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The continuous increase in online sales in recent years has made brands and entrepreneurs worry about having the right e-commerce hosting, as it plays a key role in the success of an online shop: from website loading speed and a positive user experience to search engine rankings and the protection of sensitive customer data, among other things.
In this post, we will guide you through the process of selecting the perfect e-commerce hosting to boost your business in the competitive digital world. Not without first recommending, of course, our Msc in Digital Business.
An e-commerce hosting is a service provided by a provider to host and store all the codes, files, databases and other resources of a website (images, texts, etc.) dedicated to the sale of products or services online.
In other words, e-commerce hosting is the space where the infrastructure necessary for an online shop or e-commerce platform to function and be available on the Internet for visitors and customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week is kept and maintained.
With this in mind, you could say that the e-commerce hosting service is divided into the person who decides to create a website or open an online shop and the company that provides hosting and allows you to upload your business-specific content to the server.
The truth is that domain and hosting are two different concepts, although complementary and essential for a website to be functional and accessible on the Internet. In order to understand the difference between domain and hosting, we will say that:
A web domain is the unique address through which it is possible to find and access a website on the Internet. For example: "www.midominio.com" or "www.mitiendaejemplo.net". It is used to link what users type in the address bar to the server that hosts the page. It is completely digital and is stored in a centralised database.
The term hosting (or web hosting) refers to the physical place, located somewhere in the world and connected to the Internet, where the files and resources of a website are stored.
When a user enters a domain name into a web browser, the browser sends a request to the hosting server where the page is hosted. The server then uploads the files and transmits them over the Internet to the device the user is using, which in turn downloads the files and displays them.
Nowadays, there are different types of e-commerce hosting. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, so the choice will depend mainly on the specific needs of the website, as well as the expected traffic and budget.
The most common types of hosting for online shops and e-commerce platforms are:
Shared hosting is where a number of websites share the resources of the same server. This is an economical option and suitable for small websites or websites with moderate traffic. However, performance can be affected if several sites on the same server experience peaks in traffic or demand.
This is characterised by simulating a physical server using virtualisation software. Although several websites share the same physical server, each has its own portion of guaranteed resources. This provides higher performance compared to shared hosting.
Dedicated hosting is where the entire physical server is dedicated exclusively to a single client. This offers maximum control, performance and flexibility. It is ideal for large sites, with high traffic levels and specific configuration requirements.
This involves a network of interconnected servers rather than a single physical server. This allows resources to scale easily according to the needs of the website and provides greater stability and redundancy, as if one server fails, another can take over the load.
This is the one in which the provider is in charge of the technical management of the server: updates, security, backup copies, etc. It is an excellent option for those users who do not want to worry about server administration and want to focus on the development of their website.
Some providers offer web storage services specifically optimised for certain e-commerce content management platforms.
Some providers offer free web storage with limited resources and features. This can be attractive for small sites or personal projects.
As you have seen, there are different types of web storage. For this reason, it is important to research and compare all options before making a decision. Below, we will discuss some of the factors you should consider when choosing hosting for an e-commerce site:
If you want to learn more about the world of e-commerce, in addition to the course we mentioned at the beginning of this article, at Universidad Europea we have other related degrees, such as the degree in Business Analytics. Check out our entire academic offer on our website.