When creating a site, three elements are essential: web hosting, the domain name and the CMS, such as WordPress for example, intended to facilitate the implementation of an interface.
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But what is a web host actually used for? And how to choose it well? In a previous article, we listed the Preliminary steps to hosting a website. Today, we are looking at its role for the proper functioning of a website.
What is a web host?
Whether for a blog, a showcase site or an e-commerce site, subscribing to a Web hosting is essential.
To be accessible and visible, the different elements of a website are centralized in a database. To put it briefly, it’s like a bookshelf that holds all the books you need. And this storage space is what is called hosting which is itself kept on a server. Are you still following?
Concretely, the accommodation allows:
- to access all the web pages of a site;
- to benefit from a serviceemails with one or more email addresses;
- centralize all information and documents (texts, photos, PDF downloads, videos, etc.) related to your site on a database;
- benefit from automatic backups of your site if you need to restore an earlier version.
How to choose a host?
If you are looking for a WordPress hosting or for any other service, know that it is often an annual subscription. And to offer more comprehensive services, many hosts also suggest purchasing a domain name, in other words the address that ends in “.fr” or “.com”, for example.
Hosting is a location that is rented on a server. In this regard, you have the choice between shared hosting or dedicated hosting. The first option is less expensive since you share a server with other sites. The second ensures you a server totally at your disposal and is particularly suitable for sites that generate a lot of traffic.
One might think that at first glance, subscribing to the first cheapest offer is enough to take advantage of a web interface. But the reality is quite different. The reliability and performance of your hosting will have important consequences on your future site, its SEO and its success!
Checklist of important items
To make sure you choose the right service, remember to check:
- that its environment is well secured in order to protect you as much as possible from cyberattacks and hacking attempts;
- that the SSL certificate (which generates the “https” protocol) is integrated to ensure the security of the information passing through;
- that it contains storage space appropriate to the nature of the your site (if you plan to publish a lot of visuals or videos for example) but also for the e-mail inbox;
- the quality of the technical support to be able to request assistance or request information if necessary;
- Speed ! loading time is a size criterion to measure the performance of a website. Moreover, on mobile 50% of visits are aborted when the display time of a page exceeds three seconds… And according to SEO Expert Neil Patel, one second too long in a page load can lead to a 7% decrease in conversions!
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