Web Hosting: Why It Is a Must for SMBs?
What is web hosting and why do Small-Medium Businesses (SMBs) need it? The market has been constantly progressing tech-wise, and SMBs need to cope with the demands of the technology-driven times. The usual sales of products are no longer limited by the physical display of the product and has shifted to the online catalog trend. This brings the necessity of maintaining a website to SMBs. But before a company can maintain a website, they need to understand the requisites of setting up one.
What is web hosting and how can it help SMBs in the changing demands of the market in the virtual world?
What Is Web Hosting?
Web hosting is an activity or business that provides storage space and access for websites. It is a necessity for any website since it acts as its physical storefront on the Internet. A website can only be accessed by online users when hosted. Web hosting involves housing the information, images, video and other forms of content that need an online storage center, which is the server. This storage center allows organizations and individuals to upload their content online.
Web hosting service providers, also known as web hosts, maintain the server where the data associated with a specific website is stored. Also, they manage the technology that connects the website to the internet. With the demands of the online market, the few people who ask what is web hosting have become an entire industry that caters to different needs, all asking the same basic question. Thus, web hosting itself became a very profitable venture very quickly.
What Is Web Hosting Space Allotment?
The online space that web hosting provides is measured based on the amount of disk space allotted for the website. It also includes the amount of data transfer or bandwidth needed for the website to be accessed. The more complex the content of a website is, the more transfer space would be needed. Thus, web hosting packages available online comes in a variety of disk space and monthly transfer sizes. The right disk space and transfer space that your site needs depend on the kind of content you will upload. It could be as simple as text or as complex as videos.
Just answering what is web hosting is not enough for an SMB to effectively set up its own website. It would require an understanding of what the web hosting service is in the context of the business and how it actually works for it to benefit.
Web Hosting is Important for Small-Medium Businesses
SMBs don’t just see web hosting as another business venture, but also something that provides business opportunities in the virtual world. It makes your site’s content visible to visitors with just a few clicks and keyboard taps. Googling what is web hosting would be as easy as googling your products online. When users type the name of your website or domain, the web hosting provider will respond as their server delivers the content of your website to the browser of that potential customer.
However, web hosting is not limited to just tasking the server to deliver online content. It also helps keep your site up and running at all times. Downtime means lost opportunity for sales, so it is important for websites to stay accessible 24/7. With the stiff competition in the ecommerce market, a minute of interrupted access may lead to a highly negative customer experience. You may not only lose a possible transaction or purchase, you may also lose that customer for good and generate negative reviews on social media.
Choosing a web hosting service is a decision that business owners should make carefully because the reliability and customer service that the web host provides is an essential factor in keeping your business competitive. What is web hosting to SMBs? It takes SMBs into a platform that keeps the business open at all times, to all customers with high reliability.
Web Hosting Maintenance
Yes, a bigger market awaits in cyberspace. But also note that it is into bigger markets that criminals are drawn. Cybersecurity is a valid concern for all SMBs and web hosting is not safe from those who plan to take advantage of the visitors to your website. They will have no hesitation to steal valuable information from your website stores, and to take down your business in a matter of seconds if they can profit. What is a web hosting service, no matter how reliable, if it is not protected from possible malware and zero-day attacks? Not much! Part of maintaining your website is providing the best cybersecurity that can help your web host counter malicious attempts to take down or use your site to conduct criminal activities. Protecting the physical infrastructure is as important as protecting the virtual space of your business. Stay secured; protect your business.
