Choosing the right hosting service for your business website is a decision that you should not take lightly.
These days, customers expect to find a fast, secure, and always available website up and running, and your choice of web host will play a large role in meeting their expectations.
So what are your options? Here are the main types of web hosting services you can choose from to run your business website.
Dedicated Hosting
Many businesses start by looking at dedicated hosting, and this is a good option. This essentially means that you are given an entire server of your own without sharing it with any other websites (as in shared hosting, which is discussed later).
With this type of hosting, you rent a single server, and you have complete control over it. This is typically more expensive than sharing a server, but the benefits are clear for serious businesses.
For example, you can deal with sudden traffic spikes without problems, and the website often loads faster, which is important for many reasons, not least because it provides a better user experience for your visitors.
Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting is a different concept. This involves using a whole network of different servers to create a cloud, and they host various websites rather than one server hosting one site.
Because multiple servers are working together, they have greater power to handle traffic spikes. And while cloud hosting doesn’t always provide as much control as dedicated hosting, it is a popular option.
There are some excellent options available, like IBM iSeries hosting, which is one of the best options for businesses because it’s secure and fast. As with all types of hosting, make sure you check where the servers are physically located because they should be somewhere secure.
Virtual Private Server
The third main option when you are choosing a host for your business is a Virtual Private Server or VPS. This is one single server that is then divided into separate ‘virtual’ servers.
All of the separate websites are hosted on their own VPS and it therefore has more in common with using a dedicated server. You might even get root access to give you more control, and it is typically more secure than shared hosting.
What About Shared Hosting?
Using shared hosting is rarely an ideal solution for businesses. While shared hosting is great for providing cheap hosting for personal websites and blogs, large businesses usually need something more reliable.
As the name suggests, various websites will all share a single server, sometimes hundreds of them, all sharing the resources. You do not need much technical knowledge, which is useful, and it is usually quite affordable. But you don’t get much control, and security is often not as good.
Choose the Right Option for Your Business
- These are the main hosting options for your business website, so choose the one that looks most suitable. However, no matter which type of hosting your decide upon, always choose a reliable hosting provider with a good reputation.
Ideally, this means a provider that is always available to answer your questions and resolve problems, and one that ensures a very high amount of uptime to avoid frustrating problems.
