Shared Hosting Services Explanation
Running a site nowadays is fundamental in terms of dispersing opinions, promoting a new business or simply remaining up to date with the latest vogues. Since mails have substituted paper letters a long time ago and people search for pretty much everything on the World Wide Web, it is a sensible idea to set up a web site where individuals can read about you or your business - this is a way to get closer to them, to show them what you think or what you provide. Let's take a peek at what you need in order to create a site and the different shared hosting services that allow you to do that.
A Domain Name - The Web Address You Must Start With
In the first place, you need a domain name - this is the online address that visitors would type in their web browser to open your web site. It should be something that is simple to memorize, but also something that is connected with the content of your site. People would invariably want something short and simple and this is the first step toward seducing some regular visitors.
Choosing The Correct Domain Name Extension For Your Domain(s)
The domain name contains two entities - the actual name and the extension, or technically speaking - an SLD (Second-Level Domain) and a TLD (Top-Level Domain). If we take "example.com", "example" is the Second-Level Domain, and ".com" is the TLD. The top-level domain names are differentiated into generic Top-Level Domains - .com, .net, .info, .biz; and country-code Top-Level Domains - .us, .de, .es, and so on. While the .com/.net/.org top-level domain names are the most widespread ones, certain users might be seeking a regional business, so have that in mind when you are selecting a domain name for your online portal. If you are in Spain, for example, an .es domain and a site in Spanish would probably be a more appropriate choice than a .com website in English. Certainly, you can have both, targeting a broader group of people, so in this occasion it would be great if you could encounter a shared hosting vendor that offers the possibility of accommodating multiple domains in one user account. This will spare you time and exertion as you will be able to manage all domains and sites from one and the same hosting CP instead of singing in and out endlessly in order to manage some domain.
The Shared Hosting Service - The Secret Power Behind Every Site
This leads us to the second solution that you require for your web site apart from the domain name - the shared hosting service itself. To put it in plain English, this is the storage space on a company's hosting server where your website files will be stored. When you type my-domain.com in a browser, you will practically observe the website files saved in your web hosting account with a host. In reality, the shared hosting service is a lot more than this. It is a combination of all the services that make your web portal become accessible on the Internet.
The Monthly Website Bandwidth and Monthly Website Traffic Aspects
Your content is kept on a web server and to be able to see this web content, the web hosting company apportions a specific amount of monthly web site traffic to your account, which comes into play each time somebody looks up your web site. That quota may fluctuate from a few hundred MB to unlimited, depending on the web hosting firm. When you look up a site, the web site files are copied from the web server to your computer and are then displayed in your browser. A website with lots of images or a huge amount of downloadable content would create much more web traffic, so this is an essential facet when the time arrives for you to select an appropriate shared shared hosting plan.
St. Clare Web Hosting - The Recommendable Shared Hosting Provider
Another service that comes with your plan is the ability to create e-mail addresses with your very own personal domain name. For a family-oriented site, this may be something optional, but for a respectable corporation it is more or less compulsory to have email boxes that are using the firm's domain. This makes the corporation seem more professional in the eyes of both existent users and future customers. Based on the plan, the quantity of the email addresses or the mailbox size may be restricted, but to remain up to date with what businesses demand, we at St. Clare Web Hosting offer an unlimited quantity of mailbox accounts and an unmetered email box size allowance, thus answering the expectations of any small-scale or large-scale commercial enterprise. There is both webmail and electronic mail client support on offer, so you can check your e-mailboxes from a personal computer, a personal digital assistant or even a smartphone.
Database Support (MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc.)
For script-powered sites, almost all service providers provide database support. A database is a collection of tables utilized for handling and retrieving data shown on a website. One of the most relevant illustrations would be an Internet forum - all user names, passwords, and message board threads are kept in a database and are called and displayed on the website by the discussion board script when a given forum page is being visited. This makes the web site more efficient as just the information that is needed is retrieved and displayed. Databases are utilized with the majority of free open-source PHP-powered scripts, including electronic business sites, and are an important fraction of the average hosting service nowadays. There are various varieties of database management systems - MySQL, PostgreSQL, MSSQL, etc. Which one you demand depends on 2 circumstances - which type(s) the particular service provider supports, and which database management system is required by the script that you wish to utilize. It is essential to examine these details before you select a hosting firm.
FTP Support (Uploads, Downloads)
Another service that typically is included in a shared hosting package is FTP access. FTP signifies File Transfer Protocol, and it is the most popular method of copying files to or from a distant web hosting server. You can upload your web site via a File Transfer Protocol software app, but most web design software applications also have an in-built File Transfer Protocol functionality, so you can upload all your files with a single mouse click directly from the software application you have utilized to set them up. For any future updates, you just have to edit the website and then upload the edited files, which renders handling your site quite easy and time-effective.
Additional Domain Name and Application Services
Additional functionalities may comprise domain administration, an online web site builder and a free open-source PHP script installer. Even though they are not necessarily provided by all web hosts, they are becoming an ingredient of the common shared hosting plan due to the considerable demand for an all-embracing shared hosting solution where all the aforesaid services are present and can be administered through a single CP.
| Economy | Regular | Deluxe | Ultimate |
| Unlimited storage | Unlimited storage | Unlimited storage | Unlimited storage |
| Unlimited bandwidth | Unlimited bandwidth | Unlimited bandwidth | Unlimited bandwidth |
| 1 website hosted | 5 websites hosted | Unlimited websites hosted | Unlimited websites hosted |
| 30-Day Free Trial | 30-Day Free Trial | 30-Day Free Trial | 30-Day Free Trial |
| $5.20 / month | $8.12 / month | $13.28 / month | $20.45 / month |