Web hosting is one of the most important things that most people forget to consider. Once you have decided that you’re going to run a journal, you need to think about how you will be making it available to people. Without some form of web hosting, people won’t be able to access your content, and that means that no one will see your journal.
While this might not be the first, second, or even third thing you think about, it is very important. Going through submission processes, peer review, English editing, and then layout and conversion won’t matter if people can’t see what you’re publishing.
It’s important to start with the answer to a question: What is “website hosting”?
Web hosting
Briefly, web hosting is when you put your website on a server and make it accessible to people. Said differently, web hosting is providing storage space for a website, and access to it. Many companies (and people) host their own websites on servers of their own. But others choose to pay a company to do the hosting for them (as well as associated costs). On it’s own, web hosting can be a very broad subject with much to learn. To aid in this, we’ve prepared a small primer for you to read.
What is a server?
Server is usually understood to be two things. In a lot of cases, people refer to a server as a computer that hosts files, websites, etc. In actuality, a server is a piece of software or equipment that allows other computers (called clients) to access services. It might also mean the service in a broader sense.
Regardless of the specific meaning, they have the same end function. The base function is to make sure that your website is accessible at all times.
How do they work? In a nutshell, it’s a process that looks something like this:
User on the Internet accesses the internet. Through the internet, the user accesses the web server. Then, through that web server, the user can view the website’s files.
Different kinds of web hosting
Web hosting isn’t a “one size fits all” choice.
A website that has an annual traffic of millions of visitors and one that services 20 people a month need different solutions. If you’re just starting out, a basic hosting option might be just what you need. But as time goes on, and as your needs change, you might want to reconsider this. Some of the things that you might want to keep in mind are:
- How much a web hosting service costs;
- How much traffic it can handle;
- Do you have a high or low degree of customizability;
- Tech support (or lack thereof);
- Is it scalable;
- And of course, reliability.
Making sure that you pick the best choice for your needs is crucial. Make sure that your web hosting service can meet the needs of your company and your long-term goals.
How do you pick the best web hosting service?
The best thing to do is to always evaluate your current needs first. Once you know what you need now, you’ll be able to eliminate what can’t help.
Just because there are lots of web hosting services, it doesn’t mean that all of them will be the right fit. Some of them might simply be for much smaller aims.
After that, evaluating your current growth, and even where you will be in five years might be a good way to look at it. What you choose now might be something you change later, but sometimes moving from one web hosting service to another can be complicated.
We’ll go into the different types of factors in the future.