Have you ever wondered how a website becomes visible online?
Back when I discovered online marketing I wondered how it was possible🙆.
As I let my curiosity get the best of me I found out that web hosting is the main culprit.
Web hosting providers are the engines behind your website.
Now is the perfect time to start an online business!
Web hosting providers make getting a website online extremely easy.
You can get web hosting services for $1+ per month. The prices vary depending on the web hosting company and the services you choose.
If you’re brand new to the online business environment you may be wondering
What Is Web Hosting?
Web hosting is the service of providing storage space for websites on one or more servers on the internet.
Web hosting companies allow your website to be visible online.
A web host is a specialized web server that keeps your files safe and accessible on the internet.
They take care of all the technical stuff and ensure that when visitors click a URL on your site it becomes visible.
Web hosts make it possible for anyone, even beginners with no experience to get a website up and running online within minutes.
The hardest part will be determining which is the best web hosting provider, type, and services for your online business needs.
Here’s a video by Easyspace explaining, what web hosting is and how it works.
Below is a list of some of the best types of web hosting services to choose from.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this guide are affiliate links and I will get a small commission if you use them and complete a purchase. This is at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support.
Different Types of Web Hosting
I know it can be very confusing seeing all the different types of web hosting companies and having no clue what it all means, or how and why it matters.
But if you’re going to venture into the world of online business then you should understand the different web hosting tiers that exist.
I’ll briefly explain the different levels so you can have a better understanding before you make your selection.
Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is the cheapest web hosting and it’s the most common type of hosting.
It is the best web hosting service for beginners because when they’re just starting out don’t need a lot of resources since they have no traffic.
With shared hosting, you share resources (CPU, RAM, disk space, etc) with other website owners. This means that your website is hosted on a server that has other sites as well.
This is also the best web hosting for small businesses and starter sites. However, if or when your website starts getting a massive amount of traffic you may want to consider switching.
It is the recommended option for you if your site is new; you wouldn’t want to pay high fees for a site that’s not getting much traffic.
Dedicated Hosting
With a dedicated hosting service, you get a server that is completely dedicated to you. It is more on the expensive side, but it is also more reliable.
Dedicated hosting is perfect for businesses with tons of monthly traffic as they wouldn’t be sharing resources with other sites, which means they’ll have greater control over their resources and fewer site issues.
VPS Hosting
VPS stands for virtual private server. With this type of hosting, you share the physical server with other users but you do not share resources (disk space, memory, etc).
This is the option to choose when your website begins to grow, if your site is slow, or if you have a high-traffic e-commerce store and you process transactions regularly.
It is more secure than shared hosting.
WordPress Hosting
WordPress hosting simply means that the hosting services are built to run WordPress sites only.
They provide tools and resources specifically for sites built on the WordPress platform.
There are two options to choose from when it comes to WordPress web hosting, managed hosting and shared hosting.
WordPress shared hosting is the same as above just specifically for WordPress.
With managed hosting, you do not share resources and everything is handled for you. You don’t have to do anything.
There are companies that offer cheap web hosting with WordPress.
Cloud-Based Hosting
With cloud hosting your website is stored on multiple servers. That means if one server goes down your website will be quickly picked up on another server.
Web hosting in the cloud is more secure. Because your site is stored on multiple servers, it is harder for hackers to attack your site.
You can increase or reduce the number of resources you use. Cloud hosting does cost a bit more than traditional hosting services.
You can use google cloud for web hosting; more on that further down.
E-commerce Hosting
With e-commerce web hosting, there are features available specifically for online stores.
Features such as payment processors, customer databases, extra security for handling transactions, and shopping cart functionality.
Reseller Hosting
Reseller web hosting is when you rent your hosting services to your clients.
This is possible based on the amount of server space and resources you purchase from your hosting provider.
No need to worry about having physical servers as you would use your web hosting service provider’s servers.
There are a number of different web hosting reseller plans to choose from.
Reseller hosting is a great way to make some extra money from your hosting and pay for the cost of your web hosting services.
Unfortunately, not all hosting providers are reliable and the one you choose will be responsible for your online success.
Therefore, you need to choose a hosting company that you can count on to keep your site online.
So, exactly
How To Choose A Good Web Host
If you’re anything like me, your first thought is probably price.
