In today’s world, almost everyone needs a website. Websites have to be hosted for your presence to be found. You can make money with the right hosting. The trouble is, hosting can get expensive, especially to get one reliable, fast and decent support.
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So, you may be thinking, “how can I make money with the right hosting,” isn’t it the website that brings in the cash? Usually, it is the website that is upfront, viewed and attracts conversions into moolah. However, your hosting can be crucial in more ways than one.
Understanding The Importance of Hosting
If you are banking off just your website bringing in the money, you have to understand the mechanics. All search engines, especially Google, rank your sites based on Speed. Even though you may hear, “as long as a site is opening up under 2 seconds, you’re good. That isn’t always the case, there is more to it than that. Most beginners start off wrong, they always choose a shared hosting plan because they are within a beginner’s budget.
Sadly, most beginners start off with Hostgator, which is the slowest hosting under the sun. They charge for anything and everything. So that cheap startup price doesn’t include many support items. I have tried most and the best shared planned service has been A2 Hosting. It is fast, always reliable and the support is great. However, no matter who you choose, Cloud Hosting is what can put you ranking high in the search engines.
To be anybody online, you have to be considered trustworthy, so the days of having a site with an HTTP in the URL is gone. You have to have an SSL for most browsers to except you. This means your URL looks like this; HTTPS://YourWebSite.com.
If you want to make money with the right hosting and understanding what I mean. These options are what you really need in a hosting provider.
- Cloud Hosting
- CDN
- 24/7 Support – Free of Charge
- Websites – Unlimited
- Emails – Unlimited
- Band Width – Unlimited
- Easy-To-Use cPanel
- Backups
Understanding Hosting Speeds
If you have done any research, you have probably run into these options and terms. Shared, Baby Plan, Turbo, VPS, Cloud Hosting, Virtual Dedicated, Managed, Clustered, Grid, Home, Reseller and more. This can all be very overwhelming for a beginner. Terms like Baby Plan and Turbo are usually just a brand’s own marketing phrase, and not an actual process. Most beginners, start off with a shared plan because they’re cheap, and hosting companies want to get you hooked. As your needs grow, their plan is to charge you more for more storage and speed.
Let’s look at the types of hosting that you should really only worry about. No matter if you are experienced or a beginner, this will explain what you are getting.
The Free Web Builder Hosting
Website builders like WIX and Weebly, even the online WordPress are not the best to make money with. Other than the online version of WordPress, these types of website builders are limited. They provide you with a drag-and-drop page builder which seems great upfront. It isn’t until you decide you want other features or functions, that these types are limited. Basically, they are limited to building a real professional website.
Many of these Free Website Builders limit you to the number of pages you can use. Often this is around 5 pages per website. You also can’t be found in search engines or anywhere using the free versions. Let’s say you want to create a website about golf. Your website name is “GolfProUnlimited,” which would normally look like gofprounlimited.com. However, on a free web builder, it would be, golfprounlimited.wix.com, if you were using WIX. This can me Weebly, or even WordPress in place of the wix.
The point is, with that “WIX” domain name in the URL, you being found is very slim. Plus, it doesn’t look professional or gives you your own brand. Most free web builders place their logos or something about their company on your work. Not to mention, they often place their own ads across your work. Everyone hates going to a page that has ads popping up everywhere, and you have no control over it. You can buy a domain and start paying for their hosting but you are still limited by their tools. Also, these companies charge more than the rest.
Types of Hosting
There are many types of hosting and it is really important that you find the one that is going to fit you best. Which requires you to project how much business, awareness or interaction you plan on in the future.
Shared Hosting
The most common everyone starts with. This means that your website is on the same server as everyone else’s is. Which means you are sharing the actual machine’s resources such as CPU and RAM. So, if someone else’s website is getting a bunch of traffic and interaction, your site will slow down, maybe even to a crawl. So, in order to make money with the right hosting, using a shared hosting wouldn’t be the best move. There is a limit to how many websites you can have and the speed will kill your rankings.
VPS – Virtual Dedicated
VPS stands for “Virtual Private Server”. This means that the hosting has created a virtual server on a machine or machines just for your website. The advantage is that all the resources they have set up are just for your website. This means faster speeds and often unlimited websites. Some drawbacks can be that you can’t access the root of your own virtual space in the file manager. Another is that if they have given you an unmanaged server, this means you have to keep maintenance on it. So, if you are not real tech savvy, you will be lost or paying for support.
