For a website to start running and visible on the internet, you’ll need the services of a web hosting company. One of the options available is shared web hosting which is an ideal choice for small businesses and personal websites. This type of hosting service as the term implies means that several websites are sharing the resources of the web host provider by utilizing one server. On a shared web hosting environment, all the websites under the same server have the same IP address. This is often the suggested choice for small businesses due to a number of reasons:
1. Affordability
Shared web hosting packages are more affordable compared to having a dedicated server. Since a number of websites are using the same amount of resources provided by the web host company, the cost is spread among the users; hence the expense is not solely shouldered by just one website. For a business that is on its startup stage, being on a shared web hosting package is a way to cut down on their expenses while slowly building an online presence.
2. Simple and User Friendly Platform
One of the perks of shared web hosting is that it does not require any sort of expertise in order to keep the website up and running. It is simple and easy to manage, making it ideal for those who are unfamiliar in this field. This type of hosting environment also requires minimal attention when it comes to maintenance and monitoring because this is usually performed by the web host provider.
On the other hand, shared web hosting also has its share of disadvantages. Having to share a server with other websites would mean that your use of resources such as disk space, memory and bandwidth is limited. Sharing the same IP address with others can also affect your website’s uptime.
Uptime refers to a website’s performance when it comes to speed and availability. You would want your site to be always up and running and experience minimal issues. There’s a potential to lose customers if your website is always down or under server maintenance.
The tools and features provided on a shared environment are also limited compared to that of a dedicated server especially when it comes to software upgrade. Once your website starts to gain more web traffic and requires more disk space, it will be better to move to a secured and private server.
