What is web hosting and why do you need it?

Once you have registered a domain name and had your web pages professionally designed, you need to have your pages loaded onto a computer, (known as a server), that is connected to the internet. You can purchase your own server and have it connected to the internet. However, it is more convenient to rent space on a server that is already connected to the internet. This renting of computer space and resources is known as hosting.

There are a number of advantages to hosting with a reputable company. Their servers are usually available 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This means that your web site is available to visitors 24 hours a day 7 days a week. These servers also need to be fully secure to prevent malicious persons from altering the contents of your web pages.

An additional benefit of hosting is that you get an email mail box. This allows you to send and receive email using your own registered domain name. For example, if your name is Fred Bloggs and your domain name is www.bloggstransport.co.uk, then your email address could be fred.bloggs@bloggstransport.co.uk.

Domestic internet service providers will host a web site for you. However, you will most likely be unable to use your own registered domain name and there will be severe restrictions on the size of your site. To have a more professional image for your business and to allow for future expansion of your web site, you should consider avoiding hosting your web site with a domestic internet service provider.

Choose a hosting company carefully. Some hosting companies also restrict the size of your web site or place a restriction on the bandwidth of your site (i.e. the amount of information in bytes per second transmitted to and from your web site). TCS offers competitively priced hosting on secure servers, with email, no limit on web site size and no limit on web site bandwidth. Click the 'How much will it cost?' link on the left for details of our current hosting prices.