There is always the possibility that this is the first time you actually wonder about this.
It’s very simple:
What is a website? Essentially, it’s a lot of electronic files that need to be stored somewhere, in order for the whole world to have access to them and basically navigate through it. Since you cannot store them in your hard disc, you have to find a “server” that you trust and a hosting provider to “host” the files on this server. There are plenty of hosting providers with many different kinds of servers, some of which are just parts of datacenters, which is basically a lot of servers.
When someone-somewhere visits your website, they actually see these files by using a web browser (firefox, chrome, internet explorer etc). If your hosting provider is not good enough, a visitor’s experience might be very annoying and frustrating. For example, your website could be extremely slow, or it could be “down” most of the time.
A good hosting provider secures that its servers are fully functioning at any time and invests in this by having the proper network connection equipment, air conditioning, backup power supplies, security, 24/7 client service, maintenance, software & hardware updates etc etc.
All of the above, come at a monthly/yearly cost, so think twice before you choose a web host, as it can be pretty tricky.
Have Fun and enjoy your time with Solomon Designs!
