Web Hosting Your Website

Which Website Hosting is Best for You

Web hosting for worldwide coverage

What web site hosting do you need?

Web Hosting Explained.

Web Hosting Platform
Web Page File Storage
Website Database
Website Hosting Features

Web Hosting Platfoms

Website Hosting Platform	Description	Benefit
Free Online Web Hosting	Great for a simple demonstration information website with little control.	You only need a web browser to create a website within thier domain. E.g. www.youname.freehosting.com, Wix
Hosted eCommerce	Buy a domain name (www.yourstore.com), pay for a hosted eCommerce store monthly, list products and sell.	No technical skills required. Sell globally. E.g. Shopify
Shared Web Hosting	Multiple websites sharing space on a web server	Cheap web hosting (about $100/year). Variations can include content management system hosting.
Virtual Private Server Web Hosting	One virtual server for your website(s). More storage space is available.	This can handle more traffic (100,000+ visitors per month). About $500-$1000/year.
Dedicated Web Server	One whole physical web server for your website(s). More storage space available.	This web server can handle much more simultaneous uses. About $1500-$5000/year.
Simple Static Cloud Website	Create a Cloud folder, copy web pages to the folder and point a domain name to the folder.	Simple web pages can be displayed from multiple redundant data centres in one region. Very cheap, about $50/year.
Advanced Cloud Website	Website web pages can be provided from multiple data centres around the world.	The same domain name is used around the globe. Visitors read web pages from the closest data centre. $$$
Development Website	Create a web server on your computer to demontrate or develop a website.	Develop websites offline. Test new features in development. Software like WAMP, MAMP or Internet Information Server is required.

Website Hosting Platform

Description

Benefit

Free Online Web Hosting

Great for a simple demonstration information website with little control.

You only need a web browser to create a website within thier domain. E.g. www.youname.freehosting.com, Wix

Hosted eCommerce

Buy a domain name (www.yourstore.com), pay for a hosted eCommerce store monthly, list products and sell.

No technical skills required. Sell globally. E.g. Shopify

Shared Web Hosting

Multiple websites sharing space on a web server

Cheap web hosting (about $100/year). Variations can include content management system hosting.

Virtual Private Server Web Hosting

One virtual server for your website(s). More storage space is available.

This can handle more traffic (100,000+ visitors per month). About $500-$1000/year.

Dedicated Web Server

One whole physical web server for your website(s). More storage space available.

This web server can handle much more simultaneous uses. About $1500-$5000/year.

Simple Static Cloud Website

Create a Cloud folder, copy web pages to the folder and point a domain name to the folder.

Simple web pages can be displayed from multiple redundant data centres in one region. Very cheap, about $50/year.

Advanced Cloud Website

Website web pages can be provided from multiple data centres around the world.

The same domain name is used around the globe. Visitors read web pages from the closest data centre. $$$

Development Website

Create a web server on your computer to demontrate or develop a website.

Develop websites offline. Test new features in development. Software like WAMP, MAMP or Internet Information Server is required.

Website Hosting Storage

How many web pages are you expected to create? Allocate 1 MB per page.

Will your website contain lots of multimedia? E.g. high resolution photos, audio or video. Add up the file sizes.

Will the website be using a content management system? Look for Solid State Drive (SSD) storage for speed.

Avoid any Website Hosting with less than 10 GB for storage.

Website Hosting Databases

Will the website be using a content management system (CMS)? One database is need for the CMS.

If you are running multiple websites allocate at least one database per website.

Allocate 50 MB per CMS including the database for storage.

Avoid Website Hosting that provides only 1 database.

Website Hosting Feature Considerations

Website Hosting Considerations	Description	Benefit
SSL Certificate	This allows encrypted communication between your website and visitors. SSL can be free or paid. It is based on the domain name.	Used for customer information and payments handling. It shows your website is secure. Avoids unsecure error messages.
Google Analytics (or equivalent)	This provides tracking of website visitors by having a code snippet in each web page. Free.	Track visitor numbers, web pages used, time on website, traffic source, visitor origin, device used etc.
sitemap.xml	This is a file that lists all the important web pages on your website. Notify the search engines your sitemap.xml file exists. Free.	Search Engines use this file to review your website. Good web pages are indexed for Internet Search results (free traffic).
Social Sharing	Allows visitors to share your content on thier social media accounts with social media sharing buttons.	Expand the reach of your website content to new audiences.
Google Map Entry	If you business has a physical location then a Google My Business (Google Map) entry can be created. Free.	Lets you add your website address, address, contact details, open hours and pictures.
Backlinks	Create links back to your website from all relevant sources. E.g. Facebook company page, LinkedIn company page, email signature blocks.	Raise the sources to get your website traffic. Raises the authority of your website slightly.
CMS Plugins	This extends the functions of a content management system. E.g. Visual themes, eCommerce, payment gateways, Paid Memberships, Digital Download sales etc.	There are 1000's of plugins available. This may involve testing the combinations to reach the website goals.

Website Hosting Considerations

Description

Benefit

SSL Certificate

This allows encrypted communication between your website and visitors. SSL can be free or paid. It is based on the domain name.

Used for customer information and payments handling. It shows your website is secure. Avoids unsecure error messages.

Google Analytics (or equivalent)

This provides tracking of website visitors by having a code snippet in each web page. Free.

Track visitor numbers, web pages used, time on website, traffic source, visitor origin, device used etc.

sitemap.xml

This is a file that lists all the important web pages on your website. Notify the search engines your sitemap.xml file exists. Free.

Search Engines use this file to review your website. Good web pages are indexed for Internet Search results (free traffic).

Social Sharing

Allows visitors to share your content on thier social media accounts with social media sharing buttons.

Expand the reach of your website content to new audiences.

Google Map Entry

If you business has a physical location then a Google My Business (Google Map) entry can be created. Free.

Lets you add your website address, address, contact details, open hours and pictures.

Backlinks

Create links back to your website from all relevant sources. E.g. Facebook company page, LinkedIn company page, email signature blocks.

Raise the sources to get your website traffic. Raises the authority of your website slightly.

CMS Plugins

This extends the functions of a content management system. E.g. Visual themes, eCommerce, payment gateways, Paid Memberships, Digital Download sales etc.

There are 1000's of plugins available. This may involve testing the combinations to reach the website goals.

Now you have an outline for a Web Hosting, either complete the 5 Website Design Checklists below or progress to Website Creation

Web Hosting Your Website

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