Are you feeling a little confused by the different types of website services and web hosting plans we offer?
If so, don’t feel bad, you’re not alone. With hundreds and hundreds of web companies competing for your business with thousands of different web hosting plans, things can get confusing very quickly. Add to that all the “technical geek” terms like bandwidth, GB, and DNS and it’s easy to see how someone who just wants to start an online business and make money online can get easily discouraged. As your online business grows, your Web hosting needs will increase and become more complex. Free and inexpensive web hosting plans may have been fine in the startup phase of your online business, but if your website is starting to feel sluggish as it continues to grow, and you get more website traffic, you may need to start looking at beefing up your Web server.
Think of this list as the progression of the type of hosting plans and services a growing online business can consider. With that said, let’s talk a look at the most common types of web hosting plans and determine which one would best serve the needs of your business; whether you are just starting an online business or looking to take your online venture to the next level.
01 Shared Web Hosting
Shared Web Hosting
Shared hosting means just that. Your website is hosted on a server shared by other websites. The advantage of this setup is the shared cost. You can pay as little as $5-$10 per month for sharing a super server with (probably) hundreds (or thousands) of other websites. The biggest disadvantage of a shared hosting account is that you’re at the mercy of the other sites on your server. A popular site may adversely affect the performance of your own site. On the other hand, if you’re the most popular site on the server, you get to use a super server for a very low price. When most people start an online business they usually start out with a shared hosting plan to minimize costs; and they’re not likely getting a ton of traffic initially.
Shared hosting is good for a brochure type site, or a newer site that doesn’t get a lot of traffic.
02 Reseller Web Hosting
Reseller Web Hosting
Reseller hosting packages are basically a shared hosting account with extra tools to help you resell hosting space. Reseller packages come with greater technical control (often via the Web Host Manager (WHM) control panel), billing software to help you invoice clients and other extra perks. Some of those perks include: free website templates white label technical support — that means the hosting company handles your clients’ tech support issues private name servers — make your company seem even bigger by telling your clients to point their domain nameservers to ns1.yourcompany.com
If you’re planning on selling web hosting as a business then reseller web hosting is perfect for you. Otherwise just stick with a shared hosting plan if you’re just starting out.
03 Virtual Private Server (VPS)
Virtual Private Server
Virtual private servers share one physical server but acts like multiple, separate servers. A VPS is a stepping stone between shared hosting and getting your own dedicated machine. Even though each VPS instance shares hardware resources, they are allocated a dedicated slice of the computing resources.
A VPS avoids the problem of having your hosting neighbors bring down your website, while avoiding the cost of a dedicated server.
Price Range: VPS hosting packages cost between $50 and $200. Pricing is based on the guaranteed CPU and memory (RAM) you get.
04 Dedicated Web Server
Dedicated Web Server
When you have a dedicated server, it means you are renting one physical server from a hosting company. You can have full control (called “root” permissions in Linux) if you want it. With a dedicated server, you don’t have to worry about other websites on a shared server taking up your resources and slowing your website down. A dedicated server is generally the highest level of server you would need if your online business grows into a presence that is getting a lot of website traffic. While the costs of a dedicated server is significantly higher than shared hosting, your business will be at a point that can easily afford the necessary costs of having your own server.
Pricing: Dedicated servers are priced from $100 and up. But if you are considering a dedicated server, you should also consider the costs of hiring a system administrator to take care of the technical details.
05 WordPress Hosting
WordPress hosting
With the increasing popularity of WordPress as a web building platform, many web hosting servers are offering what’s referred to as “Managed WordPress Hosting. In a nutshell, managed WordPress hosting is a service where the web hosting provider will keep your WordPress installation up-to-date which can help protect your site from security threats that would allow hackers into your website. While not the as inexpensive as shared web hosting, this is a great option for both startup businesses and established businesses that use the WordPress platform.
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