Running a website is a complicated game. Many people struggle to get this side of their business off of the ground, and picking the right hosting platform is one of the trickiest parts of the whole job. Your web developer might have some suggestions, but it’s often worth spending some time learning about this yourself to make sure that you’re getting the best hosting package for your needs. To help you out with this, we’re going to be exploring four of the most common types of hosting found today.
Website Builder Hosting
There are loads of easy to use website builders around the web, and they usually come with their own hosting. This won’t be the fastest in the world, but it will usually be very stable and secure, and this is just as important as speed when you’re hosting a website. Options like Squarespace and Shopify have a great track record when it comes to keeping their websites online, though you usually end up paying more than you would have to if you were using a different option.
Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is just about the most common when it comes to small business websites. This type of server will be shared with a range of different users, hosting their websites on a compartmentalized system. This means that your site could be on the same drives as loads of other sites. Shared hosting is the cheapest option on this list, but it can often lack the security companies need when they are dealing with sensitive information.
VPS Hosting
VPS (or virtual private server) hosting is very similar to shared hosting, but carries some of the features which come with dedicated hosting. Your section on a VPS server will be completely private, and won’t be impacted by anything which happens elsewhere on the server. This gives you the benefit of greatly improved security and flexibility, as you will be able to maintain complete control over the software running on the server.
Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated hosting is by far the most expensive option for websites, and is usually only necessary if your site is dealing with huges amounts of custom scripts or data. Like a VPS, you will have full control over the software on a server like this, making it more secure than a shared server. You can end up paying more than 10x the price of a shared or VPS server for this sort of service, though, and this is far more than a lot of small companies have in their budget for a website. This sort of server will also be far more complicated to work with.
With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to get started on choosing the right hosting for your website. In a lot of cases, a VPS server will simply be the best option for a small business. While it may be more costly than a shared option, it will come with a level of control which simply isn’t found with options which are managed for you.
