What Is Web Hosting? A Simple Explanation

Every website lives on a computer somewhere. Web hosting is renting space on that computer. Here's how it works and which type you need.

Think of your website as a shop. Your domain name is the address, and web hosting is the building where the shop sits. Without hosting, your website has nowhere to live.

How it works

Your website's files, images and database are stored on a server: a powerful computer that's always connected to the internet. When someone types your domain, their browser fetches those files from the server and displays your site.

Main types of hosting

• Shared hosting: many websites share one server. It's affordable and fine for small sites.
• VPS hosting: a virtual private slice of a server with dedicated resources. Good for growing sites.
• Cloud hosting: resources spread across multiple servers, easy to scale. See what is cloud hosting.
• Dedicated servers: an entire server just for you, for high-traffic sites and apps.
• Managed WordPress hosting: optimised specifically for WordPress, with updates and security handled.

What to look for

• Speed and server location close to your visitors
• Uptime reliability
• Free SSL certificates
• Automatic backups
• Responsive support

Not sure which you need? We offer managed hosting and are happy to advise.