What is website hosting?
Simply put, website hosting is the physical location where all of the website files for a specific website are located. However, there is a lot that goes into hosting a website. Remember that last party you hosted. What went into it besides the location? Food, drinks, invites and that one friend who passed out drunk on your porch.
Just like your event location, website hosting has several components that make a happy hosting location. The important parts of website hosting include: servers, bandwidth, disk space, memory and security.
Servers
This is your website’s physical house. Don’t be confused to where this server sits. It could be in the cloud (look up), a dedicated building, halfway around the world or your neighbor’s basement. The more important things to consider are the physical and functional aspects of the server.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the term used for information that is transferred through your server. A hosting provider may put limits on the bandwidth in order to be fair to its clients (allowing all servers to have an equal playing field). Don’t be scared about limiting bandwidth. Hosting packages are designed for optimum experiences.
Disk Space
How small is your house? Or, how big do you want it to be? Disk space used to be a huge issue. Technology today has made file sizes a lot smaller so your website could actually take up less space than you think. So what does take up space (besides that large fern in the corner)? Images can take up space but more often it’s video or audio files that are taking up too much room. If this is the case, media hosting sites like YouTube or Soundcloud can help out while increasing visibility. A good hosting environment will provide enough space for your website to grow.
Memory
This is a term assigned to how well information can be provided. Does your website take a long time to load? This may be a memory issue. If there is an increase in traffic on your website does it affect how it functions? Again, this could be a memory issue. Hosting plans may limit memory just like bandwidth in order to spread it evenly across all websites.
Security
How locked down are your files? Sadly, reports of hacking, malware or malicious behavior are all too common. Sometimes these behaviors are so strong that it shuts a website or server completely off. Other times, it could be happening in the background and you have no clue. This could be worse than a website shutting down because you do not know what is going on. Although malicious activity will always be around, a good host will ensure that it is up to date with the latest security features to help protect your server and information.
What is domain registration?
Domain registration is the address of a specific website. Remember that party earlier? The event had an address. Your website has an address too. Sometimes, your website hosting and your domain registration are at the same place or have the same account. This is not required. Unlike your home address, a domain registration can be anywhere that provides the ability to link to your website hosting account.
If you are looking to register a new domain, we recommend NameSilo. Their prices are fair and you will spend an average of $10 a year. They also have a great platform that will walk you through how to configure your domain’s information.
Where do I find website hosting?
There are a lot of options when it comes to your website “home”. Its important that the cost and quality of the hosting are balanced. We have been providing website hosting for several years. When we first started building websites, we saw a concern for quality hosting. After spending a lot of time trying to work through other hosting providers we started providing hosting for our clients. This allows us to continue a positive relationship with our clients while providing them with a very reliable service.
If you have questions about any of the information on this page or would like to know more about our hosting options we will be glad to walk you through the answers.
