Starting and hosting a website might seem complicated, but it is quite doable. This guide makes it easy, walking you through the steps to host your website online efficiently.
Web hosting is like giving your web pages home on the internet, but picking the right hosting service can be tricky. More specifically, making the wrong choice could slow down your site and cost you more.
Today, we will show you the four simple steps to host a website and assist you to find the best web hosting, as per your requirements.
4 Steps to Host a Website
Let’s check out the 4 simple steps on how to host a website.
1. Decide the Type of Website to Build
As the first step, it is important for you to determine your website type, which can be static or dynamic:
- Static website – aims to deliver the same content to all website visitors. It can be built with the help of the What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) application and then transferred over to the hosting account.
- Dynamic website – customizes its content based on different factors, including user behavior and geographic location. Moreover, these sites use scripts, databases, and different tools for the generation of some portion of the website in real time.
Static or Dynamic Website: Which One to Choose
To choose between static and dynamic websites, consider your website’s purpose and desired features. For instance, static websites are suitable for online resumes, personal blogs, or showcasing a portfolio. Additionally, static websites primarily need fewer resources, which makes them an ideal choice for users who are just starting it. As the website grows, you can easily scale your hosting plan for accommodating the increased demand and traffic.
Conversely, dynamic websites offer an enhanced level of interactivity and personalization in user experiences. These websites are essential for web applications, eCommerce stores, streaming services, and membership platforms. The versatility of dynamic websites often requires a hosting plan with more server resources to ensure smooth functionality.
Hostinger recognizes the diversity of website types and offers hosting plans accordingly. Whether you are leaning towards a static or dynamic website, Hostinger’s range of hosting services ensures that your website has the support it needs to thrive. These services include VPS, cloud, WordPress, and shared hosting.
By aligning your website’s type with the right hosting plan, you can set up your site for success in the digital world.
2. Research Hosting Providers
Selecting the right hosting provider involves strategic budget considerations. More specifically, your budget serves as a compass that guides you toward the hosting solution that maintains the balance between performance and cost.
Web hosting costs can vary dramatically, ranging from $1 per month to $2,000 per month. But, the plan price does not always match up with the quality. So, have a rough estimate of what you are willing to invest, conduct thorough research on different hosting providers, and compare them.
This approach will provide insights into the features, plans, and technological offerings of the host providers. You will get to know which hosting plan is ideal for which project type.Furthermore, seeking insights from real users will assist in understanding the pros and cons of each hosting service.
In this context, we have also published articles to explain why Hostinger stands out as one of the most affordable providers in the market, offering competitive and user-friendly plans without compromising on quality. Consider these articles for further reasoning and head-to-head comparison:
While evaluating the potential hosting providers, check out the companies that support easy integration with popular content management systems, such as WordPress hosting or Hostinger’s Joomla. Carefully analyze the user-friendliness level of the site-creation tools. Also, make sure that the hosting provider offers an easy, drag-and-drop website builder, in case you want to create your website.
3. Select a Hosting Plan
In your website development journey, selecting the right hosting plan is a crucial step, as each type of hosting offers distinctive features and resources. So, to determine the best for your website, keep in mind the factors like processing power, memory, and storage space.
Let’s discuss different types of hosting planes, particularly the ones we provide at Hostinger to help you make an informed choice.
Shared Hosting
Shared hosting permits several websites to share resources on a single or isolated server. It is an exceptional option for small to medium-sized websites with moderate traffic. This hosting option is particularly useful if you are still in the learning or testing phase of your website development.
One of the primary benefits of shared hosting is its cost-effectiveness. Moreover, it is beginner-friendly, which makes it suitable for the user having limited technical skills. Administrative and maintenance tasks are also handled by the hosting provider, consequently, freeing you up to focus on your website content.
Yet, it’s important to bear in mind that the performance of your site can be impacted by the activities of other websites sharing the same server. If another site experiences a traffic strike, it could potentially impact the responsiveness and speed of your website.
Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting follows a different approach. It permits your website to operate on multiple cloud servers rather than depending on a single physical server. This type of setup improves reliability, for instance, if one server encounters issues, another takes its place.
