If you are building a website or having a website built, or probably hoping to host a new website, then site hosting is sure to have been mentioned. Several people are startled that this is an annual price on top of the price of the web site. So, what is it, why is it needed and where do you find it?
Avoiding the technical complexities, every web site is a collection of files. These files are files of code and images plus any other media required. Like all good computer files, they need to live on a computer somewhere.
All that the internet is boils down to a way of connecting heaps of computers together round the world. Connect the computers of internet users to the computers the website files are stored on and you have a network of computers - the internet.
DIY Hosting is likely, just not recommended!
Now if you really wanted to you might, at a push, store your web site on your own computer and let people access the website there. It is likely to do, you just need the technical know-how to do it. But then you also need the security and backups that go along with hosting, to prevent hackers accessing the rest of the files, to prevent unauthorised access to the website, to make copies of the site in case the computer crashes and backup telephone lines and power lines in case they fail.
Website hosting services and options
So we regularly use a good website host to take care of all this for us and it is not actually all that difficult to find cheap web hosting if you start to look round.
There are loads of different options in site hosting, from dedicated servers to shared hosting, Windows or Linux operating systems. But if you are just running a basic site then a straightforward set up will perhaps be all that you will need.
How to find a suitable host
Finding your future web host is not that difficult, you merely need to find one that offers everything that you need at a price you are happy to pay. Then check that they are reliable, have a good customer service record and are suitable for you. If you look through an online or magazine’s web hosting guide you will quickly and easily come across a whole pile of hosts and their average reliability. If you just want to host a basic website look through the selection and see what is on offer. If you can find one that has won several best web hosting awards in the field that you are wanting to be involved in, all the better!
There are some things to watch for. For instance, if you are wanting to host WordPress then you will need to be able to add a MySQL database to the hosting, but this is straightforwardly a matter of pressing buttons and following instructions. You merely need to make sure that that the package you are signing up for might include this feature, either as a standard feature or an add on.
That’s our guide to web site hosting and where to find it!
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Written by Keith Lunt, who offers a web design Formby service. For more useful hints, call into the web design blog .
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