Choosing the right web hosting company is one of the most important decisions you can make when it comes to your website. However, many people don’t know where to start when it comes to hosting. On this page, we’ll cover the basics of hosting and walk you through different types as well as features to look for when shopping for a hosting plan.
| Company | Main features | Price | Rating | More |
|---|---|---|---|---|
A2 Hosting | Unlimited space & transfer Solid state drives (SSDs) 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at a2hosting.com | From 3.92 /mo | 77% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 A Small Orange | Host multiple domains Solid state drives (SSDs) 24/7/365 support 90-day money back guarantee More features at asmallorange.com | From 2.92 p/mo | 51% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Arvixe | Free domain name Unlimited space and transfer 24/7/365 support 60-day money back guarantee More features at arvixe.com | From 4.00 /mo | 34% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Bluehost | Free domain name Free backups 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee Endorsed by WordPress More features at bluehost.com | From 3.95 /mo | 61% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Dotster | Unlimited storage Unlimited bandwidth 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at dotster.com | From 3.75 /mo | 35% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 DreamHost | Free domain name Solid state drives (SSDs) 24/7/365 support 97-day money back guarantee More features at dreamhost.com | From 7.95 /mo | 79% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 FatCow | Free domain name Unlimited storage and transfer 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at fatcow.com | From 4.08 /mo | 47% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 GoDaddy | Free domain name Unlimited bandwidth 24/7/365 support 45-day money back guarantee More features at godaddy.com | From 3.99 /mo | 66% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 GreenGeeks | Free domain name Unlimited space and transfer 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at greengeeks.com | From 3.96 /mo | 74% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 HostGator | Unlimited disk space Unlimited bandwidth 24/7/365 support 45-day money back guarantee More features at hostgator.com | From 4.86 /mo | 67% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 InMotion Hosting | Free domain name Solid state drives (SSDs) 24/7/365 support 90-day money back guarantee More features at inmotionhosting.com | From $3.49/mo | 70% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 iPage | Free domain name Free security suite 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at ipage.com | From 1.99 /mo | 41% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 iPower | Free domain name Host multiple domains 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at ipower.com | From 3.99 /mo | 17% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Media Temple | Free SSD storage 30 day file backup & restore 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at mediatemple.net | From 20.00 /mo | 78% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Namecheap | Free backups Free website migration 24/7/365 support 14-day money back guarantee More features at namecheap.com | From 9.88 /mo | 57% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Netfirms | Free domain name Unlimited storage and bandwidth 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at netfirms.com | From 4.45 /mo | 27% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 PowWeb | Load-balanced hosting Host multiple domains 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at powweb.com | From 3.88 /mo | 30% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Site5 | Free website migration Free domain name 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee More features at site5.com | From 4.95 /mo | 36% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 SiteGround | Choose server location Free backups, transfer & SSL 24/7/365 support 30-day money back guarantee Endorsed by WordPress More features at siteground.com | From 3.95 /mo | 79% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 Web Hosting Hub | Free solid-state drives (SSD) Free domain name 24/7/365 support 90-day money back guarantee More features at webhostinghub.com | From 4.99 /mo | 92% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 eHost | 45-day money back guarantee Free website backups Free powerful website builder 24/7/365 support More features at ehost.com | From 2.75 /mo | 33% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 JustHost | Free domain name Unlimited disk space & transfer 30-day money back guarantee Host unlimited websites More features at justhost.com | From 3.95 /mo | 25% score | Visit website Read reviews |
What is Web Hosting?
Hosting is essentially rental of space on a computer that holds all the files for your website. This computer is often referred to as server.
But unlike your regular computer that you use at home, computers used for hosting are more powerful, and they ensure that your website is always accessible.
Hosts’ computers are maintained by experts who have the technical know-how to keep the hardware running smoothly. They can also assist you when you run into problems.
Web Hosting Terminology
Before getting into the details of different hosting plans and features to keep in mind, let’s cover some basic hosting terms you’ll need to know to make a more informed decision:
- Disk Space: the amount of storage space available for storing your website files such as images, databases, and the actual content of your website.
- Bandwidth or Data Transfer: the number of visits or visitors that your website gets and the amount of information your website can transfer to them. The more visitors you have, the more data you transfer and the more bandwidth you need.
