Web Hosting

For a website to be accessible online it needs a web host and a domain name. Web hosting is the server where your website’s files are stored and the domain name is the address that allows visitors to reach them.

When you type in a domain name (i.e. hostinger.co.uk) into your browser’s address bar it makes a query to the domain name system. The DNS will then find the IP address of the server associated with the domain, and load the files that are hosted on it.

Web hosting consists of this online storage, and the management tools that come with it. There are multiple kinds of hosting to accommodate the needs of different projects. Hostinger offers Shared, Cloud, and VPS hosting plans to provide the right solution for you. By choosing an appropriate option you’re making sure you’re not overpaying and have a great running website.

Hostinger helps you grow by offering effortless scaling – once you outgrow a premium shared hosting plan, you can easily transition to Business Hosting, VPS, or Cloud hosting.

A website is made of different files, media files, and databases. When a visitor opens a page, everything they see is made possible by them. Web hosting provides a place to store all of these files, making them accessible by visitors and webmasters.

You manage and upload files to your web hosting account through a control panel. Hostinger users use our custom-built hPanel.

After you access the hPanel with your login credentials, you’ll be able to manage your website and website, control and monitor resource usage, create and use a custom domain email, and perform tasks like installing a CMS (content management system). Keep in mind that some tasks you need to perform through your CMS control panel. For example, if you’re running WordPress, you’ll be adding new files and databases through the hPanel, but creating new posts on the WordPress dashboard.

Yes, there are different types of web hosting that are made to accommodate different kinds of projects. Here are the most common hosting types you’re likely to encounter:

Shared Hosting: This type of hosting uses a single server to host multiple websites. It is the most affordable option thanks to its resource-sharing system. The sites using this hosting type have a set amount of storage, and bandwidth, but share other resources. Shared hosting is a great option for small blogs, personal websites, and portfolios.

VPS Hosting: Virtual private server hosting is in some aspects similar to shared hosting. Multiple virtual server partitions are created on one physical machine, with each of them getting an allocated amount of resources. However, the hardware powering the server is more powerful, and the virtualization technology allows VPS to function as smaller scale dedicated servers, including root access and a unique IP address.

Dedicated Hosting: As the name suggests, dedicated hosting gives users access to an entire dedicated server of their own. This option is perfect for high-traffic online stores and large projects. When using this type you won’t need to worry about resource sharing, being able to use an incredibly powerful machine to its full potential.

Cloud Hosting: This type of hosting is powered by a cluster of interlinked servers that work in unison. Cloud hosting allows unparalleled redundancy – if one of the network’s physical servers goes down, another one will take over. Additionally, if you’re scaling your website fast, cloud hosting will easily accommodate your needs, thanks to its interlinked server setup. It’s perfect for users for projects that require nothing less than 100% uptime.

Hostinger took all the best parts of shared and cloud hosting, creating a fast website hosting solution that has nearly 100% uptime while keeping the price tag low.

At Hostinger, we believe that everyone should have access to tools that help create an impactful online presence. With that in mind, we made our control panel we call the hPanel, easy to use. Tasks like creating a business email, setting up and installing a content management system, and monitoring your site require no previous technical experience.

If you’re an experienced website owner, you’ll also find the tools to perform advanced tasks and features. While we streamlined the basic processes for beginners, we did not cut the powerful, complex features advanced users need.

In addition, to help users on their online journey we created an extensive catalogue of tutorials and knowledge base articles. In case you get stuck, get in touch with Hostinger’s team of technical support specialists that will happily help you.

VPS hosting and shared hosting are made to accommodate different needs webmasters might have. A virtual private server hosts multiple partitions on the same physical server, however, the amount of resources each user gets is dedicated solely to them. That means any activity taking place on that physical server doesn’t affect your partition.

When using shared hosting, you’re also sharing server resources, like bandwidth. Additionally, a VPS acts as a dedicated virtual server. This allows you to have a unique IP address and get root access.

While shared hosting is more popular for small blogs and personal websites, VPS hosting is preferred by webmasters who need administrative features and capabilities that come with a dedicated server but don’t need as many resources.

If you want to learn about what you get with VPS, check out Hostinger’s cheap VPS hosting plans here.

The account setup process will take less than a minute. You can jump into building your site right away. Simply create an account, go through the brief step-by-step setup, and log in.

The kind of hosting that’s best for you depends on what kind of website you’re creating and your budget. A great start would be shared hosting, as it is the most affordable option suitable for low-medium traffic websites.

However, Hostinger’s infrastructure allows you to seamlessly upgrade your account as you go. When you outgrow the resources your current plan provides, you can upgrade in minutes, or even move to a new hosting solution, like from shared hosting to cloud hosting.

