How do you make your website visible to everyone?
First you need to have a domain name – this is how your website will be known on the Internet.
Some examples:
- valueaccountants.co.uk
- epping.builders
- socialdancing.club
If necessary, we can help you to select and register a domain name and take care of annual renewals.
Once you have a domain name, it is time to build a website. If you need a very basic website, it is even possible to build it yourself!
As soon as you have a domain name and a website, you need to buy web hosting service – the service of making your website avaialble on the Internet.
Without web hosting, people with laptops, mobiles and personal computers won’t be able to visit your website. Web hosting is the plumbing that connects your website to the Internet.
Web Hosting Types
| Hosting Type | Price | Performance | Business Types |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared hosting | £3+ | + | microbusinesses, small businesses, non-profits and charities, social clubs, hobby websites |
| Virtual Private Server (VPS) | £20+ | ++ | e-commerce, medium and large businesses |
| Dedicated Server | £80+ | +++ | e-commerce, medium and large businesses |
| Cloud Solutions | PAYG | ++++ | media-companies, large businesses |
Why performance is so important? Many studies show that users give up on a website, if it takes more than 2-3 seconds to load. If you run a paid advertisement compaign, loosing 20-30% visitors to your website can cost you thousands in lost sales.
Some web hosting companies offer very cheap prices, as low as £12 per year. It is important to differentiate between Managed Hosting and Self-managed Hosting.
Managed Hosting vs Self-managing Hosting
With Managed Hosting you are paying for IT resources needed to provide the service as well as for time required to fix problems.
With Self-managed Hosting you only pay for IT resources. If there are any problems, you are on your own. The best you can get from such a provider is to get your website reset to a blank canvas.
Web Hosting Upgrades
Content Delivery Network (CDN)
CDN is a technology, that makes your website load faster for visitors from other countries. And if your website has many images and videos, it can even help to make it faster for local visitors.
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
WAF is a technology that puts a protective buble around your website.
Typically it detects three types of threats:
Main risks every website owner should be aware of are:
- getting your website defaced – making it display something else;
- getting your website infected with a virus – threatening computers of your website visitors;
- stealing your content;
- stealing personal data of your website visitors and customers.
Offsite Backups
Even most trustworthy providers make mistakes and suffer from computer outages. To ensure the best resiliency and business continuity, it is recommended to keep a copy of a website with an alternative hosting provider.
Location Matters
When deciding where to host a website it is important to consider physical location of the server and how many resources of that server will be available to your website. If most of your clients are in London – go for a hosting provider with servers in London. This way your website will load faster!
Google and other search engines consider physical location of the server when they display location specific search results. If your website is in Texas or Latvia it is less likely to be shown to people in London.
We have a partnership with Blue Star Host LTD that offers shared, VPS and dedicated managed hosting in London and Frankfurt.