One of the biggest things you’ll need for a business is a website. Whether it’s an e-commerce business, a place to share your art or you want to share your thoughts in a blog, you’ll need to get started on a page. But that’s easier said than done unless you’re familiar with building them. We’ve compiled a guide of things to know about web hosting to help you choose the best service and plan for your needs. Once you’re finished reading this, you can head over to CNET’s list of best web hosting services to get your website up and running in no time.
What’s a web hosting service?
Web hosting services are companies, like GoDaddy and DreamHost, that own and maintain servers where website data is stored so those websites appear on the internet. Think of the servers as apartment buildings and the web hosting service is the landlord. You essentially pay rent for your website to live on these servers and access resources.
Understanding basic web hosting plans
The goals you have for your website will help determine which web hosting plan is best for you. Here are two of the basic plans.
Shared hosting
With shared hosting, your site data is stored alongside other sites on a server. All sites use the same resources, so if one site is getting more traffic, it will take up the majority of the resources. As a result, your site might slow down as another site sees a spike in traffic. Because of that, shared hosting plans are best if you are starting a website for the first time or aren’t expecting a lot of traffic. Some shared hosting plans, like those offered by Hostinger and iPage, cost around $3 a month.
VPS hosting
Virtual Private Server hosting is a step up from shared hosting plans: The server your site is on is partitioned virtually so it feels like your site is stored on its own server — essentially in its own bubble with its own resources. VPS hosting makes your site more stable as opposed to shared hosting. If you run a small business or are trying to sell art and can’t…
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