Over the years I have had a lot of clients question what web hosting services provide and why they receive a recurring charge for the service. Within the last month I have had two clients who have web hosting accounts with a third-party and they unfortunately let their web hosting account expire. Thank goodness they contacted me as soon as their website went down and I was able to assist them in getting their hosting account re-established and their website back-up. Therefore, I thought it would be helpful if I explained what web hosting services are and why it is important to renew this service when notified to do so.
Web hosting services allows you to put your website on a server that is accessible via the World Wide Web. This means that anyone who has internet access can see your website, which after-all is the whole point of having a website. The server should be located in a professional data center that is managed 7 days a week, 24 hours per day, and 365 days a year (7×24 x365). The data center will house many servers and many websites and it will have redundant high-speed internet access so that visitors can access your website, and all of the other websites that they are hosting, anytime from anywhere in the world. The data center will have fire walls and other security methods to keep bad-guys from accessing your website. In the majority of cases the data center personnel configure and service the server’s hardware, operating systems, and other software. The data center will have Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for emergency electric power, fire suppression, cooling to keep the servers from overheating, and other equipment and devices all designed to keep your website available and safe.
Your web hosting fee is basically rent so that you website can reside in this safe, internet accessible location. If you do not pay this “rent” then the web hosting company will turn-off your website, which can mean delete your website. This is just one more reason why you should have regular back-ups of your website.
The cost of for web hosting services will vary based on the type of web hosting plan you have and the amenities that the plan has – such as back-ups, disk space, bandwidth, etc. We explained some plan differences in a previous blog article called “Five Benefits of Virtual Private Hosting over Shared Hosting”. If you would like to learn more about web hosting plans and the web hosting plans offered by Web Image Designs please contact me and I would be happy to discuss it with you.