Web Hosting – The Basics Everyone Should Know

What is web hosting?

This is a question we are asked nearly every day. Web hosting is the foundation on which your website is built. In other words, if you don’t have good web hosting, your website won’t be able to exist at all. That means no visits, no sales, and no profits.

So what is web hosting? Basically, it is a service that makes your website available online for people to see and access. All websites consist of a large number of files. These files contain the information (coding) that give the web page the look and feel, and contain the information that your visitor sees. Without website hosting, you just have a bunch of files that no one can see.

Files on a web hosting server

Why does website hosting matter?

Well, as mentioned above, without it, you will not be able to have a website at all. So, in that sense, it is absolutely critical that you get good website hosting.

Because web hosting is an essential part of having a website, which web host and hosting plan you choose matters. Choosing the wrong web hosting provider has a massive impact on how your website functions.

Your web hosting provider affects the following:

1. Page loading times. You can have the best looking website on the planet, but if it loads slow your visitors will leave. Page load times are also a factor Google’s page ranking, so the faster your website the happier Google is.

2. Website scaling. Depending on your hosting provider, you may be limited in the resources allocated to your website. The provider may choose to how many visitors your site can have as well as the amount of file storage you can have.

3. Customer support for issues or crashes.

How much does website hosting cost?

Well, the price varies greatly depending on the type of hosting you get. You can get very cheap hosting that costs less than $10 per year all the way to high end ecommerce

hosting that costs thousands of dollars per year. However, if you want to get the most from your website, you need to consider more expensive plans that are generally in the range of $40-150 per month.

That’s a crazy price difference, which is why hosting is separated into 4 categories:

Looking for web hosting?

At Misfit Media, we offer a fully managed web hosting solution. Why choose us? Most managed hosting providers only manage at the server level. Choose us because unlike other managed hosting services, we actually handle all of the software updates, SSL Certificates, site security, offsite backups, and more for $47/month.

Do you need an SSL Certificate?

There are several details to take into consideration when preparing to build and to managing your website. Many of the considerations seem minor – especially if your in a hurry to launch your website – but, there’s no room to cut corners you website.

If you plan on collecting any form of data (name, email address, phone number) from you visitors, you absolutely need to have one.

When you have an SSL certificate, all data that you collect on your website (names, email addresses, phone numbers and more) is encrypted. This means that all of this information is completely unreadable without your websites unique  decryption key.

What is an SSL certificate?

SSL means “secure sockets layer.” SSL certificates are tiny files that confirm the identity of your site. When you go to a website with SSL, you’ll see a shut lock icon beside its link as well as “https” in the URL itself.

SSL certificates are provided by certification authorities, and there are many different providers to select from. Every one will certainly confirm the identification of an individual or business prior to issuing a certification, and they all supply comparable protections to your site visitors.

Basically, having an SSL certification shields sensitive information collected by your website as well as makes certain that client info can’t be hacked or stolen.

SSL certificate adds security to your website.

Does your site need an SSL certificate?

The short answer is YES! The long answer is YES! SSL certifications protect customer information. Even if your website does not gather any kind of details from your visitors, you need an SSL certificate.

This is because back in 2014, Google announced that it was making site security a signal for ranking websites in search.

This means that if you and a competitor are offering the same product and have similar domain authorities, they could outrank you simply because they have a secure website and you don’t.

How much does and SSL certificate cost?

There is good news here, most web hosting companies provide a free Let’s Excrypt SSL certificate with every website you host. These certificates provide enough protection for most websites, but if you are running a membership site or a e-commerce website you may want to go with a wild card SSL, which offers some liability protection from $10,000-$2 million.

Need help securing your website?

At Misfit Media Web Design, we hear people often ask us, “How do i get the little lock icon for my website?” This is a legitimate question. We offer web design and web maintenance packages that always have your websites security as one of our top priorities.

If your looking to have a new website built or have a current site redesigned, we’re here for you.

Please contact us at 236-795-9078 or contact us through our website.

Kelowna Website Design

What is a Domain Name?

What is a domain name?

Your domain is the unique name that that people use to find your website.

Your home and/or business has a physical address. A domain name is essentially the digital address of your business. Just like a GPS needs a street address to give you directions, a domain is what gives a web browser directions to your website.

