Domain web hosting is a service that allows organizations and individuals to post a website or web page onto the Internet. A web host, or web hosting service provider, is a business that provides the technologies and services needed for the website or webpage to be viewed on the Internet. Websites are hosted or stored, on special computers called servers. When Internet users want to view your website, all they need to do is type your website address or domain into their browser. Their computer will then connect to your server and your web pages will be delivered to them through the browser.
Most hosting companies require that you own your domain in order to host with them. If you do not have a domain, the web hosting companies will help you purchase one.
Features Expected From Domain Hosting Provider:
Email Accounts
As mentioned earlier, most domain web hosting providers require users to have their own domain name. With a domain name (e.g. www.yourwebsite.com) and email account features provided by your hosting company, you can create domain email accounts (e.g. yourname@yourwebsite.com).
FTP Access
The use of FTP lets you upload files from your local computer to your web server. If you build your website using your own HTML files, you can transfer the files from your computer to the web server through FTP, allowing your website to be accessed through the internet.
WordPress Support
WordPress is an online website creation tool. It is a powerful blogging and website content management system, which is a convenient way to create and manage a website. WordPress powers over 25% of websites on the internet. Most hosting providers will tell you right away if their plans are WordPress-compatible or not. The simple requirements for hosting your WordPress websites include PHP version 7 or greater; MySQL version 5.6 or greater.
An advantage of using a website builder is that it allows you to simply drag and drop the content to create a site, and publish your site to life with a few clicks. No technical experience is required. With the Website.com site builder, you will not need to build your website with coding, and you will not need to transfer files from your desktop computer to the server through FTP.
Why Paying For Domain Hosting? :
Uptime (reliability)
Reliability is extremely important for both free and paid services, but you should only expect any real reliability with a paid hosting plan. It’s likely that you’ll want your website to operate 24/7, and you’ll only get that from a web host with reliable servers and stable network connections. Before you decide on a host, check out its uptime history. You can read reviews and check their advertised uptime guarantees.
A site that is hard to reach or frequently down loses visitors, and customers, and can hit revenue hard. If someone finds your site and tries to access it only to find that it’s unavailable, they won’t hesitate to go to a competitor’s site. Slow access is also very frustrating for dedicated visitors (and for you also, when you upload new content).
Traffic/Bandwidth
Read and understand any limitations placed on the bandwidth you use and select an appropriate plan. If your site is going to incorporate video, audio, or other elements that require a higher level of bandwidth, you want a plan that matches your needs.
PHP, HT access, SSH, MySQL, FTP, etc
If you need to install PHP or Perl – make sure you can do this without needing your host’s approval. If not you will have to wait for their say-so before you can implement a feature on your site. Assuming you want to do things like customizing your error pages (the messages displayed when visitors land on an extinct page on your site), protect your site from bandwidth theft and hotlinking, etc., and to password-protect your folders, you’ll need the ability to create or modify “.ht access” files.
SSH access is useful for maintaining databases such as MySQL and when you want to run a blog or a content management system. FTP is a popular method to transfer web pages and other files from a local computer onto a web host’s computer (servers) so that it is available for anyone worldwide. Some hosts only don’t allow you to design and upload your own pages. Instead, they ask that your pages are designed and uploaded using their online site builder. Unless you are an absolute beginner and plan a pretty trivial site, make sure you have FTP access or the ability to upload your pages by email or browser at the very least.
Control Panel
The purpose of a control panel is to allow you to manage various aspects of your website’s hosting account yourself. You should expect a control panel from a commercial host so you can perform everyday maintenance tasks without having to wait for technical support to make simple changes. A ‘cPanel’ provides a simple dashboard to manage email addresses, account passwords, and basic server configurations. It can be time-consuming to go through a technical support operator or be obliged to pay an additional fee each time you want to perform simple admin tasks.
Multiple Domain Hosting
It’s common to own more than one domain, they’re cheap these days, and it’s hard to resist owning a few. In this case, you need to accommodate extra domains with extra hosting space. To simplify the hosting process, it’s possible to host more than one domain from a single account. Each separate website that is being host on the same account is known as add-on domain. Most shared hosting providers allow addon domains. It’s advisable to check in advance how much they charge for it.
Cost for domain hosting
With domain web hosting as with everything, you often get what you pay for. If you have a basic website not expecting a large amount of traffic, expect to pay between $10 to $150 per year for shared hosting. Higher capacity hosting plans can start at $150 and go up from there.
