How to Host a Website: A Guide for eCommerce Businesses
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HTML code, FTPs, SDKs — these common website hosting jargon scare non-technical eCommerce folk trying to host a website for the first time.
It's easy to assume that putting your own shop online will be too complicated without technical training — but that isn’t the case. You can self-host your eCommerce website, even if you have little or no technical knowledge or a developer on hand. Use our beginner guide with useful web hosting expert tips to get started.
1. Choose your website hosting type
There are four main types of web hosting, depending on how the server works. A web server is a system that stores, processes, and delivers website data to users. The one you opt for depends on the needs of your eCommerce store.
Shared hosting
Shared hosting means that multiple websites share the same server. Think of it as multiple people occupying the same flat — each person gets a room within the flat but shares the building’s resources with the other occupants. And because many people are using the same resources, you have some limitations, like small bandwidth and limited storage.
When to use shared hosting
Shared hosting plans are great for personal blogs, small business websites, or small-scale eCommerce online shops with low traffic volumes.
- Use shared hosting if you have a limited budget.
- Use shared hosting if your website requires small bandwidth.
- Use shared hosting if your website requires limited customization.
Dedicated hosting
Dedicated hosting means one website has access to an entire server. It offers the user absolute control over their website’s security and overall performance.
When to use dedicated hosting
Generally, dedicated hosting is great for high-traffic websites.
- Use dedicated hosting if your website requires large bandwidth.
- Use dedicated hosting if your website requires advanced customization and flexibility.
VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting
Virtual private server hosting is the midpoint between shared hosting and dedicated hosting. Here, the server is split into independent “mini-servers.” Each website is hosted in one of these mini-servers. Think of it like owning a condo in a building. You have more control and flexibility over your space.
When to use Virtual Private Server hosting
Virtual private server hosting is best for eCommerce websites with mid-volume traffic that plan to scale in the near future.
- Use VPS hosting if you want to have more control over customizations and configurations for your website.
Cloud hosting
A website isn’t hosted on a single server. Rather, it relies on a network of interconnected servers to store, process, and deliver data.
When to use cloud hosting
The major advantages of cloud hosting are scalability and uptime.
- Use cloud hosting if you want unlimited bandwidth.
- Use cloud hosting if you want to limit/avoid downtime.
2. Choose a web hosting provider
A web hosting provider gives you a secure space for storing your website files and makes these files available to online users on request. You can think of them as lessors authorized to rent out space in a building. Common examples of web hosting providers include Vercel, Netlify, Amazon Web Services, and GoDaddy.
Choosing a web hosting service isn't something you should do on a whim. Robert Jacobi, director of WordPress at Cloudways, says, “In the back of one’s head, the two greatest factors should be ease of use, and support. How quickly can you get your website up and going, and what will happen when an inevitable issue occurs? Look for 1-click options to launch a site, safe updates, backups, and additional security features like malware scanning.”
Other important factors you should consider are:
Web hosting type
The right web hosting provider should offer the type of hosting required for your website. For example, if you're scaling a mid-sized online store, you need a hosting service that supports VPS hosting.
Look through the hosting provider’s plans and pricing guide to know the web hosting types they cover. You can find the guide on their website or request a copy from their sales team.
The type of website
Websites can be static or dynamic depending on how they deliver content to users. Static websites deliver the same content to all website visitors in the same way. Dynamic websites alter the content users see depending on personalization criteria like geolocation. This means someone in the UK visiting your website might not see the same content as a website visitor in Spain.
Most eCommerce websites are dynamic, so they require a web hosting service with enough server resources to support their performance.
Uptime
You need a hosting service provider with at least 99.5% guaranteed uptime. Uptime measures the total amount of time your web hosting provider’s server is up and running. You can use tools like StatusCake and Host Tracker to monitor your uptime status.
Uptime is crucial to your website's performance. If the server goes down, your online store automatically becomes unavailable to web visitors, which affects your sales. For example, if a shopper is about to check out an item and your website stops loading, they might abandon the item or purchase it from a competitor’s store.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth measures how much data your server can deliver to visitors within a specific period, and it’s recorded in bits per second (bps). eCommerce websites with high bandwidths can handle traffic spikes (like during peak shopping hours) without slowing down their performance.
You can use a website bandwidth calculator to find out how much data transmission capacity your website requires to function optimally. Once you get this, choose a web hosting plan that exceeds this estimate by at least 50%.
Data protection
Accenture reported that the average number of cyber security attacks per organization in 2021 increased by 31% to 270. You need a web hosting service that guarantees data protection for you and your customers.
A good web hosting platform has DDoS protection, an SSL certificate, and 24/7 security monitoring.
- DDoS protection prevents hackers’ attempts to overwhelm your server with false requests, which can make it go offline.
- An SSL certificate creates a secure connection between your website’s server and the website visitors’ networks.
