Website hosting options

The term 'web hosting' usually refers to companies renting out space on their web servers to businesses or individuals who wish to make their websites available on the internet.

What does it mean to host a site?

Hosting means storing all the files that make up your website - such as HTML pages, images, audio and video - on a web server. When someone visits your site, the server sends these files to their browser so they can see and interact with your website. Each hosted website is assigned a unique internet protocol (IP) address. This lets visitors use your website's address (ie the domain name) to find and access the site via an internet browser. 

Read about the difference between a domain and web hosting to understand how these two elements work together.

Types of web hosting

There are three main ways a business can host a website. You can:

• host it on your own server in-house
• outsource it to an external hosting provider
• host it on a server owned and operated by an internet service provider (ISP)

Hosting your own web server in-house can be expensive and requires technical skills, hardware, and a reliable, high‑speed internet connection. It also means you are responsible for maintenance, security and 24‑hour support. As an alternative, you can buy hosting services from an external provider, such as an internet service provider.

Types of web hosting services

If you choose external hosting, you will usually have a choice between three types of web servers:

• shared hosting - where your website shares a server with other websites
• dedicated hosting - where your website is the only one on a server
• virtual hosting - including cloud hosting, where your website runs on a virtual server that can scale up or down as needed

As well as the server space, many hosting providers offer value-added services, such as:

• easy-to-use website building tools
• site statistics
• search engine optimisation features
• shopping carts
• one-click app installers
• unlimited number of email addresses
• customer support
• other control, maintenance and safety features

How much does it cost to host a website?

If you are a sole trader or small business, you can host a basic website on a free web host. However, free hosts often have more downtime, limited features and less reliable support. You may also be restricted in how you present your brand or use your own domain name.

If your website is important to your business – for example, if you sell online or rely on it for customer enquiries – a commercial web host is usually a better choice. Commercial hosting plans vary in price depending on:

• hosting provider
• the service they provide as part of the package
• the size of your website
• the expected traffic to your website
• whether you need email addresses
• whether you need e-commerce functionality or advanced features

On average, small business shared hosting can start from a low monthly fee, while dedicated or scalable cloud hosting is more expensive but offers better performance and security. With many hosting options available, it can be difficult to know what to look for. There are many factors to consider when choosing a web hosting provider.

There are many different factors to consider when choosing a web host. The most important ones relate to your website's functionality, performance, reliability and security. Each of these can significantly affect how well your site works for your customers and whether it meets your business needs.

Website functionality

The functionality of your website depends on the software and tools it uses. This can affect:

• the range of features your site offers, such as forms, blogs, or e-commerce
• how you update or edit your content
• how complex or interactive your website is

When choosing a hosting provider, make sure they support the applications, scripts or software your website needs - for example, content management systems such as WordPress or Drupal. If you do not have in‑house technical expertise, ask your web designer or internet service provider for advice. You should also follow best practice in web design to keep your site simple, secure and easy to maintain.

Website performance

To perform well, your website needs a fast, stable connection to the internet. The speed and capacity of your host's network (often called the 'backbone') affects how quickly visitors can load your pages. If your connection is too slow or your server is overloaded, pages may take a long time to load or may fail to load at all, especially during busy periods. 

Type of web server

Your choice of web server also affects the performance of your site. You can either go for:

• a dedicated server - where only your site is hosted on the machine
• a shared hosting service - where you share the machine with other sites

Shared hosting can reduce costs, but may slow down your site if other customers use a lot of resources. The server specification - such as processor speed, memory and disk space - is important for how well your site runs. 

Website reliability and uptime

Your website should be available 24/7, especially if it is central to your business. Even with good hosting, some downtime is possible, but many providers offer service level agreements (SLAs) that promise a high level of uptime. When you choose a host, check:

• their typical uptime percentage
• how they respond to outages
• what compensation they offer if the service falls below claimed uptime

If your business relies heavily on your website, you should also plan for contingencies - for example, clear communication channels if your site goes offline.

