In 2019, there are now more than 1.9 billion websites online. If you’re ready to create a website for your own business, you’ll also need hosting. And it can be difficult to decide which type of web hosting service is best for you.
In this post you’ll learn exactly what is shared hosting, and whether it’s the right choice for you.
Ready? Let’s get started.
What Is Web Hosting?
Before we go into shared hosting, let’s first cover the basics. When you create a website, you’ll need to purchase a domain name, a theme (this is optional), and hosting.
When we view websites in a browser like Firefox or Chrome, we can do this because that browser has downloaded the code and converted it into something we can see. You don’t store these files on your computer- instead, they’re stored on a server.
Servers are much more powerful than a laptop, and they allow hundreds of thousands (or millions) of people to visit a website at the same time. The owner of a server will rent it out to website owners, and will often provide services like virus and malware scanning, support, server management, website backups, and more.
What Is Shared Hosting?
Shared hosting is one of the most popular forms of hosting. It means that your business website will be hosted on the same server as other websites. The main advantage of this is that it’s the most cost-effective option. While you’re sharing the server, you’re also sharing the cost.
Often, you’ll only need to pay $5-$10 per month for shared hosting, and if you can discover more about this easily online.
Of course, sharing a server also comes with some disadvantages as well. If another site on the same server becomes super popular, you may notice that your own site is adversely affected.
Other Hosting Options
While shared hosting is a popular choice, you also have a number of other options to choose from as well.
One of the most common options is a Virtual Private Server. This is a kind of middle ground between getting a server solely for your own site, or choosing a shared server. That’s because while all of the sites on a VPS will still share one server, they host other virtual machines- one for each site.
Finally, you can also choose dedicated hosting, which means your site will be hosted on a server by itself. This means that no other websites can impact your site by slowing it down or posing a security risk. But this option isn’t cheap, and for most business owners, it also isn’t necessary.
Wrapping Up
Hopefully, this post has answered the question ‘what is shared hosting,’ and helped you narrow down your options. As you can see, shared hosting will often be your best bet- especially if your site is new and doesn’t require a lot of resources.
Shared hosting is a great way to get your business off the ground or get started with an online presence.
Want to learn more about web hosting? Check out some of our many great blog posts in this category today.