There is practically no limit to the types of web hosting on the market, so finding the best for your needs can be challenging. This article explains each type of web hosting, and after reading it, you will be able to grasp which option is the best for your website.
Table of Contents
Defining Web Hosting
This is a general term that covers storing a site online. Web hosting companies provide this service so their clients’ websites can be accessible to people from many different areas. The reach can be from within the country, the continent, or worldwide.
If you create a website on your computer by yourself, nobody can see any of the files. With web hosting, your site goes live, and anyone can see it.
Every company should have a website today. If no one can see your products or knows you offer certain services, you can’t make any money from them. You don’t have to be commercially oriented to need a website. Artists who want to gain exposure will find having a platform online imperative.
VPS is a Type of Web Hosting
VPS is a type of web hosting. It stands for “virtual private server.” It has certain advantages over other types, such as shared hosting. With VPS hosting, you still share the server with other users, but the total number of users is lower, and the resources are split evenly among them.
Shared hosting is obviously cheaper, but it comes with more risks. If one user takes up more resources, fewer will be left for the others. Each user has a limit they’re not permitted to exceed with VPS. Their website might go down if they do, but this will not affect other users’ sites.
Other Pluses
VPS is more scalable and more powerful than shared hosting and tends to offer better speed and performance. It also lets you customize and change things to your website without impacting those of other users.
Costs
VPS is more expensive than shared hosting. Generally, though, web hosting doesn’t have to be expensive. There is great variety when it comes to pricing, with hosting options costing from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars a month. Some of the best web hosting options will provide perks like an SSL certificate to guarantee security, a free domain name, and an uptime guarantee of almost 100%.
People who are just starting out and on a shoestring budget will be really relieved to know they can get a site for such a low price. What’s more, you don’t necessarily have to sacrifice reliability and quality if you go for an affordable web hosting option.
No Free Lunch
Affordable is one thing; free – is quite another. You have seen advertisements for free web hosting; they’re pretty commonplace. You might suspect they have some drawbacks. Here are some of them:
Limited Traffic
If you sign up with a free web hosting service provider, they could be expected to limit the amount of traffic to your website. Once you start exceeding the limit consistently, you’ll need to switch to another hosting provider. The problem is that it might be too late. Potential customers will leave any site that takes too long to load.
You need to know it’s pretty hard to move away from a free web hosting service. If you change your mind, moving will be complicated.
Unwanted Ads
Free services will display irrelevant and unwanted ads on your website, making it difficult for visitors to navigate. They will get annoyed and, what’s more, make your website look unprofessional.
With so many affordable web hosting options, it’s better to spend some money rather than choose free web hosting with all of its downsides.
Read also: How to Know and Choose a Good Web Host and Hosting Plan