Most commercial hosts offer the flexibility to choose how you want to pay with monthly and annual payment plans; the latter gives you a cheaper rate. Once you’re reassured they offer a reliable service, you can switch to the cheaper annual payments, or switch hosts quickly if they don’t meet your expectations.
Finally, let’s discuss renewals. If you get satisfy with the price of a package, check the price for renewals. It’s a norm in the industry to offer low signup prices but charge much higher amounts on renewals. Unless you are ok with switching between hosts every few years, renewal prices are unavoidable.
Technical support
Things can go wrong at the most inconvenient of times so best check your host has 24/7/ 365 professional support. You’ll want someone there to throw you a lifeline when you press the S.O.S button and to know the person picking on the other end is technically equipped with the knowledge to help you, there and then. To get a feel for this, read online reviews with accounts of real customer experiences.
There will be times when you have a non-urgent query. You might want to solve it in your own time while getting a better handle on your server settings. Does the host have a knowledge base or FAQs to browse to help advance your understanding? Whether you prefer to chat over the phone or rather have comprehensive documentation at hand to solve problems yourself – check they are available.
Customer Support:
Customer support matters because it demonstrates whether a web domain hosting provider is genuinely reliable through every step of the process. When users run into a problem, they need the assurance that their web host will assist them with it.
Running a website can come with plenty of complications, such as unexpected downtime, advanced PHP hosting support, and plugin issues. And if you don’t have much technical expertise, hosting problems can seem foreign. That is why quality customer support is such a vital consideration when choosing the best web hosting.
Well-run customer support will provide users with the answers to their questions and deliver on software repair requests. Support that runs around the clock is usually best. So the staff can address your requests no matter where you are, and many hosting services offer 24/7 support and live chat.
How Does Domain Hosting Works?
Domain web hosting happens when the files that make up a website get upload from a local computer onto a web server. The server’s resources, (RAM, hard drive space, and bandwidth) get allocate to the websites using it.
The division of server resources varies depending on the type of hosting plan chosen. To choose the appropriate hosting plan, you first need to differentiate between the plans available. This is not be complicated. For the non-technical readers, let’s use a simple analogy: Choosing web hosting is similar to searching for office space:
How do you decide which type of office space is right for your needs? Is a workstation in an open co-working space enough, or the next best thing; an office within a business center? Do you have intentions to expand quickly or expect a lot of people to come and go? Would you consider renting an entire building or would building your own space appeal?
Aside from the style of office, you use there are other considerations. How easy the rooms are to access, which functions they offer, where are they located, and the overall cost. These considerations will determine your needs and help decide which type of office is right for you. Let’s compare this selection process to deciding which web hosting fits.
Shared Hosting:
It is similar to renting a workstation in a busy, noisy, open-plan office or co-working space. You have all the modern conveniences: a desk, internet connection, and some stationary. You share the space with other co-workers including the kitchen, printer, and restroom. We can’t do any makeovers to the space such as installing whiteboards etc. This is a popular option for launching small websites and is not appropriate for large-scale commercial projects.
Virtual Private Server(VPS):
A VPS is a nice step up from shared hosting. The medium-sized business will benefit from renting an office within a business park. With a VPS, users get isolate from each other. You have neighbors, but you are less dependent on them. And you can carry out any makeovers (customizations) as you like and organize your workstation on your own.
Dedicated Server:
Using an entire office building is comparable to hosting on a dedicated server. It is a more expensive option and is best for websites that value reliability and high performance. Since you control the entire space, you have more say over configurations and plenty of space, but it’s not worth investing in if you won’t use the space included.
Domain Web Hosting:
Once you’ve purchased a domain name, the files that hold your website’s content need to be stored together in a location connected to the internet — a web server. Once the website’s files are uploaded to a hosting company’s web server, the host is then responsible for delivering the files to users.
How To Pick A Web Host? :
Selection of an appropriate and reliable domain web hosting service provider is an important step in coming online, especially if you are launching a business website. Hosts not only make your site available to others, but they also offer services related to managing these servers and their software, support, bandwidth, speed, and so on.
These days building a website is easier and more accessible than ever. But it’s crucial that you know the fundamental principles at work. Organizations and website creators usually need web hosting services to boost the performance of their sites. And because we know this, our experts have combed through over 160 hosts to find the best of the best.
Some web hosting happens locally via personal computers or servers, but cloud-based third-party providers are more in use frequently. Once you start searching for a hosting service, you should be able to find a wide range of both free and paid options to consider. When you are looking for a web hosting service, it can sometimes be difficult to know which option to choose.
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