it turns out you do not have enough bandwidth, then you probably can upgrade to another plan. Until you upgrade and acquire more bandwidth, you may end up dealing with a website that may be crashing due to excess traffic. Needless to say, this is not good for a commercial site so select your amount of bandwidth properly.
Plans for Web Hosting
All web hosting services will offer various plans that a client can select. The plans will mostly be based on the amount of bandwidth provided, the number of email accounts clients will be afforded, the amount of disk space, how many websites will be available, and more. The more you require, the more costly the plan may be. That said, even packed hosting plans may come with reasonable costs. Economy hosting plans may come with less than a $4 a month fee. Audit your needs and you will be able to select the best plan.
Selecting the Right Hosting Service
Selecting the right hosting plan is not enough. You must sign on with a high quality web hosting company. Perform a little consumer research on a hosting service before selecting it. This way, you can feel confident you have selected the right one.
