"Web hosting is the heart of a website, which should be running round the clock" - Ganesh Bommanaveni
Are you a small business owner? Or, are you perhaps the C-suite manager of a large multinational organization? Or, you might even be a freelancer or self-employed consultant.
The salient point of this discussion is that every individual or company that is in the business of earning an income needs to have a website that is designed to drive sales, increase company growth metrics, and increase the ROI (Return on Investment) ratio against the cost of the website development. Learn more about why every business needs a website.
The world we live in has changed irrevocably. The global population is now facing what is considered “the new normal.” And, every company that can pivot their business operations online is now doing so. This is because of the global pandemic that is sweeping the globe. One of the best ways, if not the only way of slowing down the spread of the virus, is social distancing. Therefore, everyone who can work remotely from home is doing so. What is also vital to note is that this scenario is set to continue for the foreseeable future.
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Before we consider a definition of website hosting, let’s look at a concise description of a website and a domain. For, without content to store on the hosting platform, there is no need for hosting.
Technopedia defines a website as a “collection of publicly accessible, interlinked web pages that share a single domain name.”
Furthermore, a domain is an “identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control within the Internet.” Succinctly stated, a domain is an address that visitors to your site use to find and access your site on the World Wide Web.
Now that we understand what a website and a domain are, let’s consider what web hosting is:
In summary, a web host is a computer server that stores a physical copy of your website and makes it available for consumption via its domain name. In order to view a website, you need a computer or mobile device and an Internet connection. In fact, the World Wide Web consists of many computer servers situated across the world and all linked together.
By way of expanding on these definitions, let’s consider a straightforward case study or example. Let’s assume you are in the process of starting a new eCommerce business, HotFrog Originals, selling homemade products. The unique selling point for your business is that it provides a platform for individuals who manufacture products from home and do not have Internet access or the know-how to create an online platform to sell their goods. You plan to provide an online space for them to offer their products for sale to a broader market than they would usually have.
Thus, before you can offer your services to your brand’s target audience, you need to register a domain and develop an eCommerce site that will allow manufacturers to upload their products for sale.
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There are different types of web hosting server models, with the most common model being the client-server model.
Succinctly stated, the client-server model “describes how a server provides resources and services to one or more clients.” Typical examples of the client-server infrastructure include mail servers, web servers, and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) servers. This architecture essentially functions as follows:
A client must request a connection to a web server. This server has to decide whether to accept or to deny the client's request. If the server accepts the client's request, the client can browse all public-facing documentation and websites on the server. This is an abbreviated description of this model. Should you wish to know more about this architecture, additional useful information can be found on this page. InterServer hosting service offers everything from shared hosting to reseller plans, VPS, and dedicated servers. All four of its data centers are located in the US.
Website development is defined as the work that goes into the design and creation of a website. There are different types of websites available for consumption on the World Wide Web, including single-page static sites, blogs, multi-page eCommerce sites, and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
The value of fast reliable web hosting for a completed site that is available on the Internet for its target audience to browse is fairly obvious. If a website load time is slow and the server times out, the site's visitor will navigate away from the site and onto one of the brand’s competitor’s sites. Load speeds and bounce rates are vital metrics to consider when reviewing the role that the website plays in the brand’s overall sales figures. However, an in-depth discussion about these metrics and why they matter is not part of this discussion.
The question that must be asked and answered is what role does fast, reliable web hosting play in the website development process? Find more information on the checklist about website development requirements.
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Here you can find additional information about web hosting importance in website development:
Websites are usually developed on web servers. The development server might not be the deployment server, but it should be a replica of the deployment server. If a development server is slow and unreliable, the site's development time will increase exponentially. The delay in the site's completion will cost money and push back the site's release date, which in turn will create all sorts of problems for the site's owner.
As noted above, the live site’s load time and overall speed is a vital metric when determining the value that the website adds to the business. A slow site turns people away and will negatively impact the site’s ability to convert visitors into returning customers. Read more here about website speed importance.
Bounce rate is defined as the time that a visitor spends on a website. And it directly impacts a brand’s sales figures. The less time a consumer spends on a particular site, the higher the bounce rate, and the greater the chance that the visitor will not convert into a returning customer. And, there is no way of accurately measuring the time it takes for a website to fully load if the site is developed on a slow, unreliable web server.
As the quotation mentioned above by Ganesh Bommanaveni notes, reliable web hosting is the backbone of any website development process. Without robust web hosting, neither can the website development company thrive, nor will its clients be able to leverage the online space to generate an income.