Cloud hosting is a preferred choice for high-traffic websites that require flexibility and minimal downtime. It incorporates the performance advantages of VPS hosting with the convenience of shared hosting. Moreover, the cloud environment also offers exceptional scalability, meaning that it dynamically adjusts server capacity based on demand.
Note that while cloud hosting supports impressive features, it tends to be a more expensive plan than shared hosting. Additionally, you may not be able to fully control the server settings compared to other hosting types.
WordPress Hosting
This hosting plan has been designed with WordPress in mind. WordPress hosting solution comes with pre-installed plugins for handling technical setup, security measures, and relevant updates. It is specifically optimized for users focusing on building a WordPress website.
Managed WordPress hosting is an idea-choice for beginners with small to medium-sized websites. Similar to shared hosting, it needs minimal technical knowledge. The hosting provider also monitors and maintains the core update and backup. This enables you to focus on content generation and the growth of your website.
However, Managed WordPress hosting is slightly more costly than shared hosting. It may provide you with less control over the server settings compared to other hosting types.
4. Get a Domain Name for Your Site
A domain name behaves as the virtual address of your website. It enables visitors to access your online presence through their web browsers.
It stands as a vital component of your online presence, encompassing both the Top-Level Domain (TLD) and Second-Level Domain (SLD). For instance, within a domain such as google.com, ‘google’ represents the SLD, while ‘.com’ denotes the TLD.
Tips to Choose a Domain Name
Here we have listed some of the tips for choosing the domain name:
- Study Your Niche. Incorporate popular keywords related to your brand and industry. Online name generators can help you in brainstorming.
- Go for .com. Boost your credibility by selecting the widely recognized .com TLD.
- Keep it Simple. Keep the domain name simple, brief, and memorable.
- Avoid Confusion. Prioritize originality to avoid any association with the existing entities.
- Check Availability. Before finalizing, validate the name availability using an online domain search. If it is already taken, explore the alternative suggestions.
To get the domain name, it is required to make a purchase by registering through a web hosting provider that also acts as a domain name registrar.
Hostinger is an accredited domain registrar that extends added benefits by offering privacy protection. It also offers a free domain name with the most web hosting plans.
Note: In case you only want to host your existing domain with us, point your URL to the Hostinger server.
How Does Web Hosting Work?
Web hosting permits your website or web application to be accessible on the internet. This process involves renting a space on the physical server, where the relevant essential data and files reside. Moreover, it is considered the backbone of your online presence.
Web hosting operates like having a home for your website on a powerful computer that runs non-stop. This computer is known as a server that makes sure that your site is available to visitors all the time. By purchasing server space from Hostinger provider, you can secure a place for storing all of your website data.
Web hosting works in such a way that when someone enters your domain name in their browser, the hosting server gets in the action. It fastly sends all of the required files to show your website.
Hosting your site by yourself can be a complex task and it may need advanced technical skills. This process is based on settings up and configuring the server from scratch and handling everything from hardware to software and ongoing maintenance. Therefore, you must choose a web hosting service provider to simplify the mentioned operations and also provide additional support.
Why You Need Web Hosting
Web Hosting is important because it:
- Provides Digital Space. Gives your website a place to stay on the internet.
- Enables Global Access. Makes your site available to people all around the world.
- Ensures Optimal Performance. Ensures your website works well and stays safe.
- Establishes Online Presence. Shows you are free, so others can find you.
- Supports Growth and Scale. Accommodates your website’s growth and changes.
- Enhances User Experience. Helps your website load quickly and stay online.
- Improves Interaction. Enables you to connect and interact with your visitors.
- Gives You Digital Potential. Allows you to maximize the potential of your website in the digital world.
What to Look For in a Web Host
When it comes to selecting the right web host for your website, considering the few key factors can make all the difference to ensure that you have a successful web hosting experience.
This section will now further discuss the seven factors for finding the best web host as per your requirements.
Reliable Performance
As a website owner, you should prioritize page speed optimization as it directly affects WordPress SEO. Slow sites often rank lower due to the high bounce rate. Consequently, it can restrict you from directing traffic to your site and producing conversions.
