A hosting provider or web host offers the necessary resources and hosting technology to ensure your website remains secure and efficient. The provider maintains the servers and implements robust security measures to ensure effective file transfer to the users’ browsers.
When visitors wish to access your website, they type your domain name on a browser, and the web host’s servers deliver the contents.
Let’s explore web hosting, how it works and how your web host affects your website.
What Is Web Hosting?
Web hosting is a service that allows you to publish your website online. Although websites exist online, they require physical resources like servers to ensure the content is available via the internet.
Basically, a server is a physical space that hosts the files that make up your website, including images and texts. When a user visits your website, the server provides access to these files.
Therefore, your website can only be functional if visitors can access the files. This is often a challenge when a host provider’s servers crash.
An excellent hosting service provider ensures that their servers remain 100% operational. This ability is what we call uptime, or the total duration when the servers stay online.
Although you can acquire and maintain personal servers hosting your web app or website, it’s more complex and expensive than necessary.
You can fulfill most, if not all, of your needs by working with a web hosting provider. You only need to rent some space on robust servers they possess, maintain, and house.
Furthermore, hosting service providers implement rigorous security measures to safeguard your website from threats by cybercriminals and hackers.
How Does Web Hosting Work?
When a hosting provider sets aside space on their server for your website’s file, they essentially host your website. Every website requires hosting on a server to become accessible online.
The quantity of space allocated for your website depends on your hosting plan or type. You can also host your website, but you’ll need significant resources.
Self-hosting requires technical skills to configure and set up the server from the start. This includes the software, hardware, IT infrastructure, and equipment. You’re also in charge of regular maintenance to keep the servers online.
A hosting provider eliminates this burden by handling the maintenance and providing the necessary resources.
They are responsible for ensuring the servers remain functional 100% of the time so visitors can access your website 24/7. Some hosting providers offer you a sub-domain, while others require you to have one.
The most crucial aspect of web hosting is selecting the most suitable web hosting service provider. Your provider can make or break your website, regardless of how flawless the design is.
How Web Hosting Impacts Website Performance
Without a suitable web host, you’re exposing your website to low speeds and inaccessibility risks, which certainly affects your business.
Your host service provider plays a vital role in several aspects that directly affect your website’s performance, including:
1. Loading Speed
Performance and speed always work together. Your website’s success and user experience primarily depend on performance and speed.
Most visitors are unwilling to wait for ages as your website loads, especially when numerous competing websites offer better speeds.
In fact, your time to capture and retain a visitor’s attention before they exit your website is only a few seconds. Your host affects your website’s loading speed by:
- The type of hard drive they use
Web host service providers either use Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) or Solid State Drives (SSDs).
Hard disc drives are physical disks, each with a driving head that moves within the disk, searching for the data requested. Once the disk locates the data, it transfers the information to the computer.
SSDs have no flexible parts because the data exists on microchips. Since there’s no seek time, the data transfer is faster than an HDD.
Faster speeds translate to less latency and faster loading speeds for your website.
- RAM
RAM or Random Access Memory is the storage space your host provider allocates to your scripts.
- Bandwidth
The bandwidth determines the amount of data your host service provider can deliver. If the speeds are too low, you can expect high bounce rates.
Additionally, your website’s performance impacts your ranking on search engine result pages (SERPs). Slow loading speeds get poor user experience metrics, affecting your search ranking.
You only need a high-quality and efficient web host like the Valley List to get the perfect loading speeds. If you settle for a host with limited bandwidth, you can expect poor website performance and loading speeds.
2. Security
Website security is and should be a priority for any website owner. Although it’s challenging to secure your website 100%, it’s also difficult to predict how the next threat will occur.
The best you can do is to take proactive steps to safeguard your website as much as possible. Your website’s security starts with your web host service provider.
We implement robust multi-level security at the Valley List to prevent all threats. It starts with the security at the physical data centers and extends to firewalls on the servers.
Regardless of the hosting plan, you select, you can count on adequate security measures.
You also have a vital role in ensuring the security of the website. For instance, you should install spam software and various security plugins and modify user permissions. We also maintain regular backups for worst-case scenarios. In case of cyberattacks, you can easily restore your website rather than start from scratch.
Backups are also convenient if you accidentally edit core files and crash your website. It’s easier to restore your website than troubleshoot every element.
The Valley List hosting solution provides robust in-built security features like SSL certificates. You can define user permissions and implement two-factor authentication.
Your directories remain password-protected, and we offer comprehensive security features, such as:
- Installed malware detection
- Robust firewalls
- Brute Force Attack Protection
- SQL Injection protection
- FTP Uploads
These measures protect your website from cyber threats such as phishing attacks and malware.
3. Uptime
We measure uptime in percentages representing the time your website remains available to visitors. Your hosting provider primarily bears this responsibility.
If the host servers go offline, your website experiences downtime or immediately stops functioning. Some of the most common reasons why downtimes happen include;
- Power shortages
- Distributed-denial-of-services (DDoS) attacks
- Improper configuration changes
- Malfunctioning Network Devices
- Lack of proper supervision by system admins
Selecting an ideal host with the highest uptime percentage is key to avoiding downtimes.
We take pride in ensuring our cloud host solution has several power backup options, so you never have to worry about downtimes.
Our dedicated team schedules regular maintenance, updates, and upgrades to keep the servers online.
4. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Most people are unaware that your web host significantly affects your website’s search engine optimization (SEO). SEO aims to ensure your website has a higher ranking on search engine result pages (SERPs).
This is primarily because your host determines your website’s loading speed and performance. Your marketing efforts will only be worthwhile if search engine crawlers can highlight your website.
As your web host service provider, we strive to ensure you maintain a solid online presence. We leverage white hat SEO strategies and collaborate with your team to ensure your website ranks high on SERPs.
5. Customer Support
If your business involves online services or products, you can appreciate the importance of excellent customer support. Your hosting provider should deliver equally high customer support standards.
If your website goes offline, every minute you remain unavailable costs your sales and customers. Our experienced support team has the skills and resources to quickly get your website back online.
6. Scalability
When selecting a web hosting service provider, one of the essential aspects to consider is scalability.
Once your business expands, you expect a steady and consistent rise in traffic and the number of queries and purchases on your website.
You may also require additional functionalities and features on your website with time. Such changes are inevitable in the dynamic market if you wish to maintain the same service quality or add new services on demand.
As your website becomes more content-heavy, you’ll need more bandwidth and storage. A poor hosting service provider makes it challenging to scale.
Your business may be thriving, but you’ll have no choice but to use the website you started with.
You need a hosting provider who can grow with you and accommodate your website needs, regardless of the size. Our cloud hosting solution allows you access to the necessary resources on the go.
We offer different hosting plans that enable you to upgrade at your pace as you scale up. Once your business needs outgrow your current plan, you’ll seamlessly upgrade to the next package without any service interruption.
Make the Smart Move Right from the Start
The only way to experience the full perks of fantastic web hosting and optimum speed is by choosing the right host service provider from the start.
You can eliminate trial and error or guesswork by opting for a trusted service provider like The Valley List. We deliver the highest quality in website development and maintenance while covering your cloud hosting needs.
