If you’re setting up a website for the first time then there are probably a few things
that you will come across that are completely new to you. Web hosting might be a
term that you are familiar with but how much do you know about it? Well if you’re
not well informed about web hosting, here is a beginner’s introduction to help you
understand the basics:

What is a web host?

Every website sits on a server to enable people to visit it via the Internet. A web host
is a company that will provide you with a server (or space on a server) for your
website to be accessed by using an IP address.

There are lots of different types of web hosting packages, so it is important to
understand what you need before you rush into setting up your website. You can get
free hosting, shared hosting, dedicated hosting, VPS hosting and numerous other
types of packages which are all good options, depending on what you need for your
website. Rather than telling you which are the best types of hosting, it is more a case
of which types of hosting offers the specific features that your website requires.

Free Hosting

Lets start with free hosting. Websites like WordPress, Wix and Weebly all offer a free
option to set up a website, where you have no follow on costs. However, as we know
in life, there is usually a catch and with free web hosting there are limitations. Free
hosting is fine if you want a simple website without much content but if you are
using it for your business, you may want to look at other options. Free hosting
doesn’t offer any support, doesn’t perform as well and you have little or no control
on how they use your website. For example, they may choose to display several
adverts on your website without any agreement from you. You are also limited in
terms of storage so you may find that you soon run out of space if you are creating
regular content like blogs.

Shared Hosting

A lot of small businesses choose shared hosting as it gives you more features and
support than free hosting but is still relatively cheap. You can expect to find a good
deal through companies like certa hosting for around $5 per month. It stays fairly
cheap because you are sharing the server with other customers and therefore the
costs are shared amongst all of the customers.

Dedicated Hosting

For larger businesses and companies that want the additional security of having a
dedicated server, this is a better option. As you have a dedicated server, you are
paying more but there is less chance of picking up viruses, which can be a real
problem and can make the extra fee seem very worthwhile.

This is just a very quick overview of web hosting but should help you understand
the options a little bit better.