Web Hosting FAQs

Web hosting is a service that provides storage space on a server connected to the internet, allowing your website to be accessible to anyone online. Think of it as renting space on a computer that's always on and always connected.

A domain name (like yourbusiness.com) is your website's address on the internet. Web hosting is the actual storage space where your website files live. You need both: a domain so people can find you, and hosting so there's something there when they arrive. They're usually purchased separately but many hosts bundle both.

Shared hosting means your website shares a server — and its resources like CPU, RAM, and disk space — with other websites. It's the most affordable option, ideal for small sites and beginners, but can be affected by the resource usage of neighboring sites.

A Virtual Private Server (VPS) gives you a dedicated slice of a physical server with guaranteed resources. You share the hardware with others but have your own isolated environment. You need a VPS when your site outgrows shared hosting — typically when you're seeing performance issues or need more control over your server environment.

It depends on your page sizes and monthly visitors. A simple rule: multiply your average page size (in MB) by your expected monthly pageviews, then multiply by 1.5 for a safety margin. Most small-to-medium sites do fine with 20–100GB per month. Many hosts offer "unlimited" plans, but read the fine print on fair-use policies.

A 99.9% uptime guarantee means your site should be live for at least 99.9% of the time — which translates to no more than about 8.7 hours of downtime per year. In practice, most reputable hosts achieve 99.95%+ uptime. Always check whether the guarantee includes compensation if they miss it.

Yes — every website should have SSL (HTTPS). It encrypts data between your visitors and your server, is required for e-commerce, improves your Google search ranking, and prevents "Not Secure" browser warnings. Most modern hosts include a free SSL certificate via Let's Encrypt.

Yes. The key is to migrate your files and database to the new host before changing your DNS settings, and to keep your old hosting active during the transition. Once you confirm everything works on the new host, update your domain nameservers. DNS propagation takes up to 72 hours. See our Change My Web Host guide for a full walkthrough.

Linux hosting is more common, generally cheaper, and works well for most websites built with PHP, WordPress, and MySQL. Windows hosting is needed if your site uses ASP.NET, .NET Framework, or Microsoft SQL Server. If you're unsure, choose Linux — it's the safe default for most websites.

cPanel is the most widely used web hosting control panel. It provides a graphical interface to manage your hosting account — including file management, email accounts, databases, domain settings, and one-click app installers. Most shared and VPS hosts offer it. If you're new to hosting, a cPanel host will make your life much easier.

Ask about: (1) actual uptime over the past 12 months (not just their SLA), (2) what happens when your bandwidth or storage limit is exceeded, (3) how long support responses take on average, (4) what the renewal price will be after the promotional period, and (5) how easy it is to upgrade or downgrade your plan.