My thing was, I want a cheap hosting provider because I’m strapped for cash and on a budget. However, I have discovered that there is much more to it than price.
It is not easy to find the best web hosting provider and to be completely honest, there is no one best web hosting service or provider that works for everyone.
So, whether you’re choosing a web host for a small business or a large corporation, the most important things you’ll want to take into consideration are:
- Uptime
- Speed
- Ease of use
- Customer support
Uptime
It can be quite frustrating when you’re trying to access a website and you keep getting connection errors.
Therefore, it is important to choose a web host that you can rely on to be up at least 99% of the time should be your first requirement.
The good news is that there are many web hosting sites that offer 99.99% uptime reliability.
Speed
Secondly, you want a web hosting provider that will deliver fast speed.
A slow-loading site will cause your visitors to exit your site and this will increase your bounce rate and ultimately affect your ranking or chance of ranking on the Google search engine results page.
Customer Support
Thirdly, you’ll need a web host that provides good customer support, that way if your site goes down they can have it back up and running in no time.
Look for hosts that provide 24/7 support and live chat.
Ease Of Use
Next, you want a Cpanel that is easy to navigate and use.
Some other essentials to look for when choosing a good web hosting provider are:
1. Price: pay close attention to the signup price and renewal price, they are never the same.
2. Good storage space or bandwidth
3. Unlimited MSYQL database
4. Unlimited MSYQL database
5. One-click installer
6. Instant backup
7. Free SSL
8. Free content delivery network (CDN) or the option to integrate with a CDN
9. Security: malware and hack protection
10. Free Migration
Some of them are not mandatory but are good to have.
Below is a video that walks you through the process of choosing a web hosting provider.
Now that you have a better understanding of how web hosting works let’s look at some of
The Best Web Hosting Service Providers
Hostinger
Hostinger is the cheapest hosting provider on the market today, with their yearly plans starting as low as $1.39 per month.
This is a very affordable option if you’re strapped for cash.
Key Features
- Managed WordPress
- 99.95% Uptime
- Free SSL
- Cloudflare protected nameserver
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- DNS management
- 24/7/365 support
Plan Options
The best plan to choose
The best plan to choose is Premium Shared Hosting.
Reason:
You get a free domain name, it allows you to add up to 100 websites, and you get access to many more features.
Namecheap
Namecheap is the second cheapest hosting company, their yearly hosting plans start at $1.88 per month.
This is one of the most affordable hosting providers for anyone that’s on a budget.
Key Features
- Free domain name
- Cloud storage
- Auto backup
- 99.97% Uptime
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Free website builder
- Domain name and privacy protection
- Free automatic SSL installation
- Free Supersonic CDN
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Free in <24 hours website migration
Plan Options
The best plan to choose
If you’re a newbie just getting started, the Stellar plan is the best option for you.
Reason:
With this plan, you can add up to 3 websites. All plans include a free domain name.
Bluehost
Bluehost is perhaps the most popular web hosting company for bloggers. Their yearly plans start at $2.75 per month.
It is one of the best web hosting providers on the market.
Key Features
- Free domain name
- 99.96% Uptime
- 1-click WordPress installation
- Custom themes
- Website builder available
- Free SSL
- Free CDN
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- 24/7 customer support
Plan Options
The best plan to choose
The best plan to choose if you’re not on a budget is Choice Plus.
Reason:
It allows you to add unlimited websites, get unlimited storage, and a host of other features.
Hostgator
Hostgator is one of the best and most popular hosting companies around. They have yearly plans starting from as low as $2.75 per month.
Key Features
- Free domain name
- 99.96% Uptime
- Unmetered bandwidth
- 1-click WordPress installation
- Free SSL installation
- 45-day money-back guarantee
- 24/7/365 support
Plan Options
The best plan to choose
When it comes to Hostgator the best plan to choose is the Baby Plan.
Reason:
Because it allows you to add unlimited websites, and it’s more budget-friendly.
A2 Hosting
When it comes to speed A2 Hosting is one of the fastest hosting providers. They have yearly plans that start as low as $2.99 per month
Key Features
- 99.99% Uptime
- Unlimited email accounts
- Free website builder
- Website staging
- Free SSL certificate
- Money-back guarantee
- Free website migration
- 24/7 support
Plan Options
The best plan to choose
If you can afford it, the best option is the Turbo Boost.
