If someone’s recommended that you try shared hosting, but you have no clue what it is, we’ve got you. In this guide, we break down what shared hosting is, and how you can tell if it’s right for you.
Shared hosting is one of the most popular options for people who are creating their first website. So, when you look for hosting options, shared hosting probably shows up a lot.
But what is it, and how do you know if it’s really right for you?
First of all, to make sure we’re all on the same page, let’s talk about web hosting for a minute.
What's web hosting?
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You probably already know that every website on the internet needs to be stored on a server. What you probably don’t know is that servers are expensive. They’re expensive to buy, to house, to maintain, and to power. So, most people can’t afford them, and even if they can, they don’t think they’re worth the expense, because there’s an affordable alternative to spending money on your own servers: web hosting.
A hosting company buys and operates its own servers and lets you host your website on those servers in exchange for a small monthly fee. If you choose hosting from LuxHosting, that fee can be as low as $2.99 per month!
Now that you know what web hosting is, we can get into shared hosting.
What is shared web hosting?
Shared web hosting means that multiple websites share the resources of a single server, instead of being the only website stored on that server, as is the case with dedicated hosting.
Even though you’re sharing the server’s resources, you won’t have access to another user’s website, and they won’t have access to yours. Usually, you won’t even know who you’re sharing server space with, so you don’t have to worry about breaches of privacy.
Why would anyone want shared web hosting?
(And how do I know if it’s right for me?)
Great way to cut hosting costs
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Shared web hosting is great for keeping costs low, because the costs are shared by multiple users. So, if price is a huge concern for you right now, shared hosting might be your best bet.
Because the cost is so low, shared hosting is also great for beginners who are just trying out what it feels like to have a website and don’t yet know if it’s something they’re going to want to stick to LuxHosting offers tons of hosting packages, so even if you decide later that you want to try a package that gives you more storage and more control over your server, you can always transition to another hosting package, and you won’t have lost too much money in the process. (Again, our prices start at $2.99 a month.) And if we notice that traffic is starting to slow down your website, we’ll let you know it’s time to upgrade your hosting package.
Shared hosting comes with cPanel
All our shared hosting packages come with cPanel, which is also great for beginners. cPanel is a website management system with an intuitive, easy-to-use graphical interface. It makes it easy to do things like set up email accounts, create domains and subdomains, and do everything else you need to be able to do to manage your website.
Shared web hosting is managed by your host
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If you choose a shared hosting plan your hosting team will take care of all the server upgrades and maintenance, which means you’ll get to focus on creating great content for your website without having to worry about all the technical stuff.
You may not require much storage space
Not all websites need lots of storage space. Some sites don’t get many monthly visitors, and their owners like it that way. Sometimes, they’re creating a family blog, and they only want the site to be visited by close family and friends, or they’re sharing their free-verse poetry, and they don’t want to have hundreds of thousands of people reading it just yet. For lots of people, having a small website is the goal. It’s not a sign of failure. (Personally, the LuxHosting way is to enjoy whatever stage your website is at. Growth will come in time, and when it does, you’ll look back fondly at the time when you had a smaller, more intimate number of visitors.)
You're just starting out or have low site traffic
If you don’t envision having hordes of visitors barreling their way into your website every month, you might be better off with a shared hosting plan. Any other kind of hosting will likely be a waste of money right now.
On the other hand…
Get another kind of hosting if any of these sounds like you:
- You anticipate getting tons of web traffic: Our servers can handle a lot, and even with our shared hosting plans, you’ll be able to handle a healthy amount of daily web traffic. But if you’re honestly foreseeing having hundreds of thousands of daily visitors, you might want to choose a different hosting plan. Try one of our dedicated servers or one of our Virtual Private Servers instead.
- You want the fastest possible load time for your website: Our servers are pretty fast in general, but for some website owners, that’s not enough. If you want the highest loading speeds that money can buy, what you want is a dedicated server, not a shared server. A dedicated server is more expensive than a shared server, but if you have the budget for it, it’s worth the investment.
- You need lots of control over your server: If you need a unique software setup because of the kinds of programs you’re likely to run on your computer, you’ll want a different hosting option.
But if you don’t anticipate lots of traffic, you don’t need your website to move at lightning speed (just the regular fast speed internet users are accustomed to), and if you’re quite happy to use the software provided by your web hosting provider, then shared hosting will be perfect for you.
How do I get shared web hosting?
This is the easy part: LuxHosting has lots of shared hosting packages for you to choose from, and we make it simple for you to decide on a package and to make a purchase.
The wrap-up
Shared hosting is less expensive than other hosting options. It’s a great way to dip your toes into the world of website management without making too solid a commitment just yet. So, try it out and see if you like it! If you do, you’ll wish you’d tried it sooner. If you don’t, well, you didn’t lose very much. And, at least now you know for sure.
But a website is vital to ensuring the credibility of your brand. So, if something makes it easier for you to take the first step to getting one, we think it’s worth a shot. So, before the day is done, check out our shared hosting plans!
