Which Web Hosting Solution Should You Choose?

There is no fixed price for a website hosting solution. In some companies, you can get it for free, while others will charge you for the same service. The cost of hosting depends on factors such as the bandwidth, storage space, uptime and customer support.

1.  Free Hosting

Just as the name suggests, you do not incur any costs for using this service. Some of the most common platforms are Blogger and Wordpress. Such platforms allow you to use your name and that of their website which means that you promote them indirectly. They also limit your chances of monetizing the blog. In some cases, such companies place banners and adverts on your site because you are using their platform. If you are lucky enough to apply for AdSense, Blogger will share the proceeds from the adverts with you.

2.  Shared Hosting

For this platform, you share a server with other people. Several websites share a number of resources such as storage space, bandwidth, database, email and FTP accounts. According to Brendan Wilde at Umbrellar.com, “shared hosting is ideal for those with small websites and blogs”.

Advantages

-    Guaranteed uptime: Most web hosts ensure that the servers are always online which is essential for business continuity.

-    Maintenance: You don’t have to worry about the technical bits of a website when you use a shared plan. The hosting company is responsible for maintenance and administration of the servers which gives you ample time to deal with customer-related tasks.

-   Cheap: A single server can host many websites, explaining the low costs of hosting on such a platform.

Disadvantages

-    Limits the use of applications: The host determines the type of software that you can use. Such a plan is not good for dynamic businesses which require trying out new things frequently.

-    May damage your reputation: Your website will share the same IP address with companies who may have bad reputations. Potential customers may conclude that all businesses under the shared host are malicious or engage in unethical business deals.

-   Security issues: If someone attacks the server, it affects all the websites hosted. You can also suffer from domain hacking or even loss of essential data if third parties hack the servers.

-     Sluggishness: Sometimes there can be an overload of the servers due to multiple requests from different website owners. All sites share the same CPU, hard drive, and memory, which may limit your access.

3.  Virtual Private Server Hosting (VPS)

With VPS, the hosting company subdivides the server into several virtual servers. The resulting subdivisions have the capability of performing operations independently and come with dedicated resources and hardware.

Advantages

-   Easy to customize: A VPS is highly flexible and also gives you the chance to personalize it to fit your individual needs.

-    Cost: Even though it’s more expensive than shared hosting, it’s cheaper than a dedicated server.

-    Secure: This ensures that your data is safe from malicious individuals.

Disadvantages

-   Lack of support: The hosting company expects you to manage your servers, which may mean you will have to sacrifice your business hours to dedicate time to doing so.

-  Limited resources: Sometimes you can receive traffic that exceeds what your allocated resources can handle.

4. Dedicated Hosting

For this plan, the service provider devotes a single server solely to your site. You get exclusive control over the server, security systems, and its software.

Advantages

-   No congestion: You lease a server that will serve your site alone. There will be no sharing of resources such as disk space, bandwidth or CPU usage.

-   Customization: You can customize the server to hold software that caters to your needs. You can also experiment with new technologies because your actions will not affect anyone.

-    Security: You are at liberty to deploy security measures such as firewall configurations and anti-virus software to protect your website. Some dedicated servers also come with advanced security measures such as biometric authentication which keeps hackers away.

Disadvantages

-   Technical: You may be required to hire a professional if a problem arises that is beyond your scope.

-   Time consuming: Sometimes you have to deal with the technical bits of the site, and you thus lose time for conducting business.

The cost of hosting a website depends on the plan you choose. Most web hosting companies use SSL to encrypt communication between their websites and the customers. You should evaluate your needs and select the best server that suits you.