- Security monitoring examines all website data requests to ensure they don’t contain malicious code.
Travis Lindemoen, managing director of nexus IT group, says, “If you lack the time or expertise to monitor your website for security risks, you may want to consider a managed hosting service. With managed hosting plans, the web hosting service manages any potential administrative issues, security upgrades, and patches, as well as provides more site resources. Managed hosting solutions are comparable to employing Alfred Pennyworth, Batman's butler, to watch your home and ensure that everything is operating properly. If necessary, he can even provide some defense. With unmanaged hosting services, you are responsible for maintenance and security.”
Customer support
Choose a web hosting company with active technical and account support teams to ensure that any issues you report will be resolved on time, before and after your website goes live.
Make sure your web hosting provider has multiple support channels — for example, email, live chat, and phone — so you can reach them easily. Jacobi says, “You will definitely want to have 24/7 chat support because website problems always appear at the worst time.”
Flexibility
You need a web hosting service that easily adapts to your changing business needs.
Anastasia Rats, PR and marketing manager at Five Jars, says, “It is less about what can I do right now but also about what I can do five years from now. For example, a lot of platform-as-a-service out there are actually very niche in what they handle. They could run one or two things with them as far as a language, technology or content management system. What happens three years down the road when you'll decide to do something different? Choose carefully, thinking about possible changes.”
3. Purchase a domain name
A domain name is the internet address through which users can access your website — for example, storyblok.com. You can purchase a domain name from domain name registrars like GoDaddy and NameCheap.
Tips for choosing a professional domain name
A professional domain name is unique and easy to remember. Here’s how to arrive at one.
Use a domain name generator
A domain name generator is a simple tool that automatically comes up with possible domain names for your website. You only need to input specific words related to your business or your registered business name, and the tool will bring up domain name suggestions and also check for their availability. For example, we input “eCommerce” into this name generator, and it came up with 1,257 ideas in a few seconds.
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Whether you have a specific idea for your domain name or a broad concept, a name generator can show you more options.
If the domain name you want is unavailable, you can go for another option or buy it from the current owner if it’s listed on the marketplace. For example, dataecommerce.com is taken, but you can purchase it for £51.99 on GoDaddy.
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Try to be flexible with your domain name if you're looking for a lower price.
Keep it short and simple
A short and simple domain name is easy to remember. Google recommends that your domain name shouldn’t have more than four words.
Avoid numbers and dashes
Numbers and dashes are confusing and make your domain name harder to remember and type. For example, which of these domain names make more sense to you?
- storyblok.com
- st0ry-blok1845.com
The first one, because it’s straightforward. A domain name isn’t a password, so it shouldn’t be complex.
Pick the right domain extension
A domain extension refers to the three letters at the end of your domain name. For example, in storyblok.com, “.com” is the domain extension. Domain extensions communicate the purpose and, sometimes, the geolocation of your website.
| Domain Extension | When To Use |
|---|---|
| .com | For commercial websites like eCommerce stores. For example: https://www.victoriassecret.com/ |
| .tv | For online media and video companies. For example, www.uscreen.tv |
| .org | For non-profit websites. For example: https://slum2school.org |
| .net | For service providers. For example: https://etax.lirs.net |
| .me | For personal blogs and portfolios. For example: https://about.me |
| .gifts | For gift stores. For example: www.shoponline.gifts |
| .store | For eCommerce businesses. For example: https://legalcode.store/ |
4. Publish your website
The exact process for publishing your website depends on the web hosting provider you’re using. Most domain name registrars like GoDaddy have one-click publishing options built into their website plans. Here’s how it works (this process is more or less the same for other one-click web hosting services).
How to publish your website with GoDaddy
Step 1: Purchase a domain name from www.godaddy.com.
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Step 2: After purchasing your domain name, log into your dashboard, click on “all products and services,” and select “create a website.”
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Step 3: Choose your website template and fill out the content.
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Step 4: Click “publish” and select your domain name.
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Now your site is live!
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You can also publish your website via cPanel or File Transfer Protocol.
Tips for maintaining your website
Once your website is live, you need to make sure it performs optimally.
Jacobi says, “Once you’ve chosen a provider and have your website live, you should not just assume everything is done. Your provider may have great performance tools that are not installed by default that you should utilize. Make sure you have automatic updates enabled for security and performance (either via your provider or manually enabling them). Most importantly, utilize automated backups, AND test those backups by deploying to another instance or staging area of your provider. When you have an emergency, the last thing you want to do is figure out how to restore your site.”
Other website maintenance tips you should have at the back of your mind are:
- Check your website’s load time using Google’s free PageSpeed Insights tool.
- Fix 404 errors. A 404 error happens when a web page becomes unavailable to users.
- Perform regular security scans
Once you're familiar with the basics of website hosting, unlock even more website features and customization options by going headless with Storyblok. Learn more about how Storyblok works.
