The complete beginner's guide to understanding the foundation of every website.
Imagine your website is a house. Your domain name (like website.com) is the address, so people know where to find you. But for a house to exist, it needs land to sit on. Web hosting is that land.
In technical terms, web hosting is a service that allows organizations and individuals to post a website or web page onto the Internet. A web host, or web hosting service provider, is a business that provides the technologies and services needed for the website or webpage to be viewed in the Internet.
Websites are hosted, or stored, on special computers called servers. When Internet users want to view your website, all they need to do is type your website address or domain into their browser. Their computer will then connect to your server and your webpages will be delivered to them through the browser.
Just like your computer has a hard drive, a server has disk space to store your website files, images, videos, and emails. The amount you need depends on how big your website is.
Bandwidth is the "pipe" that data travels through. It determines how much traffic your site can handle at once. More bandwidth means more visitors can view your site simultaneously without it crashing.
Uptime refers to the percentage of time your website is online and accessible. Reliable hosts offer 99.9% uptime guarantees.
Not all land is the same. You can rent an apartment, a townhouse, or a massive mansion. Hosting is similar:
You share a server with other websites. It's affordable and great for beginners, but performance can be affected by other sites.
You still share a physical server, but you have your own dedicated portion of resources. It's faster and more secure than shared hosting.
You rent an entire physical server just for yourself. It offers maximum control and power but is the most expensive option.
If you want to have a website on the internet, yes. While you can build a website on your local computer, nobody else can see it unless you upload it to a web hosting server.
Now that you understand what web hosting is, the next step is to choose the right provider for your needs. Check out our guide on How to Choose the Best Web Hosting.
