What Is Website Hosting and What Do Tradies Need to Know?
Website hosting is one of those things most tradies don't think about until something goes wrong. Here's a plain-language explanation of what it is and what matters.
Most tradies have heard the word "hosting" in the context of getting a website sorted, but it's not always clear what it actually means or why it matters.
Here's a plain-language explanation.
What Website Hosting Is
When you build a website, all the files that make it up (images, text, code) need to be stored somewhere. That somewhere is a server, which is essentially a computer that's connected to the internet 24 hours a day. When someone visits your website, their browser connects to that server and loads the files.
Hosting is the service you pay for to keep your files on one of those servers. Without hosting, your website has nowhere to live.
It's a separate thing from your domain name. Your domain is your address on the internet. Hosting is the building that sits at that address.
Why the Quality of Hosting Matters
Not all hosting is equal. Cheap shared hosting, where thousands of websites share the same server, can result in a slow website because you're competing for server resources with everyone else on that machine.
A slow website is a problem for two reasons. First, visitors leave if a site takes too long to load, particularly on mobile. Second, Google uses page speed as a ranking factor. A slow site is harder to rank in search results.
Good hosting keeps your website fast and available. It also means someone is responsible for maintaining the server infrastructure so you're not worrying about it.
What to Look For
For a tradie website, you don't need enterprise-level hosting. But you do want something better than the absolute cheapest shared option.
Look for hosting based in Australia or with Australian server locations. A server in Sydney will load faster for a customer in Melbourne than one in the United States.
Look for SSL included. SSL is the "https" in your website address and the padlock icon in a browser. Google flags sites without it as insecure, and customers notice. Most reputable hosting providers include SSL automatically.
Look for daily backups. If something goes wrong with your website, a backup from the day before means you're not starting from scratch.
Look for support that's actually reachable when something goes wrong.
Bundled vs Separate
Some tradies buy their domain, hosting, and website build from three different providers. This works but it creates complexity. If something goes wrong, you're coordinating between multiple companies to figure out whose problem it is.
A website service that bundles domain, hosting, and the website itself under one monthly fee is simpler. One provider, one contact, one monthly payment. For a tradie who has better things to think about than web infrastructure, that simplicity has real value.
What You Should Be Paying
Decent Australian hosting for a small business website runs anywhere from $10 to $30 a month as a standalone cost. If your hosting is bundled with your website service, make sure you know what you're actually getting and whether the hosting quality is included in that conversation.
Very cheap hosting (under $5 a month) is almost always on shared infrastructure that will affect your site's speed. It's false economy for a website you're relying on to generate work.
The One Thing Not to Overlook
Make sure you know who controls your hosting account. Similar to the domain name situation, if your developer or web provider holds the hosting account in their name, leaving them means potentially losing access to your own website.
Your hosting, like your domain, should be in your name or your business name. A good web provider will set it up that way without being asked.
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