Every website in the world needs hosting on the web, but it’s one of those things you’ve probably never heard of until you find yourself in need of it.

Web-hosting is essentially a way to allow websites to be viewed on the internet. Every website needs to be stored somewhere and at Digital247, we’re proud to say that we provide the fastest cloud-based web hosting in the UK.

In this article we’re going to take you through everything you need to know about cloud-based web hosting is – who it’s for, what it does, how much it costs, why it’s important and why you might need it.

What is cloud-based web hosting and why do I need it?
Cloud-based web hosting means that your website information and data is stored virtually, in cloud-based servers. This is done in a similar way to how pictures on your phone are stored to places like iCloud or on Google Drive.

Cloud-based servers are compiled of lots of different servers, meaning they are super-fast and much more reliable.

Some companies still host websites in non-cloud based servers, but these require just one big server with huge storage space. This means that if that one server goes down, all the websites it hosts go down with it, which is far from ideal.

When you’re busy running a business, or are a freelancer busy pitching to clients, the last thing you need is any website down-time. It will lose you customers and make you look unprofessional.

With cloud-based web hosting, if one server goes down, your website won’t have any down-time because the other servers will jump in as backup. And if you have any security breaches, your site will be transferred onto another secure secure server whilst these are dealt with and resolved.

How fast is cloud-based web hosting?
Cloud-based web hosting is incredibly fast, because it’s built on lots of individual fast servers.

We’ve built exceptional servers based on 100% Dell hardware. That’s why we’re the fastest UK cloud-based web hosting company in the entire UK. Let’s put it this way – we’re like the web hosting equivalent of Usain Bolt!

They also use SSD (solid state disks) as an alternative to HDDs (hard drive drives) which are much faster, and can access a website’s information within a mere 0.2 milliseconds – up to 100 times faster than a standard HDD.

You might think this increase in speed doesn’t matter much when we’re talking about a number of seconds – but it does!

When someone accesses your website, all the information that gets displayed on their browser is taken from your host computer and put together at the user’s end. Imagine a standard website, made in WordPress – every user needs to pull the web code, the theme, any widgets you have installed, graphics, files, links, videos – all those little bits that make your website what it is.

That’s a lot of information and many data transactions to take into account. People are impatient by nature. No matter how detailed your website, a delay of even a few
seconds, while their browser pulls the information from your hard drive, will have potential
clients and customers hitting the exit button and potentially looking elsewhere.

How safe is cloud-based web hosting?
One of the main benefits of cloud-based web hosting is that it’s much more secure than the alternatives. We have a variety of systems in place to keep your data as safe and secure as possible and we offer daily backups of your data as standard in all of our packages.

We also offer free SSL security certificates with all of our hosting packages which gives your website even greater security. SSL certificates work by encrypting the data between the browser and website, so hackers aren’t able to see sensitive data like card numbers, addresses or passwords.

When you run a business, keeping your customer’s data safe and secure is of the utmost priority. Whilst no hosting platform can offer absolute protection, hosting with us means you are as safe as possible.

Will cloud-based web hosting work for my business?
Cloud-based web hosting is suitable for absolutely everyone and we have three simple cloud-based hosting solutions to suit every need.

Our Essentials package is perfect for people wanting one website to be hosted and comes with 1GB SSD disk space, 20 email addresses, a free SSL security certificate, four databases and daily data backups. This package is perfect for someone looking for fast and secure hosting for one website.

Our Unlimited package is the most popular and gives you two websites, unlimited SSD space, unlimited data transfer, and free SSL certificates for each website domain. You also get unlimited databases and data daily backups. This package is perfect for anyone with two websites.

Our Package is perfect for people running multiple websites, like serial entrepreneurs. Manage them all in one place with all the great benefits of the Unlimited package but with unlimited sites as well.

You can view all of our packages here.

How much does cloud-based web hosting cost?
Cloud-based web hosting is incredibly affordable. Our Essentials package costs £34.99 a year, our Unlimited package costs £6.99 a month (or £69.99 paid yearly) and our Multisite package costs £12.99 a month (or £129.99 paid yearly).

If you’re unsure which package would be best for you, then contact our friendly, UK-based support team who will be happy to advise.

What do I need to go alongside my cloud-based web hosting?
We know that often, cloud-based web hosting is just the start of what our customers need. That’s why we offer the free website builder with every hosting package so you can quickly and easily build a stunning, professional-looking website.

Website builders require no prior knowledge or expertise. Using the simple drag and drop builder, you can create a fantastic website in minutes, that’s easy to modify and maintain.

We also offer complete domain name registration to go alongside your cloud-based web hosting, so not only will you have a slick looking website with super-fast hosting, but we can get you your dream domain name to go alongside it, too.

These tools are the foundations for every new business and no matter what industry you’re in, we are passionate about helping our customers to succeed.

What if I need help with anything?
Our cloud-based web hosting comes totally optimised for your needs but sometimes you just need a helping hand.

We’re an entirely UK-based company and we’re incredibly proud of our support teams who can help you with any queries you may have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

That’s exactly why we are rated as “Excellent” on Trustpilot with over 400 reviews!

We’ve built a reputation for excellence with over 100,000 customers, we’ve helped everyone from bloggers to freelancers, business owners and students with their web hosting and business needs.

If you’re in need of cloud-based web hosting then we’d be delighted for you to consider us. Choose your hosting package here or get in touch with our support team if you need any further help or assistance.