There are two parts of a domain name. For example, my domain name misfitmedia.ca consists of the website’s name (Misfitmedia) and the domain extension (.ca). The name of your website can be whatever you want it to be as long as it hasn’t been purchased by someone else. As for the domain extension there are thousands to choose from. The most common are .com, .org, .net and. edu.

In order to have a domain name you will have to purchase it and re-register it annually.

How much does a domain name cost?

Depending on who you buy your domain from, the domain extension and the deals at the time, a domain names average cost you is between $1 – $45 per year, but prices can run into the thousands. If you are looking to buy a domain already used by someone else, you would have to contact the registered owner and agree on a price, this could be in the thousands of dollars depending on the age and history.

Domain names are able to be purchased through namecheap.com, porkbun.com. godaddy.com and countless others.

The Misfit Media difference

At Misfit Media Web Design we go above and beyond to help our clients. As a client of ours we will help you decide where to purchase your domain name, and if you choose one of our hosting and maintenance packages we setup your domain name and hosting for you, from start to finish.

Website Buyers Guide

So, You want to build a website?

Remember the movie field of dreams with Kevin Costner, in a dream he told to build a baseball diamond in his field and the great old player will come and play on it. He’s told in the dream to “BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME.” That definitely doesn’t apply to websites.

Currently online, there is one website for every 7 people on the planet. Let’s put that another way, there are 1.751 Billion websites online.

With the right planning and by setting goals your website can be a powerful digital marketing tool.

Below are some areas to consider when preparing to have a website built for you.

What Features Do You Need?

Every website has it own unique requirements based on the purpose and goals of the website. An e-commerce website may have a different set of requirements than music studio.

You may want to use your website as a lead generator for your business, or you may just want to have a blog where you can share stories from your most recent trip.

It’s important to have a clear idea of what you would like your website to accomplish before you start searching for a web designer.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the possibilities, but a good place to start.

Do you have a budget?

Web design pricing varies drastically! Every agency has a different formula to determine the cost of a web design project. Ultimately, the actual needs of your website and the extras you choose will be the largest factor in determining the price of your website.

Here are some of the average prices for different kinds of websites in the US:

Most business that are just starting out or just want to get a site online will not require much in the way of functionality.

As it becomes more important for a site to be found in search engines or for your website to require e-commerce this will add additional costs, and these costs can grow quickly.

It’s best to have a price range that you’ll be comfortable within. Developers can can provide you with realistic expectations of what they can provide within your budget.

It’s important to note, that a website is an investment. With the proper planning and clear goals becomes an asset instead of an expense.

What content do you require?

A website is a collection of text, pictures and videos, all of which is content. And in web design CONTENT IS KING. You can have a pretty looking website with all the bells and whistles, but if you don’t have the right content it’s all for nothing.

The content of your website informs the design or your website. It affects the user experience on your website. And most important, it determines the success of your website.

There are two main methods agencies use for web design content:

  1. You provide the content. You understand your business and are able to explain best what you are trying to convey through your business. You provide the text, the images and any other content you want on the website.
  2. Done for you! You provide an overview of what you want the site to convey and a professional writer, does the work and write professional copy that will help with your search engine optimization and work at getting conversions. Your designer will then add and/or create appropriate graphics that accentuate your copy.

Traffic Sources

The World Wide Web is a enormous place and it gets substantially larger every day. Every minute there are 150,000 messages shared on Facebook, 500 hours of video uploaded to Youtube, and 347,222 users post to Instagram stories.

I know those numbers are huge, but it’s important to note that you’re not trying to dominate the whole web, you’re trying to reach your ideal customers.

By having a clear set of  goals, you will be form the proper strategy to reach your ideal customers.

Based on your goals and timeline, your designer can recommend which of the following method(s) are best to reach your goals.

All of these methods are effective, but differ in success rate based on money and time. Search Engine Optimization will be the most effective and lasting, but will cost additional time and money.

Congratulations, you’re ready to start building your website!

Your website is a serious investment in your business. You don’t want just anyone wo build your website.

If you’re thinking: are we a good fit to work together? Take time to contact us to discuss about your website needs.

We look forward to speaking to you about website design needs.

Misfit Media Web Design, Kelowna BC

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