Web Hosting 101:
What you Really Need in a Web Host
There are a lot of hosting companies offering a variety of services and packages. It can be overwhelming comparing each and figuring out what you really need. Trust us, we have untangled a lot of our clients’ hosting when they come to us. So, what are the most important things you need to host your site? That largely depends on what your website will do.
First of all, owning a domain name doesn’t mean you have hosting.
You can purchase a domain name from any company and host your website with a completely different one. In fact, many people do that.
What kind of website platform are you using?
For example, if it’s WordPress, you will need to make sure it can run on the hosting you choose. Do you need a template? Some companies offer templates with their packages. If you are going to go that route, we would suggest switching over to Wix or Squarespace. They have a lot of fun templates, provide hosting, and their support is pretty robust.
Will you be selling products on your site?
If you need an ecommerce site, then security will be a factor. If your transactions will be done directly through your site, then ideally, you do not want to be on a shared hosting platform but on a private server. This means that you won’t be sharing server space with just anyone – likely with other ecommerce businesses. This will help protect your customer’s data – and your reputation.
Will you need email?
A lot of people use gmail or Outlook, etc. and are able to send from their domain address just by configuring a few things. This is an affordable way of managing your email. In general, best practices today are to keep your website and email on separate servers.
Should your site be backed up?
Having your site backed up daily is important – especially if you need to fully restore your website. Make sure that your host provides this service, and most will, because they understand the necessity of a restore.
How much resources will your site require?
If your site will have a lot of traffic you are going to be using a lot more server resources. Think Amazon versus most informational sites – A LOT more traffic is flowing through Amazon. If you have a basic informational site, or even a simple ecommerce site, you won’t need as many resources.
It’s important that you get only what you need from your web host. We have seen a lot of people who get sold on products and services they never use and don’t need for their type of website.