Website hosting security

Security is an ongoing concern for any device open to the internet. Your hosting provider should take steps to protect your website and data from hackers, fraudsters and other attacks.

Your web host should, at the very least, offer:

• backups and restore points - stored securely away from the main server
• disaster recovery plans - to help you recover your website in case of system failures
• network monitoring - to spot unusual activity and mitigate risks
• firewalls - including other basic intrusion prevention methods
• antivirus and malware scanning and removal
• SSL (secure sockets layer) certificates, if you need to transfer sensitive data such as online payments to and from the server
• some level of management support - most crucially with file management, access and user permissions, logins, applications, software updates, etc

You should also follow wider cyber security best practices to protect your business online.

To put a website online, you need both a domain name and web hosting. These are closely linked but different things. You will need both in order for your website to be visible and accessible on the internet.

What is a domain name?

Your domain name is the address people type into the browser to visit your website - for example, www(dot)mynewbusiness(dot)com. It is your website's name on the web and helps customers find you online.

You can buy a domain name through a domain name registrar. This gives you the right to use that specific web address, but it does not provide space to host your website files. A domain name on its own won't make your website 'live' and available on the internet.

How hosting and domains work together

To make your website visible, the files that make it up (eg text and images) must be stored on a web host, which is a computer server connected to the internet 24 hours a day. The server gives your hosted website a unique internet protocol (IP) address - a string of numbers that computers use to locate it. A domain name is a human-friendly version of this address, so visitors do not have to remember long numbers.

What is an IP address used for?

When someone types your domain name into a browser, the system translates the domain name into the correct IP address and sends a request to the web host. The host then sends your website files back to the visitor's screen. This is essentially how your customers are able to view your website. So, for your website to be available online, you need both a domain name, as well as a hosted website.

If you have yet to choose your business domain name, there is a lot to think through - from the different types of domain names to trade marking considerations.

If you have a domain name but are looking for hosting, see factors to consider when choosing a web hosting provider.

Using an internet service provider (ISP) for web hosting means outsourcing your website to an external company that keeps your site connected to the internet 24 hours a day. The ISP is responsible for maintaining the server, the network connection and the hosting environment.

ISPs can provide different types of web hosting services, including:

• shared server hosting
• dedicated hosting
• co-location hosting

Shared server hosting

With this type of hosting, the ISP owns the server and hosts your site alongside other websites. This is usually the cheapest option and can be suitable for small or simple websites. 
However, shared hosting may not be ideal if you need:

• complex technologies such as databases
• secure certificates (SSL)
• tools that let you customise pages for different users

If other websites on the same server use a lot of resources, your site's performance can suffer.

Dedicated hosting

With dedicated hosting, your website is the only one hosted on a particular server. This option suits large or high-traffic websites, or those requiring special software or particularly high levels of security. While this approach offers the most powerful and secure solution, it is usually more expensive and may require more technical support or management.

Co-location hosting

With co-location, you host your own server (which you own or rent) in the ISP's data centre. You benefit from the ISP's high‑speed internet connection, power backup and secure environment, but you remain responsible for the server hardware, software and website content. This option can suit businesses that want more control over their hardware, but still want to use a professional hosting environment.

See other factors to consider when choosing a web hosting provider.

Advantages of using an ISP for hosting

• You do not need to buy or manage your own server hardware.
• Most ISPs offer fast, reliable internet connections and high availability (uptime).
• ISPs usually maintain a secure environment, with virus protection and regular software updates.
• Support and monitoring are often included as part of the service.

Disadvantages of using an ISP for hosting

• You must trust the ISP to keep your website available and secure.
• If the ISP hosts too many sites on a shared server, performance may be affected.
• If the ISP is blacklisted (eg because of hosting adult content sites or spam sites), this can directly affect you. For example, you may find that your IP address is on various spam blacklists. This can cause your emails to be filtered out and junked or you may not be able to register with certain services, websites, forums, etc.

