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What is web hosting?<\/a> First off, you\u2019re not alone. While most of us spend a LOT of time online these days \u2013 Zoom call 10, 343 anyone? \u2013 building a website of your own can feel pretty intimidating.<\/p>\n But what if I told you that creating a website is a lot like throwing a party? Like any bash worth its salt, you just need to find the right host \u2013 in this case, a web host.<\/p>\n Imagine for a moment that you\u2019re organizing a huge party, and the whole internet is on the invite list.<\/p>\n That\u2019s more people than you could ever fit into your own home. So naturally, you\u2019ll need to find another space to host the event.<\/p>\n That\u2019s where web hosting<\/a> services swoop in to save the day. A web hosting service, as the name implies, hosts websites for people. They rent out the server space \u2013 or publicly accessible venue, to continue with our party metaphor \u2013 where you can create and maintain the content displayed on your website.<\/p>\n Web hosting services are like a wedding planner and venue rolled into one<\/p>\n Not only do web hosting services provide a location to store all the excellent stuff that makes up your website, but they also provide handy tools to help you build and manage that content.<\/p>\n Even the best-organized parties can hit an unexpected snag. Thankfully, many web hosting services offer 24\/7 support<\/a> with options to speak to someone via email, telephone, and live chat. It\u2019s like having a team of top-tier event planners on speed dial, ready to swoop in and save the day if the caterer runs late or the wrong flowers get delivered.<\/p>\n Finally, let\u2019s say you already have a host for your website, but you\u2019re thinking of upgrading to a swankier venue. If you want to break up with your current web host, web hosting services will often help with hosting migration<\/a>, letting you easily transfer your website from one host to another with a few clicks.<\/p>\n There are many types of web hosting \u2013 or venues \u2013 to choose from when deciding where to house your website. This section will cover two popular options: shared hosting and virtual private server (VPS).<\/p>\n The type of web hosting you pick generally determines two things: 1) where will your website be physically stored and 2) how many other websites are housed on that same server.<\/p>\n A single server can store multiple websites at the same time, depending on the size of the website. Imagine a reception hall with multiple rooms, each one simultaneously hosting a different wedding, Bat Mitzvah, and retirement party.<\/p>\n Some websites might share a server with hundreds of other websites. Meanwhile, other websites are big enough to require an entire server to themselves.<\/p>\n As for pricing, some types of web hosting are more expensive than others. To understand why this is, imagine you\u2019re apartment hunting. Renting a cozy room in a four-bedroom apartment would certainly cost less than leasing a whole house with a lush backyard to yourself, right? The same logic applies to web hosting types<\/a>, in that storing your website on a shared server or computer is usually the thriftier option \u2013 hurray for roommates!<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a helpful breakdown of four different types of web hosting you might encounter while shopping around for a web hosting service:<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve decided on the type of web hosting that best suits your needs, it\u2019s time to pick a hosting plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hosting plans are essentially an agreement laying out how much you\u2019ll pay to store your website, and what sorts of helpful web hosting services are included in that fee.<\/p>\n Essentially, a hosting plan is a rental agreement \u2013 how much are you paying per month to rent the space, and what utilities and amenities are folded into that amount.<\/p>\n Plans are typically billed on either a monthly or annual basis. A quick pro-tip: While you\u2019ll pay more upfront, opting for a plan with annual billing often offers a bigger initial discount and saves you money for that first year of service.<\/p>\n The price of a plan goes up depending on the size (often measured in gigabytes) and resources of your website, and the number of services you need.<\/p>\n When picking a web hosting plan, think seriously about your needs:<\/p>\n So, you\u2019ve found the perfect venue to have your party in, picked a room equipped with everything you need, and signed a rental agreement. Now all you need is an address to put on the invitations, so guests know where to go.<\/p>\n This is where domain hosting<\/a> comes in.<\/p>\n While the terms \u201cdomain hosting\u201d or \u201cdomain name\u201d might be totally foreign to you, I guarantee that you\u2019re already a pro at using them.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because domain names, or URLs, are what you type into a browser\u2019s address bar to visit different websites. For example, www.rebel.com<\/a> is the domain name for the website you\u2019re on right now.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a simple way to differentiate between domain hosting and web hosting.<\/p>\n Imagine you\u2019re going camping, and you\u2019ve invited a friend to join you in the wild.<\/p>\n Both domain hosting and web hosting are separate services that you pay for via a monthly or annual plan.<\/p>\n As we\u2019ve already chatted about, websites are stored \u2013 or hosted \u2013 on servers, which are publicly accessible computers. All the stuff that makes up your website is housed on the server.