Web hosting is the service that keeps your website online. When someone types your web address into a browser, their request goes to a server — a computer running 24/7 somewhere in a data centre. That server stores all your website files and delivers them to visitors. The service that provides that server is web hosting.
Without hosting, your website does not exist on the internet.
Types of web hosting
- Shared hosting — Your site shares a server with many others. Cheap, but limited in performance. Traffic spikes from neighbouring sites can slow yours down
- Managed WordPress hosting — A server environment built and optimised specifically for WordPress. Better performance, better security, better support. The right choice for most business sites
- VPS (Virtual Private Server) — A virtual slice of a dedicated server. More control and resources than shared hosting, but requires more technical management
- Dedicated hosting — An entire physical server reserved for your site. Powerful, but expensive and rarely necessary for SME business sites
What your hosting affects
Your hosting provider determines how fast your site loads, how reliably it stays online, how secure the environment is, and what happens when something goes wrong. It is the foundation everything else is built on — which is why choosing the right hosting matters more than most people realise.
Cheap hosting puts a ceiling on how good your site can ever be. No amount of optimisation on the site itself can fully compensate for a slow or unreliable server underneath.
Read more about managed WordPress hosting and shared hosting vs managed hosting. WP Clinic offers managed WordPress hosting as part of its services.