The importance of reliable web hosting and security for your website

Web Hosting?

Web hosting describes the process of buying or renting server space on the internet to house the files and folders of your website so they can be viewed when you need them.

A server is a computer specially built and designed for website hosting. Every website needs solid web hosting to provide peace of mind that the site will always be online and available.

So what makes hosting reliable or not? There are three main factors.?

1. Fast Support - If something goes wrong, you want support to be immediate - you don't want to wait hours for a support team to respond to your request while your website is not working. A local, Australia-based hosting provider is ideal to avoid time differences and delays.?
2. Uptime - Uptime is when your website is live and accessible online. Therefore downtime is when the site is not accessible or has significant issues. Look for a web hosting provider to guarantee 99.99% uptime to give you peace of mind. You don't want your hosting to drop out and negatively affect emails and other business operations. No server can ever promise 100% uptime (unless you invest in multiple backup servers) so look for the closest to 100% you can find.?
3. Scalability - You want to be sure that your website can grow as your business does, so you always have the option to expand or scale down your website as required.

Security

Another vital part of your web hosting is its security.?

You'll need to ensure that your server and the software running on it is always up-to-date for maximum security. WordPress, PHP, and MySQL are examples of software running on your server that is constantly evolving and updated to meet modern standards and patch security flaws as they are discovered.

Additionally, you will need an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate installed on your website to meet security goals. An SSL certificate is a piece of code on your web server that provides security for online communications. The SSL certificate enables an encrypted connection when a web browser contacts your secured website. This provides peace of mind that any data submitted to your website is secure. Specifically, an SSL certificate is vital if your site collects private information or takes payments. Google also recommends that all websites have an SSL certificate and improve search rankings.

Additional security software that protects your website from malicious intent is called Sucuri.?

Sucuri

WordPress runs 43% of all websites on the internet (https://en-au.wordpress.org/) and, as a result of its popularity, attracts significant attention from hackers.

Hundreds of thousands of websites are hacked every day. The hackers' goal is to access your server to host their files, steal data, or use your server to send spam emails, commit fraud, or spread malware.?

Many WordPress users don't know how to protect their websites from hackers best, and this is where Sucuri comes to the rescue. Sucuri is one of the most reputable website security companies. It provides multi-layer protection to keep your website safe from threats. Sucuri has a firewall (a security device that can help protect your network by filtering traffic and blocking outsiders from gaining unauthorised access to the private data on your computer) that checks all incoming traffic to your website. Any incoming traffic considered harmful or malicious is stopped before reaching the server, which is called preemptive website security.?

Sucuri also offers speed enhancements to your website using its CDN (content delivery network). This network makes a copy of your website's data. It then stores it on its servers and shares the website data from the closest location to the user, making the user experience safer and faster.

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Summary

In summary, business owners often forget website hosting and security. It's worth considering and seeking advice to ensure your business has the best protection for your needs. You don't want to think about website security when it's already too late!