What is web hosting
Web hosting is the server where your website lives and from which it is available to visitors. If the domain is the address, hosting is the house at that address.
Every site has to live somewhere. Hosting is the computer that stores your site's files and sends them to a visitor's browser when they open the site.
Hosting quality directly affects site speed. Cheap shared hosting is often slow because hundreds of sites share one server.
Why hosting matters
Hosting is the site's foundation. Slow hosting makes even a well-built site slow, and no optimisation fully fixes that. Decent hosting costs a little more but gives a solid base.
Types of hosting
Plans differ in how much of the server is reserved for you alone and in who looks after the machine.
- Shared hosting: your site sits on one server with many others. Cheap and enough for a small site. Estonian providers often sell it under the name virtuaalserver.
- VPS: a fixed share of memory and processor is set aside for you. Suits a store or a busier site, but someone has to administer it.
- Cloud platform: the site runs on a provider's infrastructure that spreads load automatically. The usual choice for Next.js and similar modern setups.
Example: an online store during a sale
A small Estonian store runs fine on the cheapest plan on an ordinary day. Then it sends a newsletter about a sale and many shoppers arrive within half an hour. The server cannot keep up, the cart loads slowly and some people give up at the exact moment they were ready to pay.
So hosting should be sized for the peak, not the average day. If you plan campaigns, ask the provider how the plan copes with a spike and whether it can be scaled up temporarily.
What people forget about hosting
Many companies keep their email on the same hosting account. If the site is moved and DNS records are changed carelessly, mail stops arriving. Decide where email will stay before any migration.
The second topic is backups: how often they are taken, how long they are kept and whether a restore is included in the price. The third is access. The hosting account should be in your company's name, not tied to a former developer's personal email.
How to choose and how to check
For a site aimed at customers in Estonia, a server in Estonia or a neighbouring country makes sense. Zone and Veebimajutus.ee are examples of local providers. PageSpeed Insights shows how fast the server answers: if the report suggests reducing server response time, the bottleneck is the hosting or the site software, not the images.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a domain and hosting?
A domain is the name, such as yourcompany.ee. Hosting is the server that holds the site's files. They can be bought from different companies. DNS records connect the two by stating which server the domain points to.
Can I change hosting without downtime?
Yes. The site is copied to the new server, tested there and only then is the domain switched over. Done carefully, visitors do not notice a break.
Do I have to host with the agency that built the site?
No, although it is often convenient because one partner is responsible for both the site and the server. What matters is that the contract and the access details let you move elsewhere if you want to.