What Is Web Hosting? (The Basics, Explained!)

Imagine your website is a house. The files that make up your site—your images, text, videos, and code—are the furniture inside that house. Web hosting is the land your house sits on, and the web host is the landlord who provides that land and keeps everything running smoothly.

In tech terms, web hosting is a service that stores your website’s files on a server (a powerful computer) and makes them accessible to anyone on the internet. When someone types your website’s address (like www.yourbusiness.com) into their web browser, the web host delivers your site’s files to their screen. Without web hosting, your website wouldn’t have a home—and no one would be able to visit it!

Why Do You Need Web Hosting?

You might be thinking, “Can’t I just store my website on my own computer?” Technically, yes—but it’s not practical. Here’s why web hosting is a must:

• 24/7 Availability: Web hosts keep your site online all day, every day, so your customers can visit anytime, whether it’s 2 PM or 2 AM.
• Speed and Performance: Hosting providers use powerful servers and fast Internet speeds to ensure your site loads quickly, crucial for keeping visitors happy and helping with your search engine rankings.
• Security: Good web hosts protect your site from hackers with firewalls, secure configurations, Denial of Service Attack Protection, Anti-virus, backups and more.  Having a personal computer accessible to download files from anywhere is a major security risk.
• Support: If something goes wrong, a reliable host like ISOCNET has a support team to help you fix it—fast.

Types of Web Hosting: Which One’s Right for You?

Not all web hosting is the same. Here’s a quick rundown of the main types, so you can pick the best one for your needs:

Shared Hosting:

Shared Hosting is where your website is on a server that also hosts many other websites.  It’s like renting a room in a house.  Most websites live on a shared server.  It is affordable and often optimized for websites to run at their best.  Plus, the web hosting provider takes care of all the technology and security for the server.

Cloud Hosting:

Cloud hosting or virtual machines or dedicated hosting, are terms that are used interchangeably.  It is like renting the entire house!  This is when your website is hosted across many servers.  It is often an entire server allocated to your website that can be allocated resources as needed. Kind of like a host that magically stretches when you need more space.  This type of hosting is used for more resource intensive sites, that maybe have a lot of functionality or a ton of traffic.  This hosting is the most reliable with no single point of failure and is flexible for quick growth if needed.  Cloud hosting can be pricy, depending on the resource requirements, especially compared to Shared Hosting.

Managed Hosting:

In most cases, your hosting provider will manage the infrastructure, but that does not include your website files.  Most sites need maintenance; new vulnerabilities come out and updates are needed.  Technology is constantly evolving, and your site may be at risk if you do not maintain it.  Most business owners are not into maintaining websites, they are focused on making money and delivering their services.  Managed hosting takes all the worry out of the technology, updates, backups, changes, etc.  If gives you a team of experts to take care of your hosting – all of it!

How Does Web Hosting Work?

A hosting provider has an infrastructure to support your website files for optimal performance.  Each technology is a little different, but experienced hosting providers understand the nuisances.  The hosting provider has a server/home for your website.

Once you have built your website, you are able to upload your files to your chosen hosting provider through FTP (File Transfer Protocol) using a program like FileZilla, or through a control panel like Plesk.  Although that might sound intimidating, no worries, experienced web hosting providers like ISOCNET, will do it all for you!

Once your website is loaded and tested, you can assign your purchased/chosen domain name (like yourbusinessname.com) to your website.  The web host links your domain to your server using DNS (Domain Name System) settings.  This tells the Internet when they type in your domain name (yourbusinessname.com), to pull up your website files!  So, when someone on the Internet types in your domain into the browser, your site comes up!

Important Note!  When you buy a domain name, you choose Name Servers, which is where your DNS will live, that tells the Internet where to look when interacting with your domain name.  So, if you purchase your domain name from someone different than your webhosting provider, you will have to get them connected.  You will either give your web host your Domain Name Provider information or change your Name Servers to where your web host tells you to!

Best scenario – work with a friendly experienced team who can walk you through every step of the way or do it all for you!

Key Features to Look for in a Web Hosting Provider

Not all web hosting providers are created equal. There are some important factors you want to consider.

• Uptime Guarantee: Look for at least 99.9% guaranteed uptime—your site needs to be online and available 24x7x365!  You want to find a reputable hosting company that is in a Data Center and can provide you with all the necessary redundancies.
• Speed: Fast servers and features like SSD storage or a Content Delivery Network (CDN) make your site load quicker.   More importantly, the proper configurations for your technology can affect your website performance, like resource allocation, caching and compression.
• Security: SSL certificates, DDoS protection, and regular backups are non-negotiable.  Ask about Antivirus, malware, ransomware protection and firewall options.
• Support: Customer support can make all the difference, especially when things are not working.  You want someone to speak English and who has the experience to quickly resolve your issue.  Make sure you get a local support team that is knowledgeable and friendly.  The last thing anyone wants is someone who makes them feel stupid when they are already feeling vulnerable.
• Scalability: Can you upgrade your plan as your site grows? Flexibility is key.  You want a company who can grow with you to avoid the hassle of moving your site around to different webhosting companies.

At ISOCNET, we check all these boxes—our plans come with 99.9% uptime, top-notch security, and an amazing support staff to help you every step of the way and keep your servers current and up and running.  If you are still not sure, ISOCNET is always willing to provide you with a 30 day proof-of-concept to give you piece of mind that our solution will work for you!

Why Choose ISOCNET for Your Web Hosting?

At ISOCNET, we’re passionate about helping business owners get online without stress.

• Flexible Plans: From shared hosting to managed WordPress, we’ve got options that grow with you.
• Rock-Solid Reliability: 99.9% uptime means your site is always ready for visitors.
• Top-Notch Support: Our friendly experienced support team is here to answer your questions—no tech skills required!
• Affordable Pricing: Plans start low, so you can get online without breaking the bank.

Security You Can Trust: With our nearly 30 years of experience, we understand hosting, we understand security, and we understand business.

Ready to make your website a reality? ISOCNET is here to help you every step of the way.

Talk To An Expert