As a business owner, you have a lot on your plate. You’re responsible for the day-to-day operations of your business, managing employees, and ensuring that your customers are satisfied. Technology may not be your area of expertise, but it’s important to understand the basics of web hosting and why it matters for your business.

What is Web Hosting?

Web hosting is where your website lives on the Internet so it can be access by the world! When you create a website, you need a place to store it. This is where web hosting comes in. A web host is a company that provides the technology and infrastructure necessary to store your website files and make them available to internet users.

Just like every address has a physical location for mail to be delivered to, every digital file has to live on a physical hard drive so it can be served to users. A web hosting provider manages the servers the website files live on. It is a unique service, because they specialize in serving up public facing websites that are available 24x7x365.

Just like any system that is publicly accessible, security is of the utmost importance. It is a unique security set up, because anyone needs to be able to download the files or interact with the website, where only the specific developer need to get access to modify the website files, and administrators needs access to the server.

Why Do I Need Web Hosting?

If you want to have a website, you need web hosting. Without web hosting, your website wouldn’t be accessible to anyone on the internet. Web hosting is what makes it possible for people to find and visit your website.

Your website is your image, brand, relationships, and storefront to the world. Users want to know they are safe when visiting your website and that it will load…NOW! We live in a world of instant gratification. A website is expetected to load quickly and give the user what they are looking for. The right webhosting provider

When you choose a web hosting provider, you’re essentially renting space on their servers to store your website files. This space is what allows your website to be accessible to anyone who visits your domain name (i.e. yourbusiness.com). Some things to consider when choosing the right web hosting provider:

• Uptime: You want your website up 24x7x365 so it is there when your visitors want to interacti with it.
• Speed: If a site doesn’t load quickly (nearly instantly), users will leave, (often discouraged) and Search Engines will penalize your rankings.
• Security: Threats continue to be on the rise of all kinds, and websites can be an easy target, since they are exposed. Make sure your webhosting providers has the security measures in place to protect your website and visitors.
• Support: As a business owner you don’t have time to waste troubleshooting technical issues. Find a web hosting provider with a reliable, knowledgeable, responsive support team.