At Canadian Web Hosting, one of our most popular hosting plans is shared hosting. It’s a common option for beginner website owners as it is affordable and easy and quick to set up. However, getting started with shared hosting can be daunting—but not to worry! Over the years, we’ve helped many people get started in building their own website. Below, we’ve compiled some of the most frequently asked questions our customers have asked us over the years.

 

What exactly is shared hosting?

Shared hosting consists of multiple sites using one server, making it more affordable to use. In this scenario, each website is given their own amount of space to operate, essentially “sharing” the server space with others. In most cases, websites stay in their own space and don’t cause any disruptions to those around them. You only pay for a portion of what it would cost to host a website on your own server because you are sharing the space.

 

Why would I want to share, when I can have my own server?

Besides the glaringly obvious price difference, your website may not need the whole server space to function properly. In fact, if you’re a small e-commerce site, or run a simple personal site, chances a shared hosting environment is sufficient. Not only do you save money, you also know that each penny you pour into your site is going towards something useful.

 

How do I know which shared hosting plan I need?

We offer three shared hosting plans: Lite, Express, and Enhanced. All three plans offer unlimited bandwidth, subdomains, parked domains and email accounts, as well as 10GB of backup space, Weebly Site Builder and Immunify360 Enhanced Threat Protection. For many website owners, the features offered in our Lite package are more than enough. If you do require more than 1GB of storage, add-on domains or a dedicated IP address, we recommend going with an upgraded package.

 

What are the benefits of shared hosting?

  • More affordable than having your own server
  • Low risk in terms of cost and setting up
  • Minimal technical skills required
  • Built-in cPanel makes site management easy
  • Almost instant to set up

 

What are the potential problems that come with shared hosting?

  • May experience slower performance at different times of the day
  • High traffic levels may result in lag
  • “Neighbours” may cause disruptions
  • Basic administrative access

 

What do I do if the problem persists?

If you have any problems with your site’s performance, contact your service provider and see what can be done. If your site is becoming too big for your shared hosting space, it might be time to look at an individual plan to accommodate your needs.

 

Where will my website be stored?

Canadian Web Hosting is a 100% Canadian owned and operated company with data centres in both Vancouver, BC and Toronto, ON. Our Western Canadian clients have their data located in one of our Vancouver data centers, while our Eastern Canadian clients have their data stored in one of our Toronto based servers.

 

When I use shared hosting, will it be difficult to upgrade in the future?

Going through changes can be cumbersome. Any form of upgrade is as easy as giving your service provider notice, and any obstacles can be solved with little conflict. If you’re looking to move to your own server, make sure to ask your provider how long the process will take, and what to expect in the coming days or weeks.

Have we missed a question you have? Leave it in the comments and we’ll get back to you!

Photo by Daniel Cheung on Unsplash