For Web Designers who can Code
Where should you host your site? Web designers and web developers are faced with this question all the time. Depending upon the client website, there might be dozens of options to choose from. The best solutions are typically determined based upon the technical requirements for each website the specific needs for each client. For those who are new to web design and development, and specifically for UX/UI designers and frontend web developers, to help figure this out it is good to have a basic understanding of how web servers work, a foundation-level of knowledge of web technologies, and a general awareness of the history of web hosting and the companies that specialize in this area.
Bespoke Websites Only
To narrow the scope, this is specifically for aspiring web design students and frontend web developers who are comfortable with HTML, CSS, and JS and are primarily interested in creating bespoke static websites for clients (or themselves) from scratch (e.g. a personal portfolio website) and/or custom child-themed WordPress websites for clients that require a CMS (Content Management System). Therefore let’s rule out some of the popular “no coding required” website builders out there, such as SquareSpace, Wix, and Weebly. Along these lines, it is worth noting that Webflow is intentionally not listed here, because even though it too is based upon a WYSIWYG UI that requires no coding, it is fully customizable, powerful, and worth looking into.
Web Hosting & Web Server Technologies: A Quick Overview & Primer
At the very least, to launch a live website, you’ll need the following two things:
- A Domain (e.g. yournmame.com) — approximately $10/year, can be purchased anywhere. Free options available as sub-domains (e.g. yourusername.github.io).
- A Web Host (e.g. a paid “Web Hosting Plan” at a “Web Host”) — FREE for small static sites (e.g. GitHub Pages & Netlify) or ~$5/month for a shared web hosting plan (e.g. at BlueHost, GoDaddy, etc.)
A domain is essentially a human-friendly name for users to be able to enter into a browser url path bar. You can purchase them anywhere (e.g. at a “Domain Registrar”) — it does not have to be purchased via your web host. Domain names are stored in a centralized database called a registry that is accreditated by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), a non-profit organization responsible for managing domain names. Domains are essentially a string of easy-to-remember characters that point to a string of hard-to-remember numbers called IP (Internet Protocol) addresses.
A web host is essentially a computer that is always on and always connected to the internet to “serve” your website. A web hosting plan is essentially access to a directory (folder) on a shared computer that is running web server software and technologies required to “serve” your website (e.g. a “LAMP” technology stack consists of a computer running Linux as the OS, Apache as the web server, MySql for database queries, and Php as the server-side scripting language). Web developers access the server various ways, such as via SSH (command line), FTP (File Transfer Protocol), or through an automated deployment process known as CI (Continuous Integration). Many modern websites today use git repositories to automatically trigger deployment workflows.
Web Hosts
Below is a short list of old-school “traditional” web hosts that have been around since the inception of the web and aren’t going away any time soon because they are the backbone of the web. As private “for profit” commercial companies, they typically offer cheap monthly plans (e.g. $5/month) with popular features that any typical web host should provide out-of-the-box, such as unlimited storage, easy (“one-click”) WordPress installations, and a free domain upon purchase of a hosting plan. For web designers and frontend web developers, the specific features that I recommend for your web hosting plans are:
- unlimited websites
- unlimited add-on domains
- unlimited sub-domains
- unlimited WordPress installs in sub-directories
- perk: free domain for new hosting plans
Popular Web Hosting Companies
- Digital Ocean
- Bluehost – offers solid PLUS and PLUS CHOICE shared hosting plans for ~$5/month
- GoDaddy
- SiteGround
- 000WebHost (FREE)
Static Web Hosts
- GitHub Pages (FREE) – the easiest way to create and launch a free static website
- Netlify (FREE) – a simple one-click solution that connects to your GitHub repo and offers a blazing fast CDN with super duper JAMStack powers