How (and Why) To Use Shared Hosting For Your Business Site- Hostbreak

How (and Why) To Use Shared Hosting For Your Business Site

Image source: Getty Images

Shared hosting is an affordable and manageable hosting option for many sites. Here’s why it might be the best choice for your small business.

After you have completed the first important step of building your website, it is time to take it live via a hosting service. For many people, exploring shared web hosting might be a favorable option. When looking at pricing, functionality, etc., shared server hosting can easily be a small business’ best friend.

Overview: What is shared hosting?

Simply put, a shared hosting plan is when multiple websites use (or share) a single server as their host. This is an anonymous sharing, generally, as you don’t know who your site neighbor is, nor will they know who you are.

You simply share the resources of one server to go live online. Because several sites are hosted on one server, there are typically limitations on the total amount of resources a single site can use, such as traffic and bandwidth caps.

For most small businesses and smaller sites, those limitations are well within reason, and the economic benefits of a shared plan make it well worth it as part of your site management strategy.

Advantages of using shared hosting

Shared hosting providers are a favorite option for many business owners -- for good reason since these plans offer many advantages (like a lower price point) for small businesses and their web needs.

Budget-friendly

Shared domain hosting is by far the cheapest hosting option, running anywhere from under a dollar per month to usually no more than $9.99/month, thanks to it taking fewer resources.

Easy to upgrade

You’re not locked into a plan or shared hosting forever, as most servers have multiple levels of hosting available. You can start with shared hosting and upgrade as needed.

Great place to start learning

If you are brand new to the site creation and hosting world, shared hosting is an accessible way to dip your toe into the waters to learn more without being responsible for coding and other site management tasks yourself.

Easy to use

Shared hosting plans usually come readymade with built-in cPanels (control panels), making site management more intuitive.

Maintenance-free

There is typically no technical maintenance or knowledge required on your end, as that is part of the shared hosting package.

Good uptime

Because many sites are depending on a single server staying online, shared hosting servers tend to have excellent uptime track records.

Disadvantages of using shared hosting

Of course, while there are many benefits to shared hosting, it does have its own set of disadvantages to take into consideration.

Performance caps

As your site receives more traffic or demands higher functionality, you may see performance and speed impacted because the host must regulate resources to stay equitable.

Slower load times

Since the server’s resources are spread across multiple sites, shared hosting will typically have slower load times than dedicated plans.

The unknown shared sites

Although most neighbor sites will be on the up and up, the fact that you never know who your neighbors are may mean you could be adjacent to some potentially risky websites.

Customization limits

You simply won’t get the same amount of customization options as you do with dedicated hosting, meaning you’ll always be capped in website optimization.

4 tips for deciding if shared hosting is right for your business

Weighing out the various advantages and disadvantages, is shared hosting the right choice for your needs? As you explore your options, keep these concerns in mind.

1. Figure out your budget

A lot of times, the first concern is going to be your business budget and what you can afford.

As mentioned earlier, shared hosting is almost always going to be far less expensive than other options (especially virtual private servers and dedicated servers), since you are using less space and resources, which keeps your costs low.

Determining a max spend you can afford will be important in knowing if you can even spare the cash to opt for anything other than a shared plan.

2. Determine what features and resources you need

Of course, the capabilities and functions you need your site to have is an important consideration.

While shared plans are definitely cheaper, they also have more limited functionalities than dedicated plans. If your site is smaller in size and needs, you likely won’t need to worry about performance limitations.

But if you anticipate large loads of traffic or custom abilities, shared hosting might not be the best choice, as restrictions are placed on shared sites so that the allocated resources (bandwidth, memory, data, etc.) are not all used by one client.

Because of malware fears, some shared plans have restrictions on the types of files that can be uploaded. If you have unique needs, check to make sure there are no applicable file restrictions.

The same security precautions extend to certain plugins and other site functions, so always comb through the available and prohibited features carefully.

3. Take into account the size of your website

Since shared hosting websites are hosted on a single server, there are physical size restrictions inherent.

If your website is too large, it either merely will not fit or will encounter massive caps on its ability to load and perform. Simply put, consider the amount of storage space allowed on a shared plan; if your website is larger than that or you anticipate higher amounts of traffic, then shared hosting won’t be a good fit.

The same line of thinking applies to other websites’ traffic levels, too. Their particular sizes and traffic levels can negatively impact your performance if they outgrow shared parameters.

4. Take into account your tech skills

One of the biggest concerns for small business owners creating a website centers around technical skills.

While a lot of the back end of site-building and hosting can become highly convoluted and require a developer's knowledge, shared hosting plans do keep it simple for you; typically, the hosting service will handle maintenance and managing.

If you don't have coding experience, are a tech newbie, or simply don't have the time to devote to maintaining a server, shared hosting may be all the more attractive.

Shared hosting is often a good choice for small business sites

Though it is certainly not for everyone, the advantages and abilities of shared hosting commonly make it an excellent choice for small business websites, portfolios, personal sites, and blogs.

Because of its low costs, in both time and money, shared hosting keeps things simple so you can devote your resources elsewhere.

Though there are certain caps and limits, most smaller sites won’t be affected by those restrictions for a long time, making shared hosting a great launching pad.

At the end of the day, sharing can be caring, even in the site and server small business world.

Online Communities Growing On Dark Web Forums Breeding Hate

The shooter in Buffalo reportedly posted his manifesto describing his plans on the site 4chan, an accessible part of the Dark Web that attracts some of the worst theories and conversations online. It harbors hate and dangerous activities, like the shooting.

Millions of users flock to the site daily to post and read comments and ideas. 

“They are looking for some sort of community, or like-mindedness,” said Dr. Kasey Thompson, associate professor at Ferris State University.

4chan is a forum and website with so many offensive posts and conversations that it’s hard to show on television. But millions of people use it every day, to talk about anything and everything, including plans for mass shootings.

“To find the sense of community that is is is so negatively rooted, that they don’t want to have conversations that anyone else can see, that they are afraid of being outed, that they were concerns of repercussions of what they say and do,” said Thompson, “When you get to that level of belonging, your discussions should send up red flags for everyone.”

Users are anonymous, protected from the words and theories they put out. More and more of the mass shooters we see are found to be users on these sites.

“This information that we’re trying to protect them against has nothing in comparison to what they’re actually learning,” said Thompson, “What they’re learning isn’t necessarily based on truth, it’s just based on whatever day, that meme, or the information is. The hate du jour.”