What is website hosting?
Website hosting, or simply web-, or site hosting, is an online service that stores your website’s data, such as code, images, text, and videos, and makes it accessible to users on the internet. People rent server space from a site hosting provider in exchange for keeping the website online 24/7.
How does website hosting work?
Once you sign up for a hosting plan, you gain access to the web host’s server space and resources. At this point, the web host will assign your website a unique IP address and allow you to connect your domain name to it. This is when you can upload your website files, code, and databases to the server through a dashboard.
Types of website hosting
The resources you rent from a web hosting provider depend on the type of hosting package you choose. The common types of site hosting are:
Shared hosting
With shared hosting, the provider hosts your website on a server that houses other websites. You share resources like:
- The central processing unit (CPU)
- Random access memory (RAM)
- Storage space
- Bandwidth
- Processing power
While shared hosting is cheaper, it can also mean slower website loading times during high traffic periods, like Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM). Shared hosting is suitable for small businesses or personal websites that don’t require a lot of server resources.
VPS hosting
Virtual private server (VPS) hosting is a step up from shared hosting. While it still involves sharing server resources, each website has its own dedicated space so you won’t have to compete for resources with other websites. VPS hosting offers more control and flexibility than shared hosting, which is ideal for medium-sized businesses.
Dedicated hosting
With dedicated hosting, a web host rents out an entire physical server dedicated to your website. You have complete control over the server, including:
- Choice of operating system
- Configuration options
- Installation of custom software
Dedicated hosting offers the highest control, security, and server resources—but it’s more expensive and requires technical expertise to run.
Cloud hosting
Cloud hosting stores your website’s data across multiple servers in different locations. If one server goes down, your website remains online as it can retrieve data from another server. Cloud hosting offers scalability, reliability, and flexibility and is ideal for large businesses and ecommerce brands with high traffic levels.
What to look for in a website hosting provider
A good web hosting provider should offer:
- Reliable server uptime: Opt for a provider with a 99.9% uptime guarantee to ensure your website is always accessible.
- High loading speeds: A fast website enhances user experience, improves search engine rankings, and increases conversion rates.
- Scalability options: You’ll need more server resources as your website grows. Choose a provider that offers scalability options to accommodate this growth.
- 24/7 technical support: Website issues can arise at any time, so choose a provider with round-the-clock customer support.
- Secure server infrastructure: Robust security measures—such as firewalls, regular backups, and SSL certificates—protect your website from cyber threats and data loss.
A reliable marketing automation platform like Klaviyo, combined with an efficient site hosting provider, can help you establish and grow your brand’s online presence.
Sign up for Klaviyo and monitor your subscribers’ online behaviour, such as their website browsing history, past purchases, or abandoned carts, to trigger automated flows. For example, when visitors abandon their carts, Klaviyo can automatically send a reminder email to re-engage them and increase conversion rates.