Reason:
You’ll get to add unlimited websites, get automatic backups, and have much faster speed.
Kinsta
Kinsta is a WordPress-only hosting provider. Unfortunately, the starting price for their hosting plan is $30 per month.
It is definitely not for you if you’re new or on a budget. However, if you have a high traffic volume, you’ll benefit greatly from Kinsta’s web hosting services.
Key Features
- Fully Managed WordPress
- Google cloud storage
- Auto backup
- 99.99% Uptime
- Website staging
- Free SSL
- Free CDN
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Free website migration
- 24/7/365 support
Plan Options
The best plan to choose
The best plan to choose is Business 1 if you have a high traffic volume. If not the Pro will do just fine.
web hosting on aWS
Amazon web service (AWS) is a hosting service provided by Amazon. AWS uses cloud hosting to store the data of a website.
One of the great things about this is that your customers can be on the other side of the globe and still have quick access to your site’s content, this is due to the fact that Amazon offers CDN (content delivery network) hosting.
Another positive of AWS hosting is that you only pay for what you use and you don’t have to commit to a yearly contract.
So if your site has little traffic and you use a small amount of storage and bandwidth then you’ll only pay for that.
As with everything else AWS does have disadvantages, one major drawback is that you have to set up and manage your own website.
If you want to use AWS to host your website, use this guide by Victoria Drake to help you with the setup process.
Google Cloud Hosting
Web hosting on Google Cloud is becoming quite popular and it is very good, however, it is more on the expensive side, but you only pay for what you use.
Despite it being a bit pricy, it does have quite a few advantages; some of which are:
- It is very secure and hard to be hacked.
- They are one of the top leading global networks: this means your site will be fast and can be quickly accessed from any geographic location.
- 99.99% Uptime
- The ability to monitor your site’s uptime performance through their operations suite.
- Live migration without interrupting your site’s performance.
You can host your website on Google Cloud for free if you have a static website with no need for a server.
Check out this guide if you want to learn how to host a static website for free on GC.
It’s a great option if you have a business that has high traffic and is generating online income.
yahoo web Hosting
Yahoo web hosting is another hosting option that’s available.
They have 3 plans to choose from, starting at $2.92 per month. With Yahoo hosting, you can choose a predesigned store/website template and customize it however you like.
One of the great things about it is that it handles local SEO for you.
Many web hosting companies offer a free domain for the first year when you sign up with them, which is great, that way you save back the extra money you’d have paid for a domain.
When comparing web hosts, you’ll realize that the web hosting basics are all the same but their plan options differ across the board.
You should also be aware that there are web hosting companies that have special web hosting for students and teachers; one such example is web hosting for students or WH4S.
There are also some providers that offer a web hosting free trial for a limited time with limitations to some of their services.
Web Hosting FAQs
The cost for web hosting typically starts from 99 cents per month and up. This varies from company to company and the services you choose.
There is no one answer that is right for everyone. It all depends on the purpose of your site and the services you require.
Yes, you can. There are hosting options available for you to host your own site.
There are platforms that allow you to host your website for free, however, they have limitations.
Platforms such as Blogger and WordPress.com are two of the most popular ones.
If you plan to make money from your site then it’s best to go with paid hosting.
WordPress is a content management platform that allows you to build your website and Cpanel is a server management platform.
The difference is that web hosting covers more than just WordPress (for example, Drupal, Joomla, etc), whereas WordPress hosting deals specifically with WordPress installs.
wrapping up
Because there are so many web hosting providers to choose from it’s easy to get overwhelmed and confused.
I suggest you take advantage of the free trials offered by web hosting providers, as well as do in-depth web hosting comparisons.
For me, it was very hard to choose, even after I made my choice I questioned if I had chosen the right web host.
Only you can decide which web host provider is the best choice for your business. The most important things to look for are
- Uptime: this is #1
- Site Speed
- Fast and reliable customer support
If you’re looking for cheap hosting, go with either Hostinger or Namecheap.
For the most popular and best hosting, try Bluehost or Hostgator.
A2 Hosting is your go-to company for fast speed.
If you want fully managed WordPress hosting, Kinsta is the one that operates on Google Cloud.
It’s never too late to start an online business; the best business to start online is a blog.
Share your favorite web host in the comments below.