<\/p>\n When you sign up for domain hosting, you\u2019ll create a unique address that links to your website. You can even pick from a humongous menu of domain extensions<\/a> to cap off your address, from familiar standards like \u201c.com\u201d and \u201c.ca\u201d to off-beat options like \u201c.shop\u201d or \u201c.sucks\u201d.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say your address is www.rebel.com. When you type \u201cwww.rebel.com\u201d into your internet browser\u2019s address bar, or click on a link like this<\/a>, your browser starts looking for the computer associated with that domain name.<\/p>\n Domain hosting services ensure that all the right connections are in place so that browsers can use the domain name you\u2019ve selected to locate the exact computer or data centre where your website is hosted.<\/p>\n From there, a polite back-and-forth of requests is kicked off. Invitation in hand, the browser asks the web server if it could display the files that make up the website, please and thank you. Fun fact: web servers support a wide range of file types including: html, css, images, video and pdf, just to name a few.<\/p>\n If the web server can find the files, it sends them back to the browser and poof \u2013 the website appears on your device screen.<\/p>\n If they can\u2019t find what was requested \u2013 if you misspell the domain name, for example \u2013 the server returns an error message to the browser and redirects you to an error page.<\/p>\n The real question is, what doesn\u2019t<\/em> a web hosting company do? If you\u2019re building a website, a good web hosting company is a one-stop-shop for everything you\u2019ll need to get your site up and running.<\/p>\n Web hosting companies give you a space to store your website, offer tools and services to improve the quality and security of your content, help you set up domain names and custom email addresses, and offer expert tech support.<\/p>\n On top of that, many web hosting companies also offer domain hosting services to help you easily find and register<\/a> multiple domains, transfer<\/a> or renew<\/a> a domain name, or uncover all available public information about any domain using WHOIS database<\/a> search tools.<\/p>\n Some companies offer account management services<\/a>, where someone else takes care of managing transactions and domain maintenance on your behalf.<\/p>\n Others have teams of artistic experts ready to swoop in and spruce up your bland pages with creative website design ideas<\/a> and custom-made professional logos<\/a>.<\/p>\n Think of a web hosting company as the ultimate event planner for your Internet-wide party: they coordinate with the venue, ensure that the decorations are popping, double-check that the activities are set up properly and running smoothly, are on-call 24\/7 if anything goes wrong, and even help you mail out the invitations!<\/p>\n There are three main factors to consider when selecting a web hosting company.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no universal answer as to which web hosting company is best for your business\u2019 website. As this post explained, each business has different needs, and a good web hosting company should be able to accommodate all of them by offering a range of packages, and services to choose from.<\/p>\n Some web hosting companies will even helpfully name their plans according to the type of user best suited to them. For example, Rebel offers Personal, Startup, and Business Hosting<\/a> plans, in addition to their does-exactly what-it-says-on-the-tin Managed WordPress plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the end of the day, it\u2019s your party! Make sure it goes off without a hitch by picking a web hosting company that has your back from start to finish. (Hint: like the one you\u2019re on right now \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What is web hosting?Why do I need web hosting services?What are the different types of web hosting?– Shared Hosting– Virtual Private ServerWhat are hosting plans, and how do I pick one?What is domain hosting?Web hosting vs. domain hosting?How does domain hosting really work?What does a web hosting company do?How do I pick a web hosting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[12826,5393,5614],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-96105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internet-business","tag-hosting","tag-web","tag-whats"],"yoast_head":"\n
Why do I need web hosting services?<\/a>
What are the different types of web hosting?<\/a>
– Shared Hosting<\/a>
– Virtual Private Server<\/a>
What are hosting plans, and how do I pick one?<\/a>
What is domain hosting?<\/a>
Web hosting vs. domain hosting?<\/a>
How does domain hosting really work?<\/a>
What does a web hosting company do?<\/a>
How do I pick a web hosting company?<\/a>
Which web hosting company is best for my business?<\/a><\/p>\nSo you need a website, but have absolutely no idea where to start?<\/h3>\n
What is web hosting?<\/h3>\n
Why do I need web hosting services?<\/h3>\n
What are the different types of web hosting?<\/h3>\n
Shared hosting<\/h3>\n
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Virtual private server (VPS)<\/h3>\n
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What are hosting plans, and how do I pick one?<\/h3>\n
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What is domain hosting?<\/h3>\n
Web hosting vs. domain hosting? Huh?<\/h3>\n
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OK, but how does domain hosting really work?<\/h3>\n
What does a web hosting company do?<\/h3>\n
How do I pick a web hosting company?<\/h3>\n
First, what type of web hosting do you need?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Second, what services do you want?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Third, what\u2019s your price range?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Which web hosting company is best for my business?<\/h3>\n