If you are setting up a corporate or business website, you will need to choose between outsourcing your hosting or hosting your website internally. Both options have benefits and risks. You should weigh these carefully to find the right fit for your business.

In-house hosting vs outsourcing

Outsourcing to an external web host may be an attractive proposition if you need an 'off the shelf' solution, or lack the skills and infrastructure to manage a server yourself.

Many small and medium-sized businesses choose to contract out their hosting to a specialist provider or an internet service provider (ISP). See pros and cons of using ISP for hosting.

In-house hosting can work well for larger businesses and organisations that have the expertise and the budget to run their own servers. As well as a web server, you will need a high‑speed, reliable internet connection and the ability to provide 24‑hour monitoring and support. You must also factor in the cost of maintenance, power, space and software licences. 

If you are considering in‑house hosting, you should read how to host your own business website.

Advantages of the in-house web hosting

• You have full control over access to the website.
• The choice of hardware, including the ease and expandability of upgrades, is yours.
• You also have control over the operating environment - the software and systems that run on the web server.
• You can manage web storage space and performance more effectively.
• You are not contractually or legally bound to use a specific provider.

Disadvantages of the in-house web hosting

• The cost of buying your own web server hardware, associated software and high-speed internet connectivity (typically using a dedicated connection).
• The technical skills you or your staff will require in order to develop, maintain and upgrade the website, and to keep up to date with the latest technical developments.
• The resources needed to provide round-the-clock support for the website in order to ensure its availability for users.
• The need for specialist security expertise in employing tools and techniques to maintain the security of your website.

Before deciding to host your website internally, consider whether you can:

• provide 24-hour support internally on an ongoing basis
• build an in-house IT team with the right set of specialist skills to maintain the system
• implement appropriate monitoring systems and procedures
• take immediate and effective action when problems occur

If you cannot confidently meet these requirements, an external hosting option will often be cheaper, more reliable and less risky for your business. See factors to consider when choosing a web hosting provider to help you compare options.

Using an internet service provider (ISP) or an external hosting company lets most small businesses run a website without worrying about the underlying technology. However, if you want to host your website on your own server, you need to understand what is involved and what operating systems, software and skills you will need.

Server operating systems

Web servers typically run on one of three main types of operating systems:

• Windows Servers - commonly used in business environments, often with Microsoft-based tools and databases
• Unix - a family of operating systems used in some enterprise environments, often requiring specialist knowledge
• Linux - widely used for web hosting; often stable, secure and cost-effective

Email

Email can be hosted on‑site alongside your website, but many businesses choose to outsource this to a dedicated email provider such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. External email services often offer better spam filtering, reliability and support, and can reduce the technical burden on your in‑house IT team.

Web server software

Web server software runs on top of the operating system and handles requests from visitors# browsers. Common web server software includes:

• Apache - widely used, open source and compatible with many hosting environments
• Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) - commonly used with Windows Server and Microsoft-based websites

Web Authoring languages

These are the software languages used to develop applications on the website. Examples include:

• HTML (HyperText Markup Language) - a programming language used in the creation of simple web pages
• scripting and programming languages such as PHP, ASP.NET, Python, Ruby or JavaScript, used to create dynamic and interactive features
• web authoring tools such as editors or design applications that help you create pages, add graphics and build user‑friendly interfaces

Your in‑house hosting solution must support the languages and tools your website uses.

Databases

If your website uses a lot of data - for example, product information, customer records or bookings - you may need a database system. Examples include:

• Microsoft SQL Server
• Oracle
• PostgreSQL
• MySQL

The best choice depends on the volume of data, expected traffic and the technical skills available in your team.

E-commerce

If your website sells goods or services online, you will need to support an e‑commerce package or platform. This can involve hosting shopping‑cart software, secure payment processing and additional security measures. See how to set up an online shop with an e-commerce package.

