Learn what hosting provides and what to consider when selecting and maintaining a service.
Web hosting stores website files and makes them available online. Shared hosting is suitable for many standard sites, while virtual or dedicated servers offer more control and isolated resources. Cloud services can make it easier to adjust capacity as demand changes.
Choose a service by considering application requirements, expected traffic, storage, memory, processing power, support and backup needs. Use HTTPS with a valid TLS certificate, keep applications and extensions updated, remove unused accounts, and limit administrator access.
Monitor uptime, resource usage and available storage. A slow website is not always caused by the server; large images, inefficient code, database queries and third-party scripts can also affect speed. Test backups regularly and document important configuration changes.