There are thousands of different providers and a wide range of services available when it comes to web hosting. Some of the web hosting services offered are critical to the operation of your site.
Others are just add-on costs and don’t add a ton of real value. Sometimes they can be obtained elsewhere for FREE.
Understanding the services your website needs is the secret to running a successful website and keeping your costs low.
When purchasing web hosting, a list of add-on services is available. Many of these services are helpful, but you don’t need to pay for them through your hosting provider.
This puts you in a difficult situation, as your hosting provider will encourage you to buy the full package.
Which services should you opt for, and which services should you pass on?
To help you make the right choices, let’s dig into the subject and learn more about web hosting and the services available to you.
Suggested Reading: What to Look for In a Blog Hosting Service in 2023 and Beyond.
What Is Web Hosting?
For users to be able to reach your website, you need to have two things in place: 1) a hosting service, and 2) a domain name. A web host is an organization that provides the technology and services required to access a website through the internet.
Websites are hosted on special computers known as servers; this is where all of the software and files that power the website are kept.
When a user wishes to access your website, they must enter a website address, also known as a domain name, into their internet browser.
After that, their device will get connected to your server, and your website can be accessed by them. Your content will then be delivered to them through that browser.
What Add-On Services Are Provided By A Web Host?
As you might know, online hosting providers will push various add-on services which you can opt for or opt out of. Some of these services can be very helpful. Others, not so much, or you’ll find they’re redundant because you’ll have access to the same functions elsewhere.
Don’t make any purchases until you have all the information you need about web hosting, so you can avoid selecting add-ons that don’t increase the value of the services you’re buying.
To help you stay on the right track, here’s a quick rundown of the various add-ons available through your web hosting services and what to expect from each.
This list can be divided into two main categories: 1) the important services, and 2) the other optional services that can be avoided.
What Services Are Essential?
Email-hosting
Email plays such an important role in the day-to-day operations and the promotion of a company, and this one simple service has the potential to make a significant difference for companies of all sizes.
In a nutshell, business email hosting is a service that allows you to send, receive, and store emails on a server. This is an important service that an email hosting company provides.
One of the most significant advantages of using business email hosting is that it improves brand continuity. You may also expect email hosting to include services such as spam and virus filtering, which will ensure that your emails are secure and safe.
One of the most significant advantages of using business email hosting is that it improves brand continuity.
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Domain Registration
A domain name lends immediate prestige to your company. It communicates that you mean business and assists consumers in seeing you as a forward-thinking organization that is easily accessible online. A domain name with a catchy slogan is the face of your company.
It is the path that people take to visit your website, learn more about your business, and buy your products and services. Thus, domain registration is one of the first and most important steps in establishing your online presence.
A domain name with a catchy slogan is the face of your company. #domains #branding
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SSL Certificates
Thanks to the ever-reaching scope of the Internet, customers can share details through computers, mobile, and other devices very easily.
In the wrong hands, any of these devices could pretend to be your website and trick your visitors into sending personal information. This can only be avoided by obtaining an SSL Certificate from a reputable SSL provider.
SSL is the foundation of safe Internet, protecting your confidential data as it moves through the world’s computer networks. Even if your website does not handle sensitive information such as credit cards, SSL is important for its security.
It ensures the protection, essential security, and data integrity of your websites as well as the personal information of your users.
Website Builders
Website builders make it easy to manage your own website. If you want your website to be of the best quality and highest performance, you must maintain it regularly.
Visitors are always looking for new and exciting information, news, products, or features, so you must provide them with what they want.
Making changes and improvements to your website is simple thanks to both the website builder’s drag-and-drop editor and a simple, convenient interface.
Your hosting provider may sometimes offer a website builder, but if not, there are other options.
If you want your website to be of the best quality and highest performance, you must maintain it regularly.
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What Add-Ons Are Optional?
Database Hosting
Hosting companies risk their reputations and potential sales on the security of your records. Database hosting companies actively track all traffic to the database servers to detect any malicious activity, not just cyberattacks.
For redundancy, database hosting companies use either centralized physical servers or a cloud-based environment that duplicates all servers and internal connections. As a consequence, the database will experience no downtime.
While there is value here, this is not a web hosting service you need immediately. You can consider adding this at a later date as your website and the amount of data involved grows. You can also use a free plugin, like the database plugins available on WordPress.
CMS Hosting
CMS must be incorporated into the online hosting services used. Websites offer a fantastic and valuable forum for you to share your views, suggestions, product descriptions, services, and business information.
Content management systems are a solution that allows the website owner to adjust the content and layout of the website as required.
Numerous online hosting services provide useful CMS resources. But, while your hosting provider may offer a CMS system for you, you don’t need to buy it from them.
You can use a CMS like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Wix, or several others that you aren’t required to purchase through your hosting provider.
Extra Backups With Web Hosting Services
Backing up anything can seem to be a tedious process, but website backups will save your life. Backups of your website serve as a safety net and are a crucial piece of protection that is required if all other resources fail.
They create a full copy of your website files and database regularly (the normal frequency). So, the website owner can restore it to its previous state.
Backups, however, should not be the only security mechanism implemented.
While backups restore a site’s content to the most recent backup, any content uploaded in the interim will be lost.
Furthermore, backups cannot resolve the underlying issue or save the website from being infected again. You do not need to buy these through your hosting provider.
WordPress, for example, offers backups. You can use a simple plugin instead of doing this through your hosting provider.
Conclusion of Web Hosting Services
These are some of the most important web hosting services that your online host must provide to ensure efficiency. But, as you can see, you don’t need to add them all upfront. And many you can get elsewhere.
I hope this article was helpful to you. I hope you were able to clear the chaos and make the right decision for your business.
Keep in mind that non-essential purchases are also valuable, but you don’t have to buy them through your provider. You can likely get them elsewhere at a low (or no) cost.
Your Take
Still, have questions about hosting and what you should purchase? Let us know in the comments. We would love to know what website hosting services you have or are thinking of purchasing.
We love a good conversation in the comments below!