After attending the National Main Streets Conference in Chicago and hearing a variety of mixed information on this and related topics, we thought that it would be prudent to answer this often asked question. Sure we are a little biased since we do host web sites through our sister company, Fox Web Co., but the principles hold true regardless.
What a Web Host Does for You
A Web host provides the place (almost like a filing cabinet) for your site’s documents, images, audio, video and text. All of your Web site files are stored on a server. Servers can be located in your basement (not recommended) or in a secure environment preferably with redundant power backups, etc. to make sure if the power goes out, your Web site is still up (among other things).
A Web host should also provide you SERVICE including nightly backing up, restoring, and trouble shooting. New back-ups should be made daily and each “version” of your Web site stored for a period of time, usually a month. Many hosts do NOT provide this service. You should make sure you DO have this service, so that if you (or your Web designer or Web host) accidentally overwrite or lose your Web site files, your “back-up” isn’t just the blank or “messed up” version.
Your Web host should also be eager and willing to work with your Web site designers to insure that they can connect and update your Web site any time, any place.
Hosting pricing can range from free (with some providers) to hundreds of dollars a month. At Fox Web Co., Web hosting starts around 20 bucks a month, and, depending on the amount of traffic (bandwidth), number of e-mail accounts, the number and size (MB or GB of storage space) of your files on our server, and extras like SSL (security), monthly Web host pricing can range upwards of $100 per month.
Are we the cheapest option? No, and we don’t want to be the cheapest. I would contend that you probably don’t WANT to use the cheapest option because it is our experience that you’ll get what you pay for.
Fox Web Co. is affordable for small business and organizations, and we provide a level of support that $7-10 a month services can’t match. Face it, you could drive a cheaper car, but if you want something that is reliable and functional that gets you where you are going every single time, you pay a bit more for that experience. To go a step further, around Main Street circles, we all know about the big box phenomenon – low service or no service, inconsistent customer experiences, and commodity pricing for commoditized products. If you want big box Web hosting – it is readily available. For a Main Street experience in Web hosting, look a little further, do your homework and seek relationship and experience that will allow you to extend your own Main Street experience onto the Web 24/7.
(Shameless sales pitch warning!) Web hosting with Fox Web Co. is like a reliable car: it’s not going to break your budget, and it will get you where you need to go. It is a Main Street experience where relationships are valued, and our track record of experience shows through in our list of customers who have been with us since the beginning (over five years ago).
When talking to your Web developer or hosting company, here are some other tidbits about Web site technology and hosting that you should know. To have a functional Web site (technologically speaking), you’ll need three things:
- You need a domain name. A domain name is the “telephone number” for your Web site that people will use to connect to your server. For us, it is www.halobusiness.com. For our sister company, it is www.foxwebco.com.
- You’ll need a server. The server is the place where your Web site files live. Your Web designer places files on the server (basically a remote computer). With the domain name configured correctly, you’ll get Web traffic – or visitors – headed to your server to view your Web site files.
- You’ll need some files. The files of your Web site are the elements that your site visitors see and hear. Web files can be very large, small, music or sound, video, graphics or text. All of your files live together on the server, and the combination of the files is what you’ll see when you go to a live Web site – it’s just a collection of files pieced together like a quilt to make a functioning and engaging Web site.
A “little” biased? But still a good article.
Reliability, redundancy (backups, power, and connectivity), and cost-effectiveness are the big ones that seem to drive hosting services. You might mention some of the hosting review sites for those who want a choice – webhostingreviews.com, top10bestwebhosting.com, and webhostinggeeks.com, to name a few.
Sam, Thanks for the comments. There are a ton on places out there that do it. We just recommend that you get hosting service as a relationship purchase, not a commodity.
Yes, we have ties to the business mentioned above. But the point still stands: Relationships matter in hosting just like so many others!
Thanks for commenting!
Andy