What Is Web Hosting, and How Do You Choose?

Quick answer: Hosting is the computer that stores your website and shows it to visitors. Choose a plan with SSL, daily backups, business email and local support.

Domain vs hosting

Your domain is your address (yourbusiness.co.za). Hosting is the house the website lives in. You need both, and they renew separately.

What to look for

• Speed. Slow sites lose visitors, especially on mobile data.
• SSL. The padlock in the browser, included and renewed automatically.
• Backups. Daily, and easy to restore.
• Email. Business email on your own domain.
• Support. A person who replies when something breaks.

Shared hosting is fine for most businesses

Most small business websites run well on shared hosting. Larger online stores or busy web apps may need more dedicated resources.

What a care plan adds

Hosting keeps the site online. A care plan also keeps it updated, monitored and current, so you never have to think about it.

Our hosting starts at R150 a month, and the full care plan at R350.