Every time you go to a web page, you are actually connecting and viewing a site which is stored on a computer called a web server, somewhere on the internet
These we servers host web sites and are in turn called web hosts. And although they can be used for many different web technologies such as streaming services, torrent servers, file servers and game servers, this article will talk about using the servers as web servers to view websites such as the one you are using right now.
Web servers are more expensive than the computer you are probably using right now. They also need very fast and stable internet connections.
Most people and business can not afford to run their own web servers and also pay someone to administer them full time. So, for a small price most people, organisations and small businesses pay for shared hosting on a web hosting company, where you share the server with other users like yourself.
Who is a Good Web Hosting Company to Use
Everyone has their own opinion on which company is the best.
There are literally millions of web hosts to choose from who all offer different packages depending on what you need and are looking for.
If you are after some web hosting for a single website which will display your businesses information, services and products, just about all of the web hosts will have a starter pack which will do the job and probably include email.
Over the past 25 years I have seen a lot of web hosts come and go.
When it comes to speed, I have yet to be able to distinguish between any of them, whether they are hosted in Australia or the USA.
The speed of the website is usually determined by how the web designer makes the site and optimises it for their users.
When I am looking for web host I usually look at reviews, but more importantly I like to look for a web hosting company who has been a round for a long time.
There is nothing worse than setting up a website, driving all your customers to see it and the hosting company go out of business and you have to start all over again.
Two web hosting company’s who have been around for a long time are BlueHost and HostGator.
Web Hosts in Australia are usually anywhere between 5 and 10 times more expensive than in the US and offer less features such as storage size and bandwidth.
Do I Need a CDN – Content Delivery Network
What is a Content Delivery Network
Your website is stored on a server geographically located somewhere in the world.
No matter where you choose to store your website, the closer it is to the user, the faster it will load and better perform. A Content Delivery Network is a group of computer servers located all over the world which work together and store your website to serve it to your users depending on where they are. Ensuring your website gets delivered faster, no matter where you are.
There are many different CDN’s and there are free and paid for services.
Cloudflare is still the dominant service in this field and they provide very good free and paid for services.
Should I Use A CDN – Content Delivery Network
You do not need a content delivery network – but you should use one.
Web delivery and competition is fierce. You really need every advantage you can to stand out from your competitors. Using a good CDN will make your pages load faster, protect you more from attacks as well as a whole range of other features.
These benefits will no doubt give your user a better all over experience when viewing your pages and search engines like Google and Yahoo will notice also and it will help to improve your rankings.
