Web hosting can be a number of things, from web hosting features to the type of server used to host your website. These factors are what sets website hosting plans apart, as well as sets the pricing structure. To get your website launched successfully, you’ll need to choose a strong website hosting service.
First things first, not all web hosting services are created equal. You’ll need to consider the wide range of factors lightly touched on above. Yes, all factors are important, but none as essential as the type of server your site is parked on.
From shared servers to dedicated, let’s take a deeper look at web hosting servers to ensure you have the support you need for your business to grow and be successful.
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Shared Hosting Service
By choosing a shared hosting service, you will be sharing. As the name entails, your website will be among many, sharing one server that your hosting provider chose. Normally this is fine when small websites are starting out. It is definitely an affordable choice when just beginning your business.
However, the shared server could prove troublesome down the road. If you’re sharing a server with larger, more built-out sites that net a ton of traffic, they will draw more of the server’s resources. This leaves little resources for your site.
This can cause slow loading pages, and even worse, server uptime issues that can cost you a ton of customers. There is nothing worse than having a user click on your site only to see a 5xx error message. This is basically telling users that your site is gone, and so is your business. Not good!
Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting Service
The next step up is choosing a virtual private server (VPS) hosting service. A VPS is still a single server, but it acts like more than one server. This type of hosting service is the middleman between shared servers and dedicated servers.
“Like shared hosting, VPS hosting offers a number of its own advantages,” according to website hosting provider DreamHost. “Since you’re in full control of your server, you can configure it in any way you please. You’ll also enjoy a tremendous amount of bandwidth and storage that are entirely yours.”
With full control over your server, you can configure the server exactly how you want it. You can also increase your bandwidth, disk space, and more whenever you need because most VPS servers are scalable.
Maybe not as affordable as shared hosting, but worth the upgrade for just a slightly higher monthly plan cost. If you have a built-in audience, maybe on social, and you are expecting a large amount of traffic once you launch, it may be best to forego the shared server and go for VPS instead.
Dedicated Hosting Service
Going the dedicated server route for your website hosting service plan is a big decision. You may not really need a dedicated server unless you are looking to upgrade your hosting, because of high traffic, or potential uptime and page load time issues.
Having a dedicated server can also increase the security of the information you compile, as well as your business and actual website from cyber attacks. However, you’ll need a staff ready to manage your dedicated server.
Dedicated servers are more expensive than shared and VPS hosting services, but an essential part of business growth. In other words, it’s a great problem to have. You may be paying in excess of $100 and up monthly, and you’ll need a qualified systems administrator to manage the server as well.
Cloud Hosting Service
Kind of still new in the website hosting service space, cloud hosting is making waves, as well as becoming more affordable as innovation behind the technology becomes more commonplace. This type of hosting could be just right for you and your business.
There are plenty of benefits to choosing cloud hosting to launch your business successfully. One of the biggest benefits is the ability to scale your site to meet your business needs. No upgrading servers, no choosing different hosting plans, just scale up as needed.
Another benefit of going the cloud hosting route is increased website security for your business, website, and database. Since your site is not on an actual server, you are protected from cyber-attacks and the various types of cybercrime that infect physical servers.
In Conclusion
Choosing a hosting service, and more importantly, the type of server is a crucial part of launching your business online. Thinking ahead and choosing a server and hosting service that allows your business to grow should be the top priority. Do you know what type of server you have?
