How Does Your Business Benefit from Web Hosting?

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Businesses benefit from having a website up and running. A good web host can host your files and offer cloud storage. It may also offer additional revenue opportunities. Learn how to use your web hosting service to benefit your business.

Key takeaways:

  • How web hosting helps your business
  • The types of web hosting
  • What steps you can take next

Ways Your Business Benefits From Web Hosting

A web hosting account is most commonly used to host a website, housing all of the files needed for the site and serving them up to people who want to visit your page. What may surprise you, however, is that you can do many other things with this type of hosting service.

In many ways, a web hosting account operates just like a cloud infrastructure service, giving you various great opportunities. Read through some of the most important ways your business can benefit from your existing web hosting platform or from signing up for a new web hosting service today.

1. You can run a reseller hosting business

Most businesses that run a website only use a fraction of the system resources they’re paying for because small business sites typically don’t get massive traffic. If you want to keep your hosting costs at the same general level as now but create a new revenue stream for your business, you may want to consider reseller hosting services.

This type of hosting entails paying for a hosting service and then reselling access to that service to other people or businesses. These hosting accounts come with all the tools you need to sell hosting services branded as your own and usually include billing software.

While all businesses should consider adding this type of revenue stream to their portfolio, it’s an ideal fit for any company that offers digital or technology-related services. For example, if your business does computer repair, software development, website creation, smartphone sales, or anything else, you can add website hosting easily to your list of services and start generating a recurring monthly income right away.

2. You can use the hosting server as cloud storage

Most web hosting accounts come with a large or unlimited amount of disk space. If you have a lot of disk space on your hosting account, you can take advantage of it by using it as cloud storage.

You can upload your critical files to your hosting account, where they are stored until needed. Ensure they’re backed up as a part of your website for added protection. In addition to keeping your files safe, using your hosting in this way makes it easier to access your files when you need them. Since your hosting account is accessible from the web, you can access these files from anywhere with an internet connection.

3. You can run a game server hosting business

If you love playing online games, did you know you can turn it into a business? Many popular games let you set up a private server that allows players from all around the world to connect to it and play together. You can charge money to access this server and create an additional income stream for your company.

If you don’t want to market this type of service, you can still create a private gaming server for you and your employees. For teams that love gaming, creating a server like this and granting access to it can be an incredible benefit to working for your business. It can even help to boost morale and serve as a team-building exercise.

4. You can build satellite pages to boost your SEO

Your business website only benefits your company if you can get people to visit it. In most cases, this means trying to get your page to show up in the search engine results pages (SERPs) through search engine optimization (SEO). One of the most effective SEO strategies is link building — creating backlinks from one page to your main site.

Since web hosting for basic sites can be purchased so inexpensively, it often makes sense to create satellite pages that focus on very specific things and link back to your main business page.

How this works

For example, if you run an auto repair garage in your hometown, you could have your main page set up with all your contact information and the services you provide. Then, create a separate page for each service — such as transmission flush, oil change, and brake jobs — which details what those jobs entail. On those pages, link to your main page or the “contact us” page.

5. You can run private cloud-hosted apps

In years past, most applications that ran on a computer had to be fully installed locally on that computer. But you can set up cloud-based apps and access them from any device with an internet connection. In many cases, you can install these apps onto a web server and simply access them through a web browser.

Keep in mind if you put an app on your web hosting and access it through your main URL, anyone who finds that URL has access. Consider adding security to the app to keep your systems safe and private. In most cases, a simple login and password requirement will suffice.

Types of Web Hosting To Consider

If you want to make the most out of your web hosting account, make sure you have the best hosting possible. This starts with finding a quality hosting company but also includes picking the right type of hosting for your needs. The following are the most popular options and when they should be used:

Shared hosting

Shared hosting is when multiple customers of the hosting company share the resources of one server. While the files are all kept separate, that they share system resources means issues on one site may impact the performance of another. This is a great option for entry-level sites that aren’t going to get a huge amount of traffic.

Cloud hosting

Cloud hosting works similarly to shared hosting, but with the customers sharing the resources of multiple servers configured as one. The hosting company can adjust resources on the fly to minimize performance issues — a good step up from shared hosting.

Virtual private server (VPS) hosting

VPS hosting is where a few customers are on one server, but each is assigned exclusive use of a set number of resources. Issues on one site cannot impact the performance of the others on the same physical server. This type of hosting is great for midrange sites that get a good amount of traffic.

Dedicated server hosting

Dedicated servers are just what they sound like. One customer is given exclusive access to an entire server. This is mostly used for larger websites or those that need full control over how the server is configured.

What Should You Do Next?

Now that you know what types of things you can do with your web hosting account, take action. Think about which of the above items makes sense for your business. When ready, begin implementing these ideas so your business can take full advantage of everything they offer.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Benefits of Web Hosting

Is it safe to store company information on your website host?

It’s safe to store company information using web hosting as long as you restrict access to sensitive information.

Is it legal to resell web hosting services?

Yes, you can legally resell web hosting services.

Is it cheaper to create your own hosting?

It may seem cheaper to host on your own, but many other costs may crop up. Self-hosting can equal pricey teams of experts to maintain your systems, plus costs for hardware, electricity, and added bandwidth.

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