At the end of the day, there is no, one-size-fits-all solution for every website. If you need some advice, feel free to drop a line to our customer support experts who can help choose the best option, or create a personalised offer.

Typically, bandwidth refers to how much data an internet connection can pass through.

To explain what it means when using web hosting, we need some context. When a visitor clicks on a URL that leads to your website, they’re making a request. Once the server responds the website will be served up. Let’s imagine bandwidth as a pipe. If a lot of users are turning on their faucets, at a certain point the pipe will be running at full capacity. Eventually, the water flow will slow down to accommodate all the requests.

In the context of a website, bandwidth would be the width of this pipe. More hosting bandwidth allows more visitors to access your site at the same time.

MySQL is a database management system. It is open-source and uses SQL (structured query language) to manage database contents. It is one of the most popular database management tools out there thanks to its open-source nature and makes running a lot of the software you use possible.

Typically, modern CMS’s, like WordPress, use MySQL for data storage and management. All the content you add and changes you make to the platform are saved on the MySQL database. When people open your website the content from the database is served up.

An SSL is a cryptographic key that helps protect data exchange between a browser and a server. A certificate is associated with your website and exists on your web server.

You can spot an SSL-protected website by the padlock icon present next to the address bar of your browser. Additionally, these websites will use the HTTPS protocol, with its URL starting with https://. SSL encrypts data travelling between the website and user, protecting it from man-in-the-middle and other kinds of cyberattacks.

SSL protection is a must for any website that deals with sensitive user data, like an online store and other kinds of website.

To help you get started, we provide a free SSL certificate with all Premium and Business hosting plans.

There are plenty of different ways to build a website, and it’s our goal to make it as easy as possible for you to do that. We want your experience with us to be as simple as possible, which is why we’ve put a lot of time into streamlining it all.

If you just want to get started, the best option is usually to use our auto installer to install a content management system (CMS) which you can customize to suit your needs, whether you’re setting up a blog or whether you’re creating a website for your business. With a CMS, you can create new pages and customize the look and feel of your site without any technical know-how or programming ability.

Many webmasters use WordPress which is the most widely-used CMS in the world. All our hosting plans are fully optimized for WordPress.

But if WordPress doesn’t take your fancy, don’t worry. We also offer an intuitive drag and drop website builder that’s designed to get your site live in five minutes with no coding and no technical knowledge needed. You can find out more about that right here.

To help webmasters get started, Hostinger offers a free domain name for all users who sign up for an annual plan.

Yes, you can do it with little-to-no effort. Most popular content management systems like WordPress, have easy-to-use tools that allow you to move the website in minutes. If you find yourself running into roadblocks, or using a less popular CMS, contact our customer support team. We’ll help you transfer your website completely free.

Well, that depends!

To help create a website we have created an extensive archive full of tutorial and knowledge base articles that cover topics from coding, to marketing. Meanwhile, our customer support agents are ready to help with troubleshooting errors, unexpected issues, and bugs.

However, we are hosting experts, which makes us unable to create a website from scratch for you. To ease your journey, we integrated CMS auto-installers, SEO tools, and more.

You can buy only hosting, or only domain, if you want to. You can purchase a domain from a different registrar and point it to Hostinger’s nameservers. With that in mind, we recommend having your domain name and website hosting under the same provider. This makes management and troubleshooting easier.

Yes! In fact, this is usually what we recommend, and it’s one of the benefits of choosing Hostinger as your hosting provider. We make the upgrade procedure as simple as possible so that you can start on our budget plans and upgrade as your website starts to take off. We’re there alongside you at all times and we’re ready to grow with you!

Many other hosting providers will try to talk you into taking out plans that you neither need nor want. We disagree with that. We believe you should pay only for the resources that you need.

We understand that security is essential for a successful online presence. Because of this, we use BitNinja to guard all Hostinger servers against cyberattacks. On top of that, we integrated custom security software that is regularly updated, ensuring the highest security standard.

Yes you can! All of our plans support ecommerce websites. To further streamline the process, use hPanel’s auto-installer to quickly and easily set up your preferred online store platform.

Your success is our mission, that’s why we settle for nothing less than perfection when it comes to the support we provide. That’s why our support team is called the customer success team. Whatever issue you might run into during your journey as a website owner, we’ll be a click away to help you overcome it. We’ll help fix and improve the issues that are under our control, and help you better understand subjects that aren't.

Hostinger’s customer success agents are online 24/7/365, ready to assist and advise. This willingness to go the extra mile is what makes our customer support team one of the best in the industry. We refuse to give up until your issue is solved.