If you want to set up a website for your personal or business website, you have probably heard words like HOST, host, and such. In this article, we intend to introduce you to hosting and guide you on which hosting is best to buy for your site.
What is HOST? What are the types of hosts? Which host is best for my site? Stay with us to answer these questions and clear all doubts. Imagine you are opening a clothing store in your city. You chose the name of your store, hired your employees, bought all your goods from the market, considered how to arrange the clothes, and even got a card reader for the store. With these explanations, you are almost ready to open your store. But you missed one important thing! You haven’t chosen your physical store space yet!
Having a website without a host is the same. You’ve chosen your domain or website address (same store name), and your product pages are ready (your products), but you still don’t have a hosting service or the same host as your website. So how should visitors find you? Having a host here is the same as the physical space of your store.
In this article, we will help you get to know the different types of hosting services and make the best choice for your website.
How does HOST or web hosting work?
Now that you know what hosting is, it’s time to know how it works. Host refers to how your website is shared online for people to visit. Web hosting services provide this possibility for your site. But how is this possible? It is a good question. We read the answer below: When someone clicks on your website link or types your site address into their browser, they request to connect to your server (servers are powerful computers that store and process data). After confirming this request, the server sends all the files related to the requested page. This is what makes your website visible in a visitor’s browser.
Which host to choose?
So far, you have familiarized yourself with the concept of hosting and understood what hosting is and how it works. In this section, we intend to guide you so that you are completely on the right path of hosting choices. Do not miss this important part. Before choosing any hosting service provider, keep the following things in mind to finally make the best decision.
1. Specify the type of your website
The type of your website and your business plays a big role in choosing the types of hosting. Website types can be briefly divided into these categories:
- Blog website
- Online shop
- Portfolio site
- Personal website (startup or small business)
- Business website (small, medium, or large business)
2. Choose the types of hosts you want
It would help to choose hosting services that suit your visitors and customers. There are several different hosting options for small, medium, and large businesses, which we will explore in detail in the next section.
3. Determine the features you expect from hosting services
Once you’ve identified your website type, determine what features you expect from your hosting service. For example, if you own an online store, you must ensure that your host supports e-commerce. And if you’re a fast-growing small or medium-sized business, your hosting service must be flexible. This foresight will save you from changing hosting providers in the future.
4. Determine the amount of support you need
Consider that if something goes wrong with your website, you risk losing customers and destroying the trust you’ve built between them and your brand. As a result, you need support that can solve the problem of your site in the shortest possible time. These conclusions will help you decide how much support you can expect from your provider.
5. Consider the growth of your website
Are you planning to expand your business significantly? Or do you plan to stay the same size in the long run? If you know you will experience significant traffic on your site, it is worth investing in a dedicated server. On the other hand, a shared server will probably be enough for you if you are a blogger who wants to share travel stories.
6. Determine the budget you want
How much are the hosting costs? It is not easy to answer this question. Hosting costs depend on the service you choose, the types of hosting you need, and the business you are investing in. Especially if your business is small. Typically, shared hosting is the least expensive option, and dedicated hosting is the most expensive option.
The more you pay, the more you eat! In general, the more you pay for your HOST, the more bandwidth you get, the more security support you get, and the more features and benefits you can access.
7. Free or paid hosting services?
In addition to hosting services that charge you, several free hosting providers do not charge you for hosting your pages. Free hosting providers have many limitations. For example, free hosting servers have very little security. Finally, we do not offer you free hosting services. But if you are not going to expand your business or keeping your information is not your priority, you can use these services.
8. Select the hosting provider service
Getting to know the types
So far, you have understood what hosting is and have gone through the steps of choosing the right hosting. In this part of the article, we will review the types of hosts. After reading this section, you can buy your ideal HOST with enough knowledge
1. Shared HOST
This option is the best choice if you want a normal website. Shared hosting is the most common and simplest type of hosting. In shared hosting, hundreds or thousands of people divide and share a server. All people using these hosting types use the same space and bandwidth.
The thing about shared hosting is that you are limited in terms of space and bandwidth, and you cannot put as much information as you like on your website. Another noticeable issue in shared hosting is its lower security and stability compared to other types of hosting. The reason is quite clear when you buy a regular host; you cannot expect very high security.
Shared hosting applications
It is true that shared hosting has limitations and lacks security, but it is suitable for many people looking to build a blog or a regular personal or business website. Setting up a small store with these hosts is completely possible.
Remember that shared hosting is suitable for sites with low or medium traffic. If you want many people to visit your website, you should look for a better host and buy a bigger and fancier house in the big internet city.
2. HOST VPS or virtual server
VPS is a type of virtual server that is exclusively allocated to people. So people who use VPS hosting have access to more bandwidth and space. To better understand this issue, assume a house that consists of several rooms, and you rent one of those rooms exclusively. Of course, VPS is a unique technology with various uses in shared hosting and other server space. The virtual server has its configuration and has more security, features, and facilities.
Applications of VPS hosting
If you know that the website you will launch has an above-average number of visitors and will receive a lot of traffic, it is better to host it with a VPS. If you have a business website and your income and business depend on this site’s traffic, you need to buy a better and more secure hosting such as VPS. Also, if you have a social website, using a VPS host to respond to the necessary traffic and having enough space to exchange opinions and information on your site is better.
3. Dedicated HOST
You can even understand from the name of these hosts that it means dedicating a server with all the resources, space, and bandwidth to only one website. Of course, you will do much better when you have a very large space at your disposal. Next, we explain the features of these hosts:
Change the system: You can configure your server as you like and change the system according to your wish.
Full Customization: This hosting can be fully customized to meet the user’s needs.
High security and satisfaction: This host has very high security and performs well.
Obviously, when you want to buy such a host, you must pay a lot more. In the Internet city, you want to buy a big apartment and get all its facilities, So you have to pay more. In addition, the costs related to the necessary software licenses, such as server control panel software, are calculated separately.
Dedicated hosting applications
This hosting is not a suitable option for small businesses whose website has few visits, and cheaper hosting also meets their needs. But if you are looking to start a big business or think your current business will be bigger in the future, then you need to invest in attracting people and increasing your website’s traffic. By purchasing a dedicated host, you can increase the security of your site, protect your customers’ information, and have high traffic without any trouble.
4. Cloud Hosting
Clouds in the sky can move and move from one place to another. Cloud hosting has the same feature. The cloud host can place people’s information and files on their website in various geographical areas through various virtual servers. Since hosting is done through multiple servers, it will have higher stability and uptime (when the site is available).
Cloud hosting applications
If your audience is scattered in different parts of the world and you want the speed of your site to be high for all these users, it is better to buy cloud hosting. With this, your website’s data is distributed through a network of servers in different parts of the world, and the person who wants to visit it connects to the closest server with your information, and your site opens for him faster.
5. Managed hosting
It is clear from the name of these hosts that you will receive a space you do not manage yourself. If you don’t have enough knowledge or time to manage a server, it is better to leave this work to experts by purchasing managed hosting. By purchasing this host and having a dedicated server, you will also be supported by the hosting company. You can entrust them with all related tasks, such as server security, software updates, etc.
You should know that, in general, any host that has an operating system and control panel is considered a managed host. For example, if you buy a shared hosting or VPS and this hosting has cPanel, then you have managed to host. With another managed host, you will be more comfortable with managing the server, so your work will be easier.