Web hosting is a service needed for a person or a company to be able to make a website public and accessible to Internet users. The service itself is access to a specific type of computer, called a server. These servers are used by the customer of a web hosting provider(a.k.a. web host – the company that offers the service) to upload their website files and databases. By doing so, these websites will be accessible on the Internet, where everyone can visit them.
It is possible for you to publish your website from your own computer, but that is a hard task, that requires a stable internet connection, thorough technical competence, and on top of that, your computer should be turned on day and night, so people would be able to reach your website at any time.
Therefore, it is way better for you to choose a web hosting provider, that will take care of your website’s uptime, and will maintain the servers, so you won’t have to.
In order for you to have a fully functional website, you need to own a domain name, which would be your website’s address that people will have to type in their browser in order to visit your website.
AwardSpace.com is a web hosting provider that has existed since 2003. Our goal is to give everyone the opportunity to create a website and to be online. And that is why we are offering a free hosting service. What is more, to anyone who might be interested, AwardSpace presents the opportunity to register a free domain name. Here is how to get a free domain name
Why Do I Need a Web Hosting
First things first, nowadays, every business has to have a website, as people are online, and if you are not, most of them will probably never know that your business exists. In order to be online, you can use a Facebook page or another social media. Sometimes that works, and it is enough. Yet, most often than not, this is not the case. Not only the social platform that you are using could change its algorithms, or terms of services, but what is more important, you are not the owner of the medium. That is to say, you won’t be able to modify its design the way you want or need it to be. You have limited or no rights to change colors, navigation, etc.
Having your own website gives you the chance to create whatever you need and to maintain it however you find most suitable. And to have a website, you need web hosting, which will make it come-at-able.
A good web hosting service will present you with features that will facilitate your website creation and maintenance.
Features You Ought to Expect from a Web Hosting Provider
Although most of the web hosting providers are offering more or less the same service, there are some companies that are cutting costs by reducing the number of features available to their clients.
For example, there are free hosts, which are not providing their free clients with an Email Account. Others may restrict the FTP Access, or any other “hidden” component of the service.
But whether free or paid, a web hosting company ought to provide the clients with several features so that their websites will be fully functional.
Here are a few essential components of hosting service, look for these while choosing your provider:
Email Account
Whether you are about to build a personal blog or a business website, you know you’ll need an email address that looks professional and related to your site, unlike any other email service. Although there is nothing wrong with using those for personal needs, when it comes to your website’s affairs, the people who want to contact you will perceive you in a much more positive light, if your email is yourname@yourwebsite.com.
To have an Email Account of this type, you need to get a domain name. A domain name could be either a TLD (.com, .org, .info, etc.), or you can get a free .dx.am domain that will do as well.
FTP Access
In order to download and upload your website files to and from your computer, you can either use the File Manager directly inside our in-house developed hosting Control Panel, or use FTP Connection.
Say, you’ve decided to create your website on your computer, you can easily upload the website files to your web hosting server through the methods mentioned above.
WordPress Support
WordPress is the most used CMS (Content Management System) worldwide. Webmasters all over the world are using it to create websites of any kind – from simple personal blogs to humongous online shops. It is by far the most comfortable and most versatile way to create a website that exists. As hard as it is to estimate, in 2019, WordPress-based sites are between 34% and 45% of the entire Internet.
There is a reason for that to be true. We presume that you might as well want to build your website on WordPress, which is why we’ve developed a hosting service optimized for the CMS, and even a Free WordPress Hosting for all your projects.
What is more, whether you choose the free or the paid option, you can be confident that our service covers the requirements for hosting a WordPress website, like PHP version 7 or higher; and MySQL version 5.6 or greater.
Website Builder
When speaking of website creation, WordPress, although the most popular, is not the only possible solution. And, what is more, it is not for everyone.
That is why a lot of web hosting providers offer their customers the option to create their websites, using the so-called Website Builder.
A website builder is a program or a tool that makes it easier for you to create a website. Nowadays, website builders are, more often than not, offering the users the so-called visual builder. This is a feature of some website builders that facilitates the website building process as it gives the user the opportunity to just “drag-drop” certain sections while looking at the result that occurs.
There are numerous website builders on the internet, and most of the bigger web hosts are providing their users with such a service, as it makes it possible for anyone to build their website, no matter their background.
Database Manager
This option, although necessary for the users, is a bit advanced, as the building, editing, and maintaining of a database is quite a complex task. Yet, giving the users the opportunity to import, export, create, edit, delete, and even look at the databases of their websites is really a must, as every website has a database.
Related: How to use a Database Manager
Conclusion
In a word, the web hosting service is the totality of all the small features that make it possible for a website to function as it should, and, on top of that, to be accessible to people on the Internet. For you to achieve that result, you can decide between hosting the site on your computer or finding a web hosting provider that you trust.
Which of these two choices you will go with depends on a large number of factors, among whom are your technical skills, the willingness to leave your computer turned on and connected to the internet all the time, and, of course, the size of the project.
As of today, most people use a web hosting service for their website, as it is far easier, and often even cheaper than it is to maintain the site on your own.
As there is an incalculable number of web hosts, we sincerely hope that this article helped you to understand the concept of web hosting much better, and thus will be able to make the right choice, when you decide to create a website.
