A web host is required when you want to publish a website on the internet. There are varieties of web hosting plans such as dedicated hosting, shared hosting, cloud hosting, VPS hosting etc. The type of web hosting service you select will depend on your requirements and your future goals for the website.
When considering what is web hosting, it is simply the storage of contents of your website in a server. There are different web hosting providers that you can find. But how do you choose the one that is right for your business? You may see many web hosting providers advertise unlimited offers such as unlimited bandwidth. But this might have drawbacks in other aspects if you are going for a cheaper plan where the speed of your site is reduced. So you need to check whether these unlimited offers actually lessen the user experience. There are many web hosting providers that allow very cheap introductory offers. This can be an attractive offer for start-up companies that don’t have a lot of capital. But you may find that many of these providers increase the rates after you sign up. So you need to research the provider extensively and all charges that are applied in order to make an informed decision. If the information provided on their site is not clear, you can always contact them to get a better understanding of their services.
Depending on how complicated your website is, the web hosting features you need may change. For example, if you have a specialised programming language, it may not be supported by all hosts. Some of the common languages that most hosts will support are WordPress and PHP. There are also open-source software that is used less widely so if this is what you are running your site with, you need to check whether the web host offers this service. Check how many databases you need as well. While there may be customisation and advanced features offered by the web host, you need to consider how easy it is to use these features. You need to have some expertise regarding these settings in order to start.
While the web host may provide a multitude of website building tools, you need to check how customisable these tools are in order to create a unique website. You need to be able to modify the content and the structure of the website according to your preferences. There should also be sufficient technical support in case you run into problems. Therefore, you need to research the level of support services provided by the web host and whether it will be sufficient for your requirement. The different types of support services have to be considered as well. Check whether there is a phone number you can call or chat services in addition to email support. If you are not an expert in web hosting services, check how easy it is to set up the site. And there should also be a cancellation policy provided in case you want to choose a new provider.