If you’re not a technical, web-savvy kind of person, you might not have heard about the concept of web hosting. Or you may have heard the term but don’t actually understand what a web host is. Let me tell you, you really are not alone here; web hosting is the one bit about setting up a website that people tend to struggle with.
If you’re in a position where you want to set up a website but don’t really know how to go about it, you generally have two options:
- Speak to an expert who can either give you all of the advice that you need or even complete the entire project for you.
- Learn all that you can about web hosting and all of the other fundamental parts of the process in creating a website.
Each option has different benefits, so the questions you need to ask yourself are:
- Do you have time to learn a whole set of news skills?
- Will you use these skills again in the near future or is this a one-off project? (Remember, technology evolves at such a rate that you could spend time getting to grips with the latest technology and trends and in a few years time they could be obsolete. A good way of keeping up to date with trends is through reading educational research such as this article from Yale University).
- How much are you willing to spend?
These are just a few questions that you should think about before you make your first step in getting a website set up.
Other key parts of setting up a website include:
- Select a content management system – do you want to use WordPress, Wix, Weebly? Which will work best for what you require from your website? See what market share each CMS accounts for here to give you an idea of the most popular sites.
- Get a domain name– you can’t get your website onto the Internet without this so do this as early as you can.
- Select your web host –depending on which CMS you want to go with and how you want to sue your website, choosing a web host is probably the most important part of all.
What exactly does a web host do?
A web host basically provides you with server space for your website to exist in. There are different types of web host available, for example Shared hosting or Dedicated hosting. If you are just starting off with your first website and don’t anticipate large amounts of traffic or need a website that will take up a lot of space, then Shared is generally what people opt for. Dedicated hosting suits businesses with large websites and traffic and has increased levels of security if that is a key requirement.
How do I choose a web host?
Again, you can either spend lots of time yourself to research all of the pros and cons of each type of host, or you can ask an expert to look at your specific requirements and make a recommendation for you. There are many different web host providers that offer a wide range of different services.
Some of the more popular and well-regarded web host providers include:
- Bluehost
- GoDaddy
- HostGator
- InMotion
- 1&1
Creating your website can be as simple as you want it to be but hopefully this has given you an idea of the first step of setting up a website to enable you to decide whether it is something that you want to take on by yourself.
