There are many aspects to the creation of a website: setup, design, content, maintenance, and others. The more technical aspects can be intimidating, but they are crucial to the success of a website. One such technical area is web hosting. What is web hosting? Why is it important for your website? What features should you look for to choose the best web hosting service? This is your guide to web hosting and what it means for your website.
Web Hosting Importance
Web hosting is where you host your website. Think of it as an apartment building – the server is the building where everyone lives, your hosting provider is the landlord, and your domain name is the name of your specific apartment. All of the data for your website is stored on the server, where you and your website visitors can view and access it.
Need for Web Hosting
Just like you would be homeless without that apartment, your website will have nowhere to “live” without hosting. All of the content for the website could exist in real life, but no one can see it except you. This doesn’t serve your business very well.
It’s not enough to purchase hosting – it needs to be the right hosting. Going with the cheapest option, or the first one you come across will hurt you in the long run. The web hosting you obtain for your website should be reliable, secure, applicable to various industries, and easy to use.
A hosting provider does more than just give your site a home to live in and ensure that it is accessible to others. It also keeps software updated, performs maintenance for the server, provides security for the server and the sites it hosts, and addresses that come up, such as security breaches or technical issues. These are all things that you would have had to take care of yourself without the hosting provider, which would require a high level of technical knowledge. They are also aspects that are provided in varying degrees, which is why you need to thoroughly research hosting options to determine which company is best for you.
If you choose the wrong host, you can always switch later, right? Yes, you can, but it will create more headaches than you need. In the meantime, these are the factors that could impact your site if you are being hosted by an inadequate server:
- Security: There are certain security features that are provided by most web hosting companies, but not everyone keeps up with updates or responds to threats in the same way. Gaps in security can leave your website vulnerable to breaches and hacks.
- Support: When things go wrong, you need to know that your hosting company has your back. If they take too long to get back to you or give an inadequate answer, this will leave you on your own, which could have a negative impact on your business.
- Lead Generation: Most businesses today would suffer if their website was down. If it takes forever to get your site back up and running, that’s a lot of revenue that you are losing.
What to Look For in Web Hosting
The features you should look for in a web hosting provider include:
- Security: An SSL certificate is essential for a secure website. Your hosting plan may include it free, or you may need to purchase one. The most secure hosting services also include daily scans, hack protection, off-site backups, and updates for core applications, themes, and plugins.
- Easy to Use: You shouldn’t struggle to access and update your own website. Choose a hosting service that will be easy to use, so you won’t have unnecessary headaches to deal with.
- Beneficial for Your Specific Industry: Some providers may have a one-size-fits-all approach, but not all websites have the same needs. You may want to look for a hosting plan that can serve your specific needs (for instance, a plan that caters to e-commerce sites).
- Customer Support: The best, most responsive will offer 24/7 support. Some may require you to purchase a support plan with certain features or a set number of hours available. You’ll be glad you did when something goes wrong and you need help.
- Speed: A fast site does more than improve the experience of your customers. It also boosts your SEO, which helps you attract new customers. Selecting a hosting service that makes speed a priority will increase your site’s effectiveness. Look for uptime monitoring.
- Ability to Scale: You may only have plans for a small, simple website now, but those plans may change. It’s important to choose a hosting provider that will allow you to grow. This may mean upgrading to a more robust plan, but it’s better than having to search for a brand new provider.
BionicWP Can Help Meet Your Web Hosting Needs
BionicWP is reliable, secure, and easy to use. Off-site backups, daily malware scans, software and plugin updates, a hack promise, CDN integration, and a free SSL certificate will keep your site secure. 10 gigabytes of disk space and 500 gigabytes of bandwidth give you plenty of space for all your content and features. Real-time uptime monitoring keeps your site running as quickly as possible. A free WordPress migration allows you to transfer an existing site to our server, and we provide monthly hosting reports. We offer customer support 24/7, which can help you with design, development, content writing, and project management. Contact BionicWP today to find out what we can do for your website.