Clustered Hosting
Clustered hosting is a web hosting that spreads the load of hosting across multiple physical machines, increasing availability and decreasing the chances of one service affecting another. Even though this process sounds awesome, there are faults with it as well.
Most providers that offer Cluster Hosting do most of the tech work. However, there will be times with various programs or plugins that will need configuration for this type of hosting. You may also find updates and upgrades may require more knowledge than you have. This may force you into paying for support. The biggest factor here is the cost. Unless you are a server specialist, you will be required many times to spend money on support and service. Grid Hosting falls under Clustered Hosting.
Home Server
This is simple as it sounds, a hosting server physically in your home or business. Many find this method enticing because you are in full control. However, you will need a few things to make this happen. First off, you have to have the skills and knowledge to build and maintain a hosting server. Most hosting servers use Linux as the main OS, but others use Windows which cost for a license. Linux is very reliable and free.
You also require a dedicated IP address from your internet provider. These are not cheap, not a bank breaker but it is still an expense. You will have to have full knowledge of FTP, PHP and probably some Java. If you plan to host for anyone else, then you just put yourself on call 24/7. You will also have to learn or be an expert in Cyber Security. There are many cyber hackers looking for servers to take over, so you better know your stuff.
The other failing of your own server is internet speed. Even though you may have a super-fast server, you are not spread all over the internet. Most hosting companies are a culmination of servers all over the nation or world. This helps access speeds to the end user. However, you can use a CDN such as Cloudflare but a home server still will be limited. If you want to make money with the right hosting, this is one of the solutions. Just remember, you have to know servers, code and be pretty good with IT. If you host others websites, this can be a big burden.
Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting is relatively new and is proving to be fast, reliable and scalable. Your website is in the cloud, meaning spread amongst thousands of other servers. No one server can go down stopping your site from working. Although, no service is infallible, so no hosting is always up 100% of the time. If you want to make money with the right hosting, that means reliable and fast. Cloud hosting offers just that.
Cloud hosting allows provider to charge for resources rather than one flat fee. This makes getting great deals on cloud-based hosting really good. Backups can be performed much easier and faster. Although full restores can take more time, luckily there are solutions for this.
I have worked for some huge major corporations and they would never use the cloud. I have always agreed with this as well. The cloud is becoming more and more secure, day by day. However, it still has security weaknesses. Although, for hosting websites, it is as secure as you have made your website. As long as you have security programs installed in your website, you will be safe. I love cloud hosting for websites, but I am not a fan of cloud storage, at least not yet.
Talking about those great deals with Cloud Hosting. I found one that I have purchased and will be moving all of my sites over to. My reason isn’t just the cost, which is a one-time fee for lifetime hosting, but it is the speed. I already have one cloud hosting and all my sites pop open in the milliseconds. This one has 24/7 support and backups, so it is a no-brainer. It is worth checking out, Click Here.
What Is A CDN
CDN stand for “Content Delivery Network.” This means that servers all over the world are caching your websites more or less. This makes for a faster access to your website for the end user. If you have ever used website speed checking tools such as GT Metric or Pingdom, they recommend it. A CDN can make website speeds faster and get your search engine rankings up. I have found great success with Cloudflare and recommend you checking them out.
However, some hosting providers offer a Cloudflare Integration. This means that their servers are already setup to run your sites through Cloudflare’s services. Otherwise, you can setup one site for free with Cloudflare if the integration isn’t available.
Got To Have Good Support
To make money with the right hosting means you have to have great support. Without support, you will find that you will be learning IT support skills. I have one hosting that I wanted to try out, and it all works well except support. I can put a ticket in and I may or may not get a response. If your goal is to make money online, you can’t be having a downed or slow website. You need 24/7 support to help you keep your site or business going.
I also have a shared plan with A2 Hosting. I think their speeds are pretty good, but I love the support. No matter if I put a ticket in through their portal or give them a call, I get a response. When dealing with technology driven methods, you will always run into a technical difficulty. That is why you need support that will respond to you. To make money, your goal is to keep your brand and reputation high. If too many people come to your downed site due to a hosting issue, they won’t be back. Your brand will be tarnished and revenue will be down.
The Term Unlimited
So here is where they get you. Many providers love to throw that word, “Unlimited” out there to get you to join. It is usually “Unlimited Websites” that they offer. This is true to some degree. If you are only creating one page landing pages and doing them strictly in HTML, then what they are saying is almost true. What they are really saying is that you can have Unlimited Domains. Adding Domain names to a hosting takes up no resources and there would be no limit.