Planning for upgrades

As your business expands and your website grows, you may need to upgrade your server hardware, software or hosting model. Consider if: 

• your current hosting can handle higher traffic or more complex features
• you need extra storage, memory or processing power
• it may be more cost‑effective or secure to move some services to an external or cloud host

Planning an upgrade path in advance helps avoid unexpected downtime and performance problems later.
 

With traditional web hosting, you buy or rent a physical machine - a server - that gives you resources like memory and processing power. With cloud hosting, you effectively rent virtual server resources from a provider, and you can scale them up or down as your needs change. This can make it easier and more cost‑effective for growing businesses to manage their websites.

How does cloud hosting work?

Cloud hosting spreads your website across multiple virtual servers instead of a single physical machine. The cloud provider allocates resources such as processing power, memory and storage when your website needs them. You typically pay only for what you use, so you do not need to buy extra hardware in advance. 

Cloud hosting is often delivered as a service over the internet, using models such as:

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - where you manage most of the software and configuration yourself
• Platform as a Service (PaaS) - where the provider manages the underlying platform, and you focus on your website and applications
• Software as a Service (SaaS) - where you use fully hosted applications, such as email and content management systems, without managing the server at all

Is the cloud a server?

The cloud itself is not a single physical server. A server is physical hardware, dedicated entirely to your business or shared with others. A cloud server is a virtual server created and managed by a cloud provider within a shared environment. It behaves like a traditional server but can be created, resized or removed quickly as your business needs change.

You can choose from several types of cloud services for full or partial hosting. Cloud hosting is increasingly popular with small and medium‑sized businesses because it can reduce the need to buy and maintain physical hardware, and can be easier to scale up during busy periods.

Cloud web hosting risks and considerations

When considering cloud hosting, think about the following.

Connectivity

You will need a reliable, high-speed internet connection at your business premises. If your connection fails, you may lose access to your website and data until it is restored.

Cost of ownership

Cloud services are often billed monthly, which can be good for cash flow, but you should compare the total cost over a longer period with more traditional software or hardware options.

Service level agreement

Check the conditions of your service level agreement - what uptime is promised, what happens if something goes wrong, who is responsible, and how quickly issues are meant to be fixed.

Data security and compliance

Make sure you understand where your data is stored, how it is protected and whether it is encrypted. You should also ensure your cloud provider helps you meet your legal responsibilities, including those under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

If you are unsure whether cloud hosting is right for your business, read about the advantages of cloud computing and find tips for moving your business to the cloud.

Finding the best servers to host your website on can be daunting. There are many things to consider, not least:

• the type of site you wish to build
• how to manage it
• who will maintain it
• whether to host it in-house or externally

As well as this, you should also think about server upgrades, monitoring and security, content management, and customer service. Read more on choosing a web hosting provider.

Server security

Websites can come under threat from hackers, viruses and other cyber attacks. If you host your website in-house, you must put your own security measures in place.

If you use third-party hosting services, server security will generally be their responsibility. Look for assurances that they are running firewalls and malware detection, and monitor their servers for unusual activity. See more on cyber security for business.

Server upgrades and monitoring

To keep your website running smoothly, someone must monitor the server's performance and apply upgrades when needed. This includes watching its central processing unit, memory and disk usage, network performance and backup utilities. From time to time, you will also need to install new versions of the server software or upgrade hardware components.

If updates require downtime, try to schedule them at quiet times, such as overnight, to minimise disruption to your customers. With external hosting, the provider usually handles upgrades and monitoring, but you should check their service level agreements (SLAs) to confirm what is included.

Content management

Content management systems (CMS) allow authorised users across your business to easily add or update web content without needing extensive technical skills. When choosing a hosting provider, make sure they support the CMS you plan to use - for example, WordPress, Drupal or a hosted site builder. Read more about  content management systems.

Techical support

Customer and technical support are important when choosing a web host. No provider can guarantee 100% uptime, so you should know what help is available if a problem occurs. Ask:

• what support channels are offered, eg live chat, phone, email
• when support is available, eg 24/7 or during business hours
• is there a limit to the support you can get as part of the package

See how to choose an IT supplier for your business.