There are a lot of moving parts working together to make your website look awesome on the web. As a website owner, you’ll want to have at least a basic idea of what’s going on under the hood of this beautiful machine, so that you can feel confident about making decisions in the initial set up, and empowered when an issue arises.
One of the key pieces that’s often overlooked — or left until the last minute before site launch — is your web host.
What’s a Web Host, you ask?
Websites may seem like a bunch of intangible 1s and 0s, on a basic level, but you do still need a physical home for all of the code and data that comprise it. Your web host provides that home, so that visitors can see view and interact with your website at anytime, from anywhere.
Essentially, a web host sells space on their server for all of your website files. They keep this server connected for the public 24/7, so it can deliver your website to the visitor’s web browser when they visit your URL.
Hosts vary in security, load speed, customer service, and ancillary services, such as software updates and frequent backups. They may also only support certain website platforms. For example, while many web hosts support WordPress installations, there are a few that don’t–which is particularly important to us and our clients.
Your Selection Criteria May Vary
Whether you’re choosing your first web host, or are dissatisfied with one you have, it’s a good idea for you to research and understand your options, and define and rank your priorities.
How important are these factors to you?
- annual fees
- automatic software updates
- bundled services, such as domain registration and email hosting
- comprehensive support documentation
- customer support
- ease of use and user interface
- site load speeds
- regular data backups
We Picked Flywheel
Upswept Creative is a proud agency partner with Flywheel, and with their help, we offer managed hosting for WordPress websites. Flywheel automatically updates WordPress core software, ensuring our clients are always running the most secure, fully-featured, and up-to-date software. Flywheel features quick load time and nightly backups, so if there is a data loss we always have yesterday’s website to restore today, not the backup from six months ago.
And maybe best of all, when you host your website with Upswept and Flywheel, we handle the set up and support, saving you time and mental energy so you can do more of what you do, while we do what we do.
Don’t love your WordPress host? Send us a message right now to start the conversation about hosting your website with us.