- Admin or Control Panel: the administration panel of your hosting account. It allows you to upload and download files, create email addresses for your domain, install applications, and more. Most Linux hosting plans use cPanel as the admin panel. You may also be offered Plesk, Webmin, or the host’s own panel.
- Linux and Windows Servers: the operating system used by your web server. Linux hosting is arguably more versatile and cheaper. Linux can handle a variety of programming languages and applications and come with the cPanel. Windows servers are great for websites that rely on Windows technologies, such as the ASP.NET framework. Windows servers are slightly more expensive and often utilize WebsitePanel or Zpanel.
- Name Servers: translate your domain name into an IP address, so your users can visit your site without having to remember its IP.
- Add-on Domain: an additional website that can be added to your hosting plan. Check your host offers this if you need it.
- Subdomain: a sub-section of the main domain. Subdomains can be used for a blog URL, such as
blog.yourmaindomain.com - FTP access: FTP stands for file transfer protocol, which you’ll use to upload files to your server. You can an FTP client such as FileZilla, or log into your control panel and use its File Manager.
- Uptime: the total time your website stays up during a certain period of time. It’s usually measured in percentage. Most hosts nowadays claim a 99% uptime guarantee or better.
Types of Hosting
Web hosting comes in many forms, and hosting plans can handle everything from a simple website with a handful of daily visitors to a hosted app used by thousands of users on a daily basis.
Some plans are better suited for small websites, and there are even plans that allow you to resell hosting to others.
Shared Web Hosting
Shared hosting is usually the most affordable option. Your website will be hosted on a server that is shared by hundreds of other customers, which is why pricing is so low.
Shared hosting plans range between $5 and $10 per month, or less with a web hosting coupon. In most cases, you can pay on a 3-month, 6-month, or a yearly basis to access additional discounts.
With this kind of plan, the performance of your website could be affected by other sites on the same server. If one website is extremely popular, your website might load slower because all the server resources are used up.
Having said that, shared hosting plans are a good way to get familiar with web hosting if you’re just starting out with your website.
Cloud Based Web Hosting
Cloud hosting is relatively new technology that uses a number of individual servers (often hundreds of them) that work together as one large server.
The main advantage of cloud hosting is that your can add more resources almost instantly as your website grows. Your hosting company simply has to adjust the allocated disk space, CPU usage, or bandwidth. So if your website suddenly starts getting a large amount of visitors, the hos can accommodate for it, instead of shutting your website down.
Cloud hosting plans don’t have a set price range. Most of them use a pay-as-you-use pricing structure.
Virtual Private Server (VPS)
Virtual private servers are a step up from a shared hosting plan.
With a VPS, one physical server acts like multiple, separate servers. Unlike shared hosting, VPS hosting provides a dedicated portion of the shared resources,so your website isn’t affected by other websites who are on the same server as you.
Servers often host a smaller number of websites than a regular shared hosting plan, and you get full control over your virtual server. The price is more affordable than renting a dedicated server.
Prices range between $50 and $200, depending on the chosen CPU and amount of memory. Remember: low priced VPS packages may not include management from the host, but this is essential if you don’t have any server administration experience.
Dedicated Web Server
A dedicated server means you are renting an entire physical server from the hosting company. You have complete control over the server, which means you can install complex applications and scripts that aren’t usually available with shared hosting plans.
Since all the resources are used by your website, you don’t have to worry about other websites using up your resources.
Dedicated servers often provide better security. They are best suited for very large websites that have thousands of visitors each day, or businesses that run web applications that are used by thousands of people.
The downside of a dedicated hosting plan is that you need to have a lot of technical knowledge to ensure your server runs smoothly. If you don’t, you’ll either need to pay your host for management, or you will need to hire someone to manage the upkeep.
Dedicated servers are priced from $100 and up.
Colocation Web Hosting
Colocation web hosting is an advanced hosting plan where you rent rack space from a data center and supply your own server hardware.
In return, the hosting company will provide you with power, cooling, physical security, and an internet connection.
The responsibility for any software, data storage, and backup rests entirely on you. You are also responsible for replacing the hardware.
Because of this, colocation is not recommended for beginners or most small businesses.
