When you have a website for your restoration business, you want it to perform well. A key piece of this equation is having the correct type of hosting for the website. With so many different options, features, and tiers, it can be difficult to understand whic type of hosting is best for you and the needs of your company. Two common hosting choices are shared hosting and dedicated hosting. Restoration Digital Marketing is breaking down the differences to help you make the solid choice.
What is Hosting?
First things first – what is hosting? Chances are, you are likely familiar with several hosting services, even if you do not quite understand their purpose. GoDaddy, HostGator, Bluehost, and others are a few common hosting providers. These providers grant space on a web server for a website to store its files, including code and images, for access. This is hosting, and every website on the Internet is hosted on a server. Think of it as renting space online for your website.
How much space you have been allocated on a server will vary depending upon the type of hosting you have. The most common types of hosting include shared, dedicated, VPS. For the purpose of this discussion, we will be focusing on shared vs dedicated hosting. Choosing the proper hosting is the difference between having the right allocation of resources to load the site quickly, and losing business to competitors with better website performance. Let’s take a deeper dive.
Shared Hosting
With shared hosting, multiple (sometimes thousands) of websites are stored and hosted on one server. Shared hosting means that each user has a dedicated amount of resources, such as CPU usage, memory, and disk space.
Advantages of Shared Hosting
- Affordable
- Unlimited disk space
- Easy-to-use dashboard where you can change and configure domain settings and install content management systems
- Updates and maintenance performed by hosting provider
- Quick and easy to set up
- Best for: small websites with minimal traffic, websites that do not require substantial resources
Disadvantages of Shared Hosting
- Sharing restricts the resources you can use
- Slower overall speed
- Traffic spikes can down the website or cause it to be slower
- Other websites you are sharing resources (server space) with can affect your website
- Less secure than dedicated hosting
- No server customization
Dedicated Hosting
On the other hand, with dedicated hosting, no resources are shared. The server disk space and all resources belong to you. Dedicated hosting provides more flexibility in server configuration, custom software, and resources.
Advantages of Dedicated Hosting
- Fast load times despite heavy traffic
- 100% processing power
- Optimal performance supports SEO rankings
- Root access gives full control and customization over the server
- Most dedicated servers are DDoS protected for security
Disadvantages of Dedicated Hosting
- Higher prices compared to shared hosting
- Requires server administration knowledge, or the ability to hire someone with this
Consider Your Site
Choosing between shared vs dedicated hosting is a critical decision. The right choice enables your website to perform its peak, while the wrong choice can ultimately lose business. Consider your site and its unique needs when you select a hosting option.