What a web host is and what it does for your business.
A web host is a company that has computers that are hooked up to the internet. These computers are called servers and they are assigned IP numbers in order that they may be found by other computers hooked up to the internet. It is on these servers that all your web files are stored, be they HTML (web pages), Graphic, and CSS files, Javascripts or whatever programming you think suits your business.
Basically, what happens is when you type a web address into the address bar of your internet browser and then hit Go, your browser sends out a request to open that web page. The request travels across the internet lines to the correct web server and attempts to locate the web page on that server. If the request is successful then that web page will upload or download into your internet browser.
The web hosting servers store and serve up web pages to the internet and it costs money to set up, develop and maintain and that is why the web hosting providers that own these servers usually charge you a monthly or yearly fee to allow you to save your web files to their web server for uploading and ready to serve them up to the internet for downloading. Web hosting has become a very competitive business and, in order to have more users and web-based business owners to sign up with them, web hosts now offer all kinds of offers to the deals or web hosting packages that they make available.
It is very important that you select a very reliable and good web hosting service. But, remember that good doesn’t always equate to expensive. Having a good web host means that it is reliable with great support. If the host you see doesn’t have those two qualities, it’s going to make your life in the web marketplace difficult. If the web host you selected is not reliable then you are going to be really frustrated because your site is never up and your emails are never answered or might not even reach you.
You as a web based business owner can save yourself from a lot of problems by just choosing a good web host from the start. So, how can you tell if a web host is good or not? After all, let’s face it – they all look pretty much the same and seem like they know what they are doing, right? Remember, if you have a problem with your web site you want immediate assistance, not in a day or two then you choose a good web hosting service. Some web hosts advertise 24/7 support, but only actually respond Monday-Friday. To see how responsive your web host is send an e-mail to their support department and see how long it takes for them to get back to you. If you send the e-mail on Saturday and they don’t get back until Monday, that isn’t good, it would be better to look around and see the different web hosting solutions that are in the market.
