Beginners Guide for Hosting a Website
While self-hosted website builders such as WordPress offer the freedom to build any kind of website, most beginners don’t know how to host a website. The good news is that you don’t need any advanced technical skills to host your own website. In his post we will look at the steps you need to take to host your website.
What does hosting a website mean?
Hosting a website means that you are putting your website files on a computer known as a server. The server makes your web file publicly accessible over the Internet. The server has special software installed which is what makes it possible for people around the world to access your files. This software is known as web server. A web server receives incoming requests and responds accordingly by sending the requested page to the browser of the user.
All live websites use web hosting companies to host their website so that they never have to worry about the jargon of web hosting. Only a handful of companies host their own websites (the main ones are Microsoft, Amazon and Google). They do so because they have the financial and technical resources to take on the huge task. If you need more freedom in hosting you should use a hosting company.
What you need to host a website
For you to host your website you will need a domain name and a web hosting service provider. Web hosting service providers take care of all the hosting needs and offer a ready-to-use sever where you just upload your web files to. For users to get to your hosted website, they have to use your domain name which serves as the address. Many companies, including the hosting companies, sell domain names.
Types of web hosting services
There are many types of hosting services. Not all of them will be ideal for you. You will have to choose from one of the following hosting services:
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Shared hosting
This is the most affordable package and is ideal for blogs, small websites and startups. The cost is low because multiple websites share a single server. With this plan you can pay as little as $2.75 per month.
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VPS hosting
VPS (Virtual Private Server Hosting) is also a shared hosting only that it offers flexible resources to handle traffic spikes. You will be assigned a portion of the server that you can manage from a hosting control panel. You will enjoy low prices and dedicated resources. The cost per month is about $29.99.
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Managed WordPress Hosting
This is a specialized service made for WordPress. The hosting company will take care of caching, backups and updates of your site. You can thus focus on creating quality content for your website. the cost per month is about $35.
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Dedicated hosting
With this option you get a dedicated hosting server to yourself. You can do anything you want with the server including installing your own software. You need technical skills to manage your own server. This option is ideal for large websites. The starting price per month is $79.99.
The choice of a hosting service will depend on your website needs. Make sure you know what your website needs and will do before selecting a hosting plan.