What is Web Hosting
Web hosting is where your website lives on the internet. It is like rent for your website. It is important because if your site goes down people can’t find you.
Why is web hosting important?
- Agent Hack Story Bad hosting can ruin your reputation.
- Viral Blog Post story
Kinds of Web Hosting
- Free
- Not recommended.
- If you must use WordPress.com
- Shared Hosting
- Cheap
- Can’t Handle Lots of Traffic
- Least Secure
- Slowest
- VPS
- Slightly Better than shared hosting
- More Expensive
- Harder
- Faster
- Managed
- Moderate Price
- Scales to Lots of Traffic
- Secure
- Fastest
- Dedicated
- Highest Price
- Does Not’ Scale Well
- Hardest to Use
- Faster
Recommended Hosting Companies
- BlueHost (Affiliate Link) $8 Shared $40 Managed
- Media Temple $20 Managed
- WP Engine $30-$100 Managed
Companies to Avoid
- GoDaddy
- 1and1
- SquareSpace
- Wix
- Weebly
Sponsor:
My Book Table 3 Now with:
- Audiobook Mode
- Children’s Book Mode
- International Mode
- Star Rating Support
Featured iTunes Review
Lea Holder
Great podcast. Lots of helpful information on marketing your book.
Thomas,
A very interesting podcast and lots of good information.
You recommended against using 1&1, but didn’t explain why. I’ve been a user of 1&1 almost since the beginning of my blogging “career” and have never had any difficulties. However, my blogs have never been raving successes until this year, and I’m wondering if there’s something I should be watching for with regard to 1&1.
Since I value your judgment and expertise, I’d love to hear more specifically why you don’t recommend 1&1.
Thanks much and best wishes,
Carrie
Great question. The main thing I dislike about 1and1 is the backend. Almost everything is one or two steps harder. Also some of the server maintenance they should do they don’t do. Also, I had some bad experiences with their customer support people.
I’ve never used any other host (other than the free side of WordPress), so I can make no such comparisons.
Do you see any reason to explore other options now or is there a traffic threshold that would make switching servers important?
Average daily traffic at the moment is in the neighborhood of 600 visits per day and trending gently upward.
Thank you for taking time to answer my questions, too. I appreciate it.
Best wishes,
Carrie