Website hosting is the service that keeps your website's files on a computer connected to the internet, called a web server, and sends them to anyone who visits your address. Without hosting, a website is just files on someone's laptop. With it, customers can open your site on their phone late on a Sunday night.
It matters because hosting decides how fast your site loads, whether it stays up, whether it's secure, and whether you can get your site back when something goes wrong. It's also one of the places small businesses most often lose control, because the account sits in someone else's name.
This guide explains how hosting relates to your domain and DNS, the main types of hosting, what's usually included and what costs extra, what goes wrong with cheap or neglected hosting, and who should own the account.
How website hosting works
MDN, the reference documentation used by web developers, describes a web server as a computer that stores a website's files (pages, images, styles and scripts) and connects to the internet. Software on that computer understands web addresses. When a browser asks for a page, the server finds the right file and sends it back.
A hosting company runs those servers for you. You rent space and power on their machines, and they keep the machines online, cooled, patched and connected. You could run a server yourself, but almost no small business should. It needs to be on all day, every day, with a fixed address and someone watching it.
Hosting, domain and DNS: three different things
People often use these words as if they mean the same thing. They don't, and mixing them up is how businesses end up paying the wrong company or losing access.
- Domain name: your address, such as yourbusiness.com.au. You register it through a registrar. For .au names, auDA explains that you don't own the name outright. You hold a licence to use it, and you're recorded as the registrant.
- DNS: the directory that turns your domain into the numeric address of a server. When someone types your domain, DNS tells their browser where to go. DNS settings also say where your email is delivered.
- Hosting: the server your domain points to, where the website's files actually live.
Think of the domain as your street address, DNS as the map that says where that address is, and hosting as the building. You can move to a new building (a new host) and keep the same address. You just update the map.
Email is usually a fourth, separate service, such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, connected through DNS. That's why a well-planned website move doesn't touch your email.
The main types of website hosting
Most hosting a small business will come across falls into four types. The difference is how much of the server you share, and how much of the work someone else does for you.
Shared hosting
Your site sits on one server with many other sites, all sharing its memory and processing power. It's the cheapest option. The trade-off is that a busy or badly behaved neighbour can slow your site down, and you're usually left to install, update and secure your own software, such as WordPress and its plugins.
VPS (virtual private server)
A VPS gives you a fixed slice of a server that other customers can't eat into. It's more reliable than shared hosting, but you, or a developer you pay, are responsible for setting it up, updating it and keeping it secure. Good for technical teams. Rarely the right fit for an owner who just wants the site to work.
Managed or platform hosting
The provider runs the servers and the software, handles security updates and backups, and often serves your site from many locations around the world so it loads quickly wherever the visitor is. You pay more than basic shared hosting, and in return far less can go wrong on your side.
Hosting bundled with a website builder
Wix, Squarespace, Shopify and Webflow include hosting in the subscription. It's convenient, but the hosting only works for sites built in that builder. You can't take your site to another host, so leaving means rebuilding. We compare the trade-offs in Squarespace vs Webflow vs WordPress vs owning your site.
What hosting usually includes, and what costs extra
Two hosting plans at a similar price can include very different things. These are the items worth checking line by line.
- SSL certificate: encrypts the connection between your site and the visitor, and gives you the https padlock. Google Chrome labels sites without a secure connection as "Not secure" and advises people not to enter personal information on them. Most good hosts now include SSL. Some still charge for it.
- Backups: a copy of your site you can restore after a mistake, a failed update or an attack. The Australian Signals Directorate's Australian Cyber Security Centre lists regular backups as a basic protection for every business. Check how often backups run, how long they're kept, and who restores them.
- DDoS protection: a DDoS attack floods a site with so much traffic from hijacked devices that real visitors can't get through. Cloudflare's guide explains how these attacks overwhelm a server or the network around it. Some hosts filter this traffic as standard. Others leave you exposed.
