Web hosting is a service that enables people and businesses to host their website on the internet. You need a location to save all of the files that make up your website when you create one. This is where web hosting comes into play.
Web hosting companies rent out server space that enable you to store your website and make it available to users worldwide. In order for people to visit your website, it needs to be stored on a web server that is accessible to the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. While it is possible to setup your own server, it is typically best to use a web hosting company as it is far easier and cheaper in the long run.
What Type of Hosting to Buy
When it comes to the type of hosting, there are a wide variety. You can choose between Linux servers and Windows servers. There are also different plans. Shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting are just a few of the many various kinds of web hosting available.
The most basic and cost-effective solution is shared hosting on a Linux server. Your website shares a server with other websites when you use shared hosting. Although they are more expensive, dedicated and VPS hosting provide greater performance and more resources.
We highly recommend Hawk Host as they are an affordable and reputable company that has excellent customer service. It is also one of the companies we use for hosting our websites. They offer a very affordable shared hosting plan, as well as more advanced plans if you need more resources. They also have recurring discounts as well, so you can save significantly on your web hosting costs by going through them.
What to Consider When Choosing a Web Host
There are many things to consider when choosing a website hosting company. Here is a list of some of the most important things:
- Performance: It's important to choose a host that provides good performance for your website. This includes fast loading times and minimal downtime.
- Price: Make sure to compare the prices of different hosting plans to find one that fits your budget and provides you with the features you need now and down the road.
- Features: Consider the features that are important to you, such as the amount of storage and bandwidth, number of domains and subdomains, and type of support offered. Many website hosting companies, like Hawk Host, allow you to host email accounts with your website, while others sell that as a separate service.
- Scalability: If you expect your website to grow in the future, it's important to choose a hosting plan that can accommodate that growth. For example, if your website grows to having a lot of traffic, you may need to upgrade to a plan that has more resources to accommodate the demand.
- Security: Look for a host that offers security features such as SSL certificates and regular backups to protect your website and your users' data. Many website hosting companies offer free SSL certificates through Let's Encrypt. Hawk Host is one of those companies!
- Reputation: Read reviews and ask for recommendations to find a host with a good reputation for reliability and customer service. Many of the big website companies such as GoDaddy, HostGator, Bluehost, and countless others will frequently try to upsell you on other services that you don't actually need! Their customer service may not be that great or they can have issues with their actual service.
A big company called Endurance International Group (EIG) bought out a large number of hosting companies. While the companies they bought still operate under their original names, the service and support their provide are not the original teams. So after they took over the companies, the quality of service and support went down.
- Ease of use: If you are new to building websites, you may want to choose a host with an easy-to-use control panel and beginner-friendly tools. cPanel is a popular server management software that is provided by a lot of website hosting companies, like Hawk Host. We can teach you how to use cPanel, as that's our favorite system to use.
We hope you find this information helpful in choosing a website hosting company. If you would like more detailed reviews and options, you can check our website, HostKeet, which has reviews for website hosting companies and site builders.
How to Buy Shared Hosting Through Hawk Host
Here's a step-by-step guide to buying shared website hosting through Hawk Host.
- Go to the Hawk Host website (https://www.hawkhost.com/) and click on the "Web Hosting" tab in the top menu. Then click on the "Shared Hosting" tab to see the available shared hosting plans. Or if you want to go with their starter plan, click on the orange "Get Started" button on the homepage.
- Select the shared hosting plan that you want to purchase. You can choose between the "Starter," "Business," and "Pro" plans.
- Click on the "Order Now" button for the plan you have chosen.
- On the next page, you will be asked to select the billing cycle (monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually) and enter your domain name if you have one. If you don't have a domain name yet, you can purchase one through Hawk Host or use a domain that you already own.
- Review your order and click on the "Continue to Checkout" button.
- Enter your billing and contact information on the checkout page.
- Choose a payment method (credit card or PayPal) and enter your payment details.
- Review your order and click on the "Complete Order" button.
- You will receive an email confirmation of your order, including login information for your hosting account.
That's it! You have successfully purchased shared website hosting through Hawk Host. You can now start building your website using the tools and resources provided in your hosting account.