Web Hosting: Shared, VPS, Dedicated, and Wordpress
If you own a business of any size, web hosting isn't an option; it's a necessity. Many of our day-to-day activities involve researching topics online, so your business needs a reliable and accessible website, even if the pages simply detail locations, contact information, and hours of operation.
There are simply too many voices out there on the World Wide Web, and word of mouth alone won’t get you very far online. Gone are the days when businesses are listed in yellow pages: if you can’t be found in a search engine, your business doesn’t exist in the eyes of a client. Businesses need a sharable website to build an online presence. Without a website, you have no discoverability and thus, earn no money. Granted, web hosting isn’t exclusively a business investment; if you’re aiming to host a personal site, blog, or project, hosting services are also highly valuable. Regardless of your website target, the services listed here have you covered.
The first step in building your online presence is finding a web host, the company that stores your website's files on its servers and delivers them to your readers' and customers' browsers. Bluehost, a PCMag Business Choice winner, is a reader-recommended option.
Web hosting services offer varying amounts of monthly data transfers, storage, email, and other features. Even how you pay (month-to-month payments vs. annual payments) can be radically different, too, so taking the time to plot exactly what your company needs for online success is essential. Many of these companies also offer reseller hosting services, which let you go into business for yourself, offering hosting to your own customers without requiring you to spin up your own servers.
What Is Shared Web Hosting?
Shared hosting is web hosting in which the provider houses multiple sites on a single server. For example, Site A shares the same server with Site B, Site C, Site D, and Site E. The upside is that the multiple sites share the server cost, so shared web hosting is generally very inexpensive. It's cheap web hosting. In fact, you can find an option for less than $10 per month.
What Is VPS Web Hosting?
VPS hosting is similar to shared hosting in that multiple sites share the same server, but the similarities end there. In housing terms, VPS hosting is like renting your own apartment in a larger building. You're much more isolated than in the roommate situation mentioned above; it's still possible that a neighboring apartment could causes annoyance for you, but far less likely. In web hosting terms, Site A's traffic surge won't have nearly as much impact on Site B or Site C. As you'd expect, VPS hosting costs more than shared hosting. You'll pay roughly $20 to $60 per month.
What Is Dedicated Web Hosting?
Unlike shared or VPS hosting, dedicated hosting makes your website the lone tenant on a server. To extend the housing metaphor, having a dedicated server is like owning your own home. The means that your website taps the server's full power, and pays for the privilege. If you're looking for a high-powered site—an online mansion for your business—dedicated hosting is the way to go. That said, many dedicated web hosting services task you with handling backend, technical issues, much as homeowners have manage maintenance that renters generally leave to their landlords.
What Is WordPress Web Hosting?
WordPress hosting is for people who want to build their sites on the back of the popular WordPress content management system (CMS) from WordPress.org. There are multiple ways to set up shop using this free, open-source blogging and site-building platform.
You gain the most web-building functionality if you create a self-hosted site. This typically involves transferring the free WordPress CMS to server or signing up for a web host's optimized WordPress plan. With an optimized plan, the host automatically handles backend stuff, so you don't have to worry about updating the plug-ins and CMS, and enabling automatic backups. In these instances, the WordPress environment typically comes pre-installed on the server.
