What is Web Hosting?

What is web hosting? This is a question a lot of people have when they are starting to think about creating a website. When you start a business there are so many things that you have to work out. How to set up a website is one of them and then working out all the things you have to pay for surrounding your website is another and people keep mentioning web hosting and you’re not really sure what it is or what it does but you seem to need it.

I recently did a guest expert slot in The Content Club and Kate Llewellyn who runs the club asked me, on behalf of her members, “What is web hosting?” and I gave the answer that is coming up. She said it was the best answer she had ever heard to that question and so I thought I would share it here.

What is Web Hosting?

Web hosting is where your website sits. All your website files are stored on a computer called a server and when someone types in your domain name or web address (eg. readysteadywebsites.com) it sends them to those files and they see your website. If you change where your website is hosted, which means it is moved to a different server, then your domain name can be redirected to that new server so your website still appears when someone goes to your web address.

Hopefully, put like that, web hosting actually sounds quite simple. We are all familiar with files being stored on a computer. It’s just when people throw in jargon and techy words it can start to feel complicated.

Further Reading and Resources

If you are at the point where you are starting to create a website and you have a lot of questions, like I mentioned at the start of the post, then you might find some of our other blog posts useful or you could check out our free resources.