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Web Hosting Articles

Guides on choosing, comparing, and getting the most from a web hosting service. 32 articles. If you are about to pay for a plan, start with what to check before you buy.

Hosting SSL: who issues the cert at signup

Free SSL still sells. A lot of the time it is Let's Encrypt on their box, a Cloudflare Flexible setup that talks HTTP to the origin, or a cert that lives in their panel and dies when you leave.

Hosting CDN and cache: what the host actually controls

Free CDN still sells. A lot of the time it is a Cloudflare zone they own, a page cache you cannot purge, or a plugin that only helps logged-out visitors. Before you buy, find out who controls the edge.

Hosting staging: what to check before you buy

A staging copy sounds like a safety net. A lot of the time it is a temporary preview, an addon domain you have to invent yourself, or a feature locked on a higher plan. Before you buy, find out whether you can test a change without touching live.

Shared vs VPS hosting: when traffic outgrows the cheap plan

Shared hosting is fine until it is not. The sales page rarely says when CPU, neighbours, or worker limits will start biting. Before you jump to a VPS, know what you are escaping, what you are buying, and what still needs an adult in the room.

WooCommerce hosting: what to check before you buy

WooCommerce ready sounds like a plan built for a shop. A lot of the time it is a WordPress install and a badge. Before you buy, find out what happens under cart load, how cron and object cache work, and who owns the mess when checkout slows down.

Hosting email and DNS: who owns what at signup

Free email and easy DNS at signup sound like the host is handling the boring plumbing for you. A lot of the time they are parking your mail and domain controls inside their account. Before you buy, find out who owns the records when you want to leave.

WordPress hosting: what to check before you buy

WordPress optimized sounds like a plan built for your site. A lot of the time it is a one-click installer and a badge. Before you buy, find out what you can change, what the host locks, and who owns the mess when a plugin update breaks the homepage.

Web hosting uptime SLAs: what 99.9% actually means

Ninety-nine point nine percent sounds almost perfect until you translate it into hours of downtime a year. Before you buy on an uptime badge, find out what counts as downtime, who measures it, and what the credit is really worth.

Web hosting free migrations: who owns the move before you buy

Free site migration sounds like the host will pick up your whole site and put it down somewhere safe. A lot of the time they move files and leave the hard parts with you. Before you buy on that promise, find out who owns the move when something breaks.

Web hosting support: what to test before you buy

A host can look perfect on price and still fail you the first time DNS, SSL or a botched deploy takes the site down. Support is the product you only notice when you need it, which is exactly when marketing copy stops mattering.

Web hosting renewal pricing: what to check before you buy

The cheapest hosting plan on the page is almost never the cheapest plan over two years. Intro teasers pull you in; renewals pay the bills. If you only compare the first-year sticker, you are shopping the way the affiliate market wants you to shop.

Web hosting backups: what to verify before you buy

A host that promises daily backups is not the same as a host that can put yesterday's site back online in an afternoon. Backups are an insurance product. You only learn whether the policy pays out when something is already broken.

How to choose web hosting without relying on top 10 lists

If you have ever searched for the best web host and landed on five near-identical top 10 lists, you already know the problem. Those rankings often have more to do with affiliate commissions than with uptime, support or what you will actually pay after the first year.

What are the Benefits of Cloud Web Hosting?

Cloud web hosting is a service offered by tech companies for websites, whereby the businesses' servers are hosted 'in the cloud,' i.e., distributed over a number of different servers, in differing physical locations, connected through the Internet.

The Future of Web Hosting

Web Hosting has grown from fairly humble roots to become the multibillion-dollar industry it is today, but has it reached its apex yet? Like most technology, there is always room for innovation, and it is no different with web hosting.

Should you use an international or local web host?

Choosing a location to host your website is important. Cost, reliability, and speed are the three main factors to be considered, and different hosts across the globe can offer vastly differing levels of service.

How to Transfer to a New Web Host

Everyone has reached that 'enough is enough' point in their lives, the point where you physically and mentally can no longer tolerate something. It could just be that you've reached this point with your web host.

The dangers of free web hosting

When looking for a web host, the sheer number of options available can be daunting, however, there is one general rule that can be applied in this search - you get what you pay for.

Can your web host affect your rankings?

Yes! Why you may ask, well, web hosting has for a long time been taken for granted and most people think that a host is a host. For this reason, most users will choose the cheapest host they bump into because 'all hosts are just the same'.

Start out on the right foot, with the right web host!

The best way to reach your achieve your goals is by having a good solid foundation. As far as running a successful website is concerned, the web hosting services you choose will determine whether you'll have a smooth or roller coaster ride.

Had enough? Is it time to transfer to a new web host?

As much as you will hate to do it, there comes a time when you need to transfer your website to a new web host. As a website owner, you will need all the support and infrastructure that will allow your website to run smoothly and achieve set goals.

Why there's no such thing as a Top Ten Web Host!

There are many web hosts and if you search online, you will find many top 10 lists for web hosting. Unfortunately, most of these lists are not driven by quality; they are as a result of rankings based on the commission earned.

How to Choose the Best Web Host

An important step to having a website made and managed for your business is the part where you choose who will host the actual site. There seems to be a multitude of options these days to choose from, and settling on just one host can take time and effort.

What is overselling when it comes to web hosting?

According to Wikipedia, "Overselling or Overbooking refers to the selling of a volatile good or service in excess of actual capacity." Basically this means selling more than you actually have.

Affordable Low Cost Web Hosting

When it comes to hosting your website on the internet today, there are so many options available that it can be very overwhelming to you. First of all, why are there so many choices?

Dedicated or shared hosting?

The internet is the fastest growing business platform to date, it offers so many opportunities whilst at the same time levelling the playing field for everybody.

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