To evaluate the performance of a web host, consider Time to First Byte (TTFB) below 200ms and component loading time in milliseconds. In this context, you can utilize the GTmetrix tool which uses different metrics for analyzing the site speed.
For instance, Trouba is one of the Hostinger’s clients and it got an A grade with a 100% result.
The speed index score (which represents the content loading time of the site) performs well at 528ms. Note that the optimal benchmark of an excellent speed index score is 1000ms or less.
Hostinger’s TTFB score has been determined as 193ms. It falls below the recommended server response time limit of Google PageSpeed Insight which is 200ms.
These impressive outcomes have been achieved as we have utilized LiteSpeed as our main server engine. It is included with all Hostinger accounts to improve the loading speed.
LiteSpeed employs a built-in server-level cache called LiteSpeed Cache for optimizing performance and page speed. It also enhances dynamic content on web pages.
Guaranteed Security
Experience advanced security measures with Hostinger:
- Unlimited SSL Certificates. Encrypt your website traffic for enhanced protection.
- Cloudflare Protection. Safeguard against DDoS attacks by utilizing the Cloudflare protected nameservers.
- Automatic Backups. Secure your files with automated backup solutions.
- Content Delivery Network (CDN). Accelerate your website’s performance and security with our integrated CDN.
- 99.9% Uptime Guarantee. Rest assured of our commitment to consistent website availability.
With that being said, Hostinger excels in reliability, evident through our uninterrupted 14-day test site performance. Plans include SSL certificates, and our servers feature an advanced security module for data protection. Moreover, with DDoS defense, auto-updates, an integrated CDN, and other measures, your website’s security and performance are optimally maintained.
Comprehensive Features
You can experience Hostinger’s as an all-in-one solution with a range of extensive features:
- Multi-Website Management. Perfectly handles up to 100 websites.
- Free Domain Registration. Secure your online presence with a complimentary domain name.
- Professional Email Setup. Establish credibility with a custom business email address.
- Managed WordPress Hosting. Streamline your workflow with hassle-free WordPress hosting.
- Effortless Website Launch. Rapidly deploy websites using our intuitive Website Builder.
- Freebies and Integrations. Enjoy additional perks, including free domain registration and integrated tools, which ultimately your website’s functionality and presence.
User Experience
You can efficiently manage your website with the help of Hostinger’s intuitive tools. Our custom control panel, hpanel, offers a smooth experience where you can effortlessly handle different tasks.
Whether you want to configure FTP users, site migration tools, domains, MySQL databases, or email accounts, everything is accessible in one place. So, simplify your hosting experience with the user-friendly interface of hpanel.
Value for Money
Hostinger’s plans offer affordability and make sure that your budget is well-utilized. So, you can start with our cost-effective shared hosting and can scale it later when required.
Beyond hosting, expenses like website templates and software extensions may arise, so prioritize and use free tools whenever you need them. Moreover, Web hosting is just one aspect – domains, SSL certificates, and caching also contribute to the total cost of hosting.
Choosing Hostinger plans means cost-effectiveness with features like 24/7 support, SSL, domains, backups, Cloudflare protection, and 99.9% uptime, all at $2.99/month in our Premium Shared Hosting.
24/7 Customer Support
Benefits from the Hostinger round-the-clock customer support, which is accessible through live chat and email ticketing. Quick response times ensure timely solutions for any unexpected website issues, which ensures uninterrupted performance.
You can access the comprehensive resources of Hostinger, including tutorials, a YouTube channel, and a rich knowledge database. Hostinger’s extensive database offers solutions to common concerns, enabling users to enhance their web hosting expertise. For further assistance, visit our support page.
Scalability
Step up towards growth by choosing the provider that supports scalability. For this, select Hostinger as it provides scalable hosting, and expands resources, bandwidth, and storage for sustained progress.
Hostinger’s range of plans, like three shared hosting tiers, enables effortless scaling. It allows you to upgrade within the same type or migrate to advanced options like cloud or VPS hosting.
Conclusion
Choosing a web hosting provider simplifies website maintenance and guarantees enhanced security and maximum performance. To recap, choose the type of website you want to create, select a web hosting provider and plan, and get a domain name for your website.
Note that the selection of a reliable web host that supports scalability, value, and security requires careful thorough research.
