Web Hosting Tips For Beginners

Are you new to the world of web hosting, blogs, and websites? Perhaps you are working on a startup project that needs a website, or you are about to create your first personal blog? Whatever your answer is, the steps you need to take to build your first website will be nearly the same.

The first thing to note is that a web hosting provider’s choice will define your entire experience. In other words, the hosting is the beating heart of your website or blog. Without it, your project will not be accessible to users online. Furthermore, the service quality will outline the overall success of your website, as it directly influences the entire site experience.

In this article, we will give you some valuable tips for beginners. You can also rely on professional articles and tutorials published on specialized platforms such as Howtohosting.guide.

What is your first step if you want to build a new website or blog?

The answer is quite simple – you should find the best web hosting provider and plan to fit the purpose of your website or blog. Connecting your own computer to the Internet to serve pages is technically possible. However, it is not practical, and it requires lots of resources and technical knowledge. For that, we have hosting providers, which own and maintain robust web servers. In layman’s terms, the provider connects the web servers to the Internet with powerful connections. This enables web visitors to access your blog with all of its pages at the same time. So, if you want to publish your blog or website on the Internet, you need a host. Otherwise, you need unlimited funds and resources to do everything by yourself.

Find a good web hosting provider

The majority of providers offer different plans with ready-made web servers to host your website or blog. Typically, they also provide technical maintenance.

The most logical choice for you is to start with a cheap, shared plan, especially when you are a beginner. Shared hosting is a service where many websites utilize one web server. This type of service is considered the most economical choice since all maintenance costs are shared between many clients.

A shared plan may be cheap and good for your start. However, it has its limitations and potential issues, and once your site starts growing, you will need to change plans. This is where VPS comes into play. It is suitable for bloggers who have outgrown the shared type. Whereas shared service allows many sites sharing the same server, VPS (Virtual Private Server) allows a smaller number of sites to share allocated segments of hard drive space, memory, and processor power. If you choose a VPS plan, you will have access to a virtual machine that runs its copy of an operating system. This way, you have an experience that is close to the performance of a dedicated server.

If you need a more flexible environment, you should consider cloud hosting, which, in a way, is similar to VPS. The main difference is that resources are scattered among different physical machines. This type of service gives you access to a network of potentially unlimited virtual machines, which rely on the physical servers’ network. Having all these VMs connected creates a massive VPS.

Tips to find the best package for your needs

In the previous paragraph, we outlined the essential characteristics of shared, VPS, and cloud hosting. But what to look for in a plan? Regardless of the type of service, some of the most critical features to pay attention to include price, speed, security, uptime, and support. As already mentioned, the shared service is most appropriate for beginners with small blogs or websites because of its affordable price.

The next three factors are contingent on the type of service. The uptime is defined as the time in which the server hosting your blog or website is up and running. This feature is usually displayed as a percentage, such as “a 99.95% uptime guarantee”. High uptime rates indicate an excellent service provider.

Having a professional support team is a great safety net. You should look for a provider that offers a 24/7 availability via various channels (phone, email, and live chat).

We can add one more piece of great advice. If you plan to run a blog that targets specific countries, you should include the location factor in your search. For instance, if you plan to target the German market, look for the best German companies. You also need to read local customers’ reviews and keep in mind the local currency and the legal regulations.