Confused about Web Hosting Plans? Let us help!
Are you ready to create a website, but don’t know the first thing about web hosting plans?
You’re not alone. It’s the experience of every person who starts researching web hosting plans. You quickly find yourself in an ocean of words and abbreviations that leave you utterly lost.
The problem is:
Pick the wrong hosting plan and your site will be slow. Pay too much and your budget gets squeezed. Choose a plan that frustrates your visitors with errors. But choose the right one and your website is set for success from day one.
In this comprehensive beginner’s guide, I’m going to explain every little detail you need to know about web hosting plans so you can choose the right one for your website.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
- What Web Hosting Actually Is
- Why Your Website Needs Hosting
- The Main Types of Hosting Plans
- How To Pick The Right Plan For Your Site
What Is Web Hosting?
Web hosting is a service that lets you publish your website on the internet.
Simple as that.
The files that make up your website must be stored on a computer that’s connected to the internet. Web hosting providers rent you space on their servers to store all your website’s files, images, and code. When people type in your domain name, your website is served up to their browsers by the hosting server.
Simple, right?
Without web hosting, your website can’t be published on the internet. The quality of your web hosting plans affects how fast your site loads, how often it’s online, and how well it can handle visitors. These factors alone determine the success or failure of your website.
Most web hosting providers offer a range of plan options that cater to different needs. Some websites need basic hosting. Other websites need more powerful hosting plans.
Why Does Your Website Need Hosting?
You can’t simply “put” your website on the internet without web hosting.
Websites are made of files — HTML, CSS, images, videos, code and more. These files must be stored on a computer that’s always online and accessible. Hosting provides exactly that.
The concept is simple… But there’s more to good web hosting than just storage.
Good web hosting keeps your site online 24/7. Hosting companies guarantee their sites are online and accessible 99.9% of the time. The difference in bad hosting is significant – your site could go offline multiple times a week, losing visitors and sales.
Hosting also impacts site speed. A slow website can lose visitors in seconds. Research shows that every second delay in page load time decreases conversions by 7%. That’s a big deal when you’re running a commercial website.
The Main Types Of Web Hosting Plans
Okay, let’s take a look at the main types of hosting plans. There’s several hosting options with different strengths and weaknesses.
Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is by far the most common type of web hosting for beginner websites.
This web hosting type works by placing multiple websites on the same server. All of these websites share access to the server’s hardware resources (CPU, RAM, and storage). That’s why shared hosting accounts for 35-38% of global hosting revenue.
Benefits of shared hosting plans are:
- Very cheap (usually $2-10 per month)
- Easy to set up and use
- Great for small websites and blogs
- No technical skills required
The drawbacks… If another website on your shared server suddenly gets more visitors than normal, it could drag down your site’s performance. You also have limited hardware resources at your disposal.
Shared hosting is great for personal blogs, small business websites, and portfolios. But if you have higher traffic levels or run a large online store, you’ll need a more powerful hosting solution.
VPS Hosting
VPS hosting stands for Virtual Private Server.
With VPS hosting you get a portion of a server’s resources that is dedicated only to you. The VPS is hosted on a physical server that’s shared by multiple VPSes. The key difference is that the server resources of a VPS are virtual and isolated from other VPSes on that server.
Shared hosting is like living in an apartment complex where you share electricity, water, and wifi with other residents. VPS hosting is like having your own apartment with utilities dedicated to you and you alone.
Benefits of VPS hosting are:
- Better control of server settings
- Greater performance than shared hosting
- More resources for your website
- Scalability
VPS hosting is more expensive than shared hosting at around $20-80 per month. But in return you get significantly more resources and reliability.
Dedicated Hosting
With dedicated hosting, you get an entire server just for yourself and your websites.
Nothing is shared. All the hardware resources of the server are yours to use as you please.
Dedicated hosting is the most powerful type of hosting. It’s the reason big businesses run multi-billion-dollar websites and large-scale enterprise applications.
The cons of dedicated hosting?
Cost. Dedicated hosting plans are expensive at $100+ per month. You also need the technical skills to manage your own server or use a managed dedicated hosting provider.
Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting is a newer type of web hosting that’s quickly gaining in popularity.
Cloud hosting uses a network of servers instead of just a single one. When one server has an issue, the rest of the cloud hosting provider’s servers handle the excess load. This means cloud hosting is highly reliable.
Benefits include:
- Amazing uptime and reliability
- Scalability
- Flexible pricing
- Good performance
Cloud hosting varies in price, depending on the provider and the features you need. Some cloud hosting providers charge you per hour, others per month. Cloud hosting is flexible, which is why it’s attractive for growing websites that need resources that scale with their traffic.
Managed WordPress Hosting
If you’re planning to create a WordPress website, you may want to look at managed WordPress hosting.
Managed WordPress hosting is a specialized form of hosting that’s optimized for WordPress websites. The hosting company takes care of all the technical stuff — updates, backups, security, caching, and optimization. You simply need to focus on creating and publishing content.
You can expect:
- Blazing-fast WordPress site performance
- Automatic WordPress updates and backups
- WordPress-focused support
- WordPress security
Managed WordPress hosting plans cost more than standard shared hosting plans. But for serious WordPress users, the performance and convenience is worth it.
How To Choose The Right Hosting Plan
The right hosting plan for your website is all about what you need.
Begin by asking yourself the following questions…
How much money do you want to spend? If you’re just starting out, shared hosting is a no-brainer. You can upgrade later.
How much traffic is your site getting? An average blog doesn’t require the same power as a busy online store. Be realistic about expected traffic.
What’s your technical skill level? If you’re just starting out, don’t overcomplicate things by using a bare-bones server that requires technical know-how. Beginners should choose managed hosting providers that do the technical heavy lifting for you.
What features do you need? Write down a list of must-have features for your hosting plan. Do you need email accounts? SSL certificates? Backups?
Don’t spend money on features you won’t need… But don’t so cheap that your site will suffer from the limitations.
Final Thoughts
Choosing a web hosting plan needn’t be complicated.
Start with what you need now. Most hosting providers make it easy to upgrade your hosting plan when your website’s needs grow. The important part is to understand the differences between the hosting options and choose one that suits your needs.
Remember:
- Shared hosting is best for beginners and small websites
- VPS hosting is great for growing websites
- Dedicated hosting for high-traffic, power-hungry sites
- Cloud hosting for max reliability
- Managed WordPress hosting for WordPress
Take the time to research and compare providers. Check out reviews and support options. The right web hosting foundation is the difference between success and failure for your website.