- Security updates: on managed hosting the provider patches the server. On shared hosting or a VPS, keeping the website software up to date is often your job.
- Email: usually not included, or included only as a basic mailbox. Most businesses are better off with a separate email service.
- Edits and support: almost never included with ordinary hosting. Changing a price or adding a page is a separate job, often billed by the hour.
For what the full running cost of a website looks like, including the parts beyond hosting, see our guide to website maintenance costs.
What goes wrong with cheap or neglected hosting
Hosting problems rarely announce themselves. They show up as fewer calls, a slow page, or a phone call from a customer saying your site looks broken.
- The site goes down or errors out. Google says that when a server keeps returning errors, its crawler slows down, and pages that persistently return a server error are eventually dropped from its index. Lasting outages can cost you search visibility, not just the visitors who arrived that day.
- The site is slow. Crowded shared servers and servers far from your customers make every page take longer, especially on mobile data.
- It gets hacked. Outdated software on an unmanaged server is an easy target. Without a recent backup, recovery can mean rebuilding from scratch.
- The SSL certificate lapses. Visitors see a security warning instead of your homepage, and most of them leave.
- Nobody knows the login. The account was set up by a previous developer, the card on file expires, and the site disappears when the bill goes unpaid.
Common misconceptions about hosting
- "My domain is my hosting." No. Paying for the domain keeps your address. It doesn't keep a website running. Many businesses pay for both through the same company, which hides the difference until they try to move one of them.
- "I use Wix, so I don't have hosting." You do. The builder subscription is your hosting. Stop paying it and the site comes down.
- "Hosting is a one-off cost." It's ongoing, because the servers run every day. A quote for a website that doesn't mention hosting is leaving a monthly cost out.
- "All hosting is the same, so cheapest wins." The price gap between plans is usually the work: backups, security, updates and someone to call when it breaks.
Who should own the hosting account
You should be the registrant of your domain and able to get into your hosting account, or at least have a written right to your site's files and a clear handover process. If a freelancer or agency set things up in their own name, ask them to add you or transfer it now, while the relationship is good. Our guide on what to do when a web designer won't give you access covers the harder cases.
Managed hosting from your web designer is fine, and often the easiest option, as long as you own the domain, the content is yours, and you can leave without a fight.
This is how Lumeen works. Hosting is required for every site we build, because we look after the site after launch, and there's no lock-in contract. Essentials is $24.99 a month (AUD inc. GST), with fast global hosting, SSL, DDoS protection, automatic backups, up to 1 million requests a month and 5 website edits a month. Growth is $49.99 a month, with everything in Essentials plus up to 3 million requests a month, 15 edits a month, new feature development, quarterly performance tune-ups and quarterly SEO for Google and AI search. Our FAQ has more detail.
Key takeaways
- (01)
Website hosting keeps your site's files on a server that's always online and sends them to every visitor.
- (02)
Your domain, DNS, hosting and email are separate services. You can change host and keep your domain and email.
- (03)
Check what a plan includes: SSL, backups, DDoS protection, security updates and edits vary widely.
- (04)
Make sure you're the domain registrant and can get into the hosting account, so you can always leave.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need hosting for my website?
Yes. Every website that people can visit is hosted somewhere. If you use Wix, Squarespace or Shopify, hosting is built into your subscription. If your site was custom built, it needs a hosting plan of its own.
Is website hosting the same as a domain?
No. The domain is your address, and hosting is the server where the site's files live. DNS connects the two. You can move to a different host and keep the same domain.
What's the difference between managed hosting and shared hosting?
Shared hosting puts your site on a server with many others, and you usually look after your own software, updates and security. Managed hosting costs more, but the provider handles updates, security and backups for you.
Will changing my hosting affect my email?
Not if your email runs on a separate service, which is common. Email is delivered according to your DNS settings, so a careful move updates where the website points and leaves the email settings alone. Check your setup before you switch.
More answers on price, hosting and timing in our FAQ.