Reseller Web Hosting
Reseller hosting packages allow you to sell hosting space to your own hosting customers.
A reseller hosting package can also be a shared, cloud, or dedicated plan.
Reseller hosting comes with greater technical control offered through a management panel. On Linux, this will often be Web Host Manager (WHM). You’ll usually also be provided with billing software to create client invoices, and you may be able to re-brand the entire system with your own business name.
Some package include white label technical support, so the host will deal with your clients’ technical problems for you. You may also benefit from private name servers and free website templates.
The price ranges from $15 – $50 a month, depending on features and resource limits.
Managed WordPress Hosting
Managed WordPress hosting is ideal for businesses that want a hassle-free WordPress experience. Some hosts offer this as a plan choice, but others actually offer it exclusively, meaning that you cannot host any other type of website.
With managed hosting, everything related to WordPress is taken care of. From updates to security, your host will handle it.
There are two main downsides. Managed WordPress hosting can be expensive. And you may lose some control over your site, such as the ability to move it to another host later.
Hosting Features to Look For
Your chosen hosting plan needs to offer all the functionality for your specific business needs. Here are some of the most common features you should look for in a hosting company.
Bandwidth and Storage Space
All hosting companies offer unlimited bandwidth and storage on at least one plan. The host will claim that you can host an unlimited amount of websites, upload unlimited files, and create an unlimited amount of email addresses.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t really translate into unlimited usage. It just means is that there is no limit on the amount of resources you can use so long as you don’t abuse the service, or cause an interruption in service for other customers.
Be sure to read the terms of service carefully, particularly if you expect your site to use a lot of resources.
Programming Features
Most hosting companies provide support for many popular programming languages and databases such as PHP, Python, Ruby, and MySQL.
On Windows hosting plans, your host should provide support for ASP.NET, ASP, NET framework, and MS SQL. There are even a few hosts still supporting FrontPage Extensions.
If your website or application relies on using one of those languages, be sure your chosen hosting provider supports it.
E-Commerce Support
If you plan on launching an online store, it’s helpful if your hosting company offers e-commerce software that you can use. Some will provide one-click installers for Magento, OpenCart, or other popular e-commerce applications.
If they provide their own software, or an e-commerce website builder tool, ensure that you can easily manage your inventory, orders, and invoices.
Backups and Security
When it comes to hosting plans, most shared plans will not provide you with a backup of your site that you can download. They usually take regular backups of the entire server for their own internal purposes which they can use to restore your website in case something goes wrong.
You are almost always responsible for taking backups of your site, which you’ll need to save on your computer, or in a cloud service like Dropbox. However, some hosts do have advanced backup provision for an additional fee.
When it comes to security, VPS or dedicated hosting plans are more convenient for handling security breaches or unexpected downtime. They give you more control over server properties, and they also may include DDoS protection.
Your host should ideally provide tools and technologies to block hackers, malware, and malicious code injection.
SSL Encryption
SSL stands for secure socket layer. It helps to protect and conceal the data transferred between a visitor’s computer and your website.
SSL encryption is especially important for any website that collects payments, as the encryption reduces the risk of data being exposed and stolen. But it can be used on any business website.
Most hosting companies allow you to purchase an SSL certificate directly from their website and some even offer it for free on higher-level hosting plans. You may get a small ranking boost from Google when you implement SSL on your site.
Datacenter Location
Once your website is hosted, it can be accessed from anywhere in the world. But location does matter. The closer your web server is to your website visitors, the faster your website will load for them.
So if your target audience is primarily in the USA, your best bet is to choose a server that’s somewhere in Nother America. This will ensure your website visitors are served as quickly as possible. Similarly, if you’re targeting an audience in Europe, you’d be better off finding a host that has a server located in a city like Amsterdam.
Getting Hosting Support
All hosting companies provide support, but the quality and availability varies.
In most cases, a good host will provide email, ticket support, phone support, or live chat. Some may provide support in multiple languages.
Some hosting companies can only be reached during normal business hours, while others will ensure a 24/7/365 service. If your website is business critical, be wary of any host that only provides support in office hours.
More reading & other small business web hosting reviews:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_hosting_service
https://garage.godaddy.com/smallbusiness/launch/what-is-web-hosting
http://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/website/what-is-webhosting