Where the real limit lies are in what is known as “Inodes.” This means files and folder limits, in other words, for ever file or folder is counted as one. You also have Storage Limits, which means you can’t add anymore sites after so much disc space is used.
In essence, when shopping for hosting, you need to ask what the real limitations are. Ask them what your disc space and inode limits are. I have found that most shared plans are good for about 4 to 8 WordPress websites, then you’re done. 4 to 8 websites aren’t unlimited to me, just be diligent when shopping.
Bandwidth also needs to be inquired about as well, as there are usually limits on this as well. Meaning if your site goes viral and you start getting a lot of traffic, your site can crash and burn. Even with unlimited emails, only means you can setup as many email addresses you want. However, for every email you receive or save, is counted as an inode, so again it is really limited.
Easy To Use cPanels
Whenever looking for hosting, research or ask the provider for a demo or what type of cPanel they use. There are several types and if you are not sure what I am talking about, let me explain. When you log into your hosting, you are directed to what is called a cPanel, (Control Panel or Page). The page allows you perform many functions, the biggest ones will be adding a domain and website.
There are a variety of cPanels, one of which is called cPanel and is the most common used and the easiest to navigate. There are some that are called A-Panels, which usually means it looks like navigating through a WordPress Admin Panel and those are pretty easy to run as well. Then there are some that are home grown by the provider that are nightmares to use. Another one that is kind of a standard is called Virtualmin.
Virtualmin works and takes some time to get used to but it works best for someone that has technical skills. It isn’t user friendly for beginners. So, be sure to research or ask what kind of cPanel you get with your hosting. There is nothing more frustrating, when you spend hours trying to learn something that should take seconds to do.
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Hosting Backups
When running a website, backups are crucial. Now if you are going to just have a sales splash or landing page that never changes, you might be OK. But more than likely, your website will grow. All websites and plugins receive updates and upgrades. Occasionally, one of these updates will kill and crash your site. Usually, the quickest way to get back up and running is through a backup.
So, when shopping for a hosting provider, ask about their backups. Hostgator charges to restore anything on most of their shared plans. Many others offer a week-to-week or even a month-to-month backup. This means there is a whole lot that can be lost in between a week back up, especially if you blog.
You want to find a provider that offers daily backups. Quite often with daily backups, there is an option in the cPanel that is called “Server Rewind.” This means if your site dies, you can just restore it from the day before. To make money with right hosting means little to know down-time and that usually relies on good backups.
There are software or plugin alternatives and it never hurts to use them. However, many are not cheap and require a cloud location to back your site up to. That means to may have to pay for cloud storage, which is another expense. I like to back my entire sites up about every month to me local PC. Good hosting provides that option.
How To Make Money With The Right Hosting
You have read above what to look for in a hosting provider. You may be asking what this has to do with making money. Well, in order to be anybody on the internet, you have to have a great brand and reputation. In order to do that, you can’t have slow or downed websites. You can’t be using Gmail or Yahoo email addresses to do business with. These types of free addresses look spammy.
You make money with a good website. To have a good website, you have to have it on a solid and fast server. With the proper hosting, like a cloud provider that really is unlimited everything, you can host for others. That’s right, you can charge for others to host their website on your hosting plan. For that matter, you can charge to build a website and host it and make even more money.
You can charge to host just landing pages. If a client just needs a professional email address and cares nothing for a website, you can charge. All you do is have them buy the domain name, you add that to your hosting and create email addresses for it. There is plenty of opportunities as long as you have the right hosting.
Conclusion
Don’t do like most newbies do. Get so excited and ready to start something like a business or website before making a plan. Think about what your idea can eventually grow into. I can tell you personally, it kind of sucks to have to move or migrate your website to another hosting, had to do it several times. I was one of those people that started off with Hostgator. In about 4 or 5 months, I realized what a mistake that was.
As a newbie, more than likely, your budget is small and it is a scary thing to start something like this. I wouldn’t recommend getting the most expensive hosting to start with, look for the best deals with the best options.
I have such an option no matter if you are a newbie beginner or been in this for a while. Check out this hosting provider HERE. It truly is unlimited everything and is cloud hosting. It is integrated with Cloudflare and can run daily backups. My favorite part is that it is a one-time low fee for life. I just wished this was around when I first started.
To make money with the right hosting means little to no limitations, to allow you options. If you are charging to host others websites, that will make your money back right off the bat. You can use the fast hosting forever for your own sites to make money. At the same time, you can create sites and host them for others. It is a win-win.