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Securing a website host is an important step in making your website accessible on the internet. When you have a web hosting provider, people can find your website and interact with it from anywhere online. Without a web hosting service, your website is private and only visible to you.
Read on for everything you need to know about hosting your website—from what it actually means, to web hosting costs, and how to optimize your hosting provider choice for your website.
What is web hosting?
A web host is responsible for saving all the files that make up your website onto a computer server. When a person clicks on your website, it’s the web host’s job to respond and send the website files to that person’s browser. Without being saved (or “hosted”) on a server, your website content won’t be publicly accessible.
How much does it cost to host a website?
To host your website, you need to buy a domain name and choose a website hosting service. A web hosting plan can cost as little as a few dollars, but it ultimately depends on the type of hosting service you choose. For example, hosting a website on your own server can come with high expenses—even major companies don’t always host all the parts of their website on their own.
Web hosting is included in every Squarespace plan, with added benefits like a free domain name, unlimited storage, and 24/7 customer support.
4 common types of web hosting
There are several different options to consider when you’re picking a website hosting provider. Here are four common approaches to choose from.
1. Shared hosting
Shared hosting plans mean you’ll share space with other website owners that are also paying to be hosted on the same server. Shared hosting is cost effective, and usually starts at just a few dollars a month.
This option is enough for individuals whose websites don’t need extra functionality from their hosting service provider to handle big traffic spikes. Unless you unexpectedly go ultra viral, it’s unlikely that you’d need to pay for the extra bandwidth for a personal website.
2. Virtual Private Server hosting (VPS)
Similar to shared hosting, with VPS hosting you still share space with other websites on one server. But, you get the added benefits of private resources that can help your website handle large spikes in traffic and other unique events, like a DNS attack. VPS hosting can be a good option for mid-sized companies, and comes with higher costs than shared hosting.
3. Dedicated hosting
Usually one of the more expensive web hosting options, dedicated server hosting means that you have a private server devoted to hosting your website—and nothing else. This gives you complete control over variables like web server admins and security, but it also requires technical expertise to install and manage over time. Generally speaking, dedicated hosting is a viable option for major corporations or other large online entities with the type of website that needs to handle large traffic regularly.
4. Cloud hosting
The option that offers the most flexibility to scale your online presence over time, cloud hosting means your website is hosted by multiple computer servers. If one server goes down, your website will still be up. This can be the best web hosting option for a small business or entrepreneur because you can pool resources across servers, so you won’t have to worry about outgrowing your web host if your site traffic and content grows over the months or years ahead. Similar to shared hosting, cloud hosting can start at just a few dollars a month. Cloud hosting is included in all Squarespace plans.
If you use a website builder like Squarespace to design your website, web hosting is often included in your account. That means you don’t have to worry about choosing between web hosting platforms or managing a web hosting account.
For those who are doing their own web development, consider how much power you need in your hosting provider. Then, compare details like the average uptime of different providers and how easy it is to use the control panel to manage your hosting account.
Still need to pick your domain? Learn about domain name registration and how to choose the right domain name.
This post was updated on January 23, 2023.