What kind of hosting you actually need
Most small business websites need less than they are sold, and more support than they get. Here is what the words mean and what actually matters when you choose.
The four kinds
| Kind | What it is | Who looks after it |
|---|---|---|
| A website builder, such as Wix or Squarespace | The hosting comes with the tool you build the site in. | The builder. The trade off is that the site can't easily be taken elsewhere. |
| Shared hosting | Your site shares a server with many others, managed through a control panel. | The host looks after the server. You, or whoever you pay, look after the website and its updates. |
| Managed WordPress hosting | Hosting set up only for WordPress. | The host takes on updates, backups and security for the WordPress side, to a degree that varies a lot between hosts. |
| A server of your own, often called a VPS or cloud server | A whole server, real or virtual, that nobody else uses. | Whoever you appoint, for everything: the operating system, security updates, backups and monitoring. |
For a typical small business website, shared or managed hosting is plenty. A server of your own is only a good idea if you need something the others won't do, and somebody is looking after it every month.
What matters more than the specification
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Who answers when it breaks
A ticket queue and a named person who knows your site are very different things at nine on a Monday morning with the website down. Find out which you're getting.
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The backups
How often, how long they are kept, where they are stored, and whether you can restore them yourself. Six questions to ask.
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The renewal price
The advertised price is often for the first year only, and the renewal can be several times as much. Compare renewal prices, not headlines.
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Where the domain is, and in whose name
Registering the domain with the host is convenient and fine, provided it is in your name. More on that.
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How you leave
Can you download a complete copy of the site and its database whenever you like? A host that makes leaving hard is telling you something.
What you probably don't need
- "Unlimited" anything. A fair use policy always applies, and a small business website doesn't come near the limits of an ordinary plan.
- The most expensive tier "for speed". A slow small business site is usually slow because of heavy images, a heavy theme or too many plugins, and a bigger plan doesn't fix any of those.
- A paid SSL certificate. The free ones do the same job.
Questions to ask before you sign up
- What does it cost when it renews?
- Who do I contact when the site is down, and how?
- How often are backups taken, how long are they kept, and where?
- Are WordPress and its plugins updated for me, or is that my job?
- Is email included, and do I want it to be?
- Can I download everything and leave whenever I like?
If you would rather somebody sorted it
Ask me
If you would rather this was somebody else's job, I host WordPress sites on a server I configure myself, with one named person who knows your site. Existing sites can be moved in, and moved out again if you ever leave.
WordPress hosting and care, or write to info@dalaric.com and say what's wrong.
Short answers
Questions people actually ask
Is cheap hosting good enough for a small business website?
Often, yes. Most small business websites get modest traffic and run comfortably on shared hosting. What cheap hosting usually lacks is somebody who knows your site when it breaks, and somebody looking after updates and backups, so the question is who is doing those jobs. What matters more than the specification.
What is the difference between a domain and hosting?
The domain is the name, bought from a registrar and renewed every year or few. Hosting is the computer the website runs on, rented from a host. They can be with the same company or with different ones, and either can be moved without the other.
Do I need a VPS for my business website?
Only if you need something shared or managed hosting will not give you, and you have somebody to look after it. A server of your own needs its security updates, backups and monitoring done by someone, every month, whether or not anything is wrong.
Why did my hosting bill go up so much at renewal?
Because the first year was an introductory price. It is common for the renewal to be several times the advertised figure. Check the renewal price before you sign up, and compare that, not the headline.
More guides
Are you actually backed up?
The questions to ask before you need the answer.
My website is down
Is it just you, has the domain lapsed, or has the host stopped serving it?
Email is not arriving
Mail that bounces, vanishes or lands in spam, and the four records behind it.