Web hosting has been around for decades, and it’s something that most of us don’t really put a lot of thought into. Once your site is hosted, it’s hosted and there’s very little to consider thereafter. Or so people think!
The truth is that web hosting is constantly evolving, just like any other technological innovation. If you aren’t keeping up with the most innovative things happening with website hosting, you might be hosting your website on a plan that isn’t truly right for your business.
Next-generation web hosting is a vast step up from the old tech used by web hosting companies. If you’ve been on the same web hosting plan for years, it may be time to do some research and make some changes the new technology makes a significant difference to important aspects of your site.
Here are some of the most innovative things happening with web hosting right now and what you can expect to see and experience in 2023.
Managed Hosting Is On the Rise
Managed hosting has been around for a long time, but it’s becoming much more popular, and we can expect it to continue to rise throughout the next year and beyond. The pandemic saw a huge influx of new websites pop up as more and more people began to understand the power and necessity of online business.
But with that influx came the less experienced internet users who lack the technical knowledge to manage the backend of a website effectively and efficiently. This is where managed hosting came in.
This kind of hosting not only provides space for the website online but also offers full management of the backend, including performance enhancements and overseeing security, updates, and third-party integrations.
We foresee consistent use of managed website hosting into 2023 and beyond, as it allows business owners to focus on what they understand and is good at, without the need for managing the complicated aspects of their own website.
Despite there being many no-code website options available, there’s still a certain amount of time that needs to go into managing them. This option saves website owners both time and stress.
Predictive Analytics
Artificial intelligence might not seem like it has a place in website hosting, but the truth is its applications are many and are already being used to make web hosting safer and improve its performance.
Currently, AI is being used to detect malware attacks as they arise and sound the alert. Although neutralizing attacks is still in the works, early detection and alerting of threats make a significant difference to safety and security.
The predictive nature of AI also means that it can optimize website performance using machine learning, which can make a big difference to websites’ performance from the backend.
Another way AI is currently being used to boost the performance of web hosting is by managing data centers’ heating and cooling systems to rescue energy consumption and make hosting greener.
Accessible Pricing Options
For many website owners, the cost is the deciding factor when it comes to choosing what kind of website hosting they choose. Shared hosting might be the least stable and reliable, but the pricing factor memes many people still choose it over others.
While cloud hosting is the best money can buy, coming up with the required price may make it less accessible for many. While dedicated and VPS hosting is middle ground options, they’re still inaccessible to many and don’t offer quite the same benefits cloud hosting does.
What we can expect to see in 2023 is a single hosting service that provides features across a wide range of business needs. This would make a big difference to smaller sites for whom cloud hosting is too expensive to be a viable option.
There’s also a swing towards hosting that isn’t platform-specific. WordPress hosting was a novelty at one point, but modern hosting options are designed to be able to cover all platforms across all needs.
If this prospect takes off, we can expect to see a solution that effectively levels the playing field, making excellent web hosting available to businesses of all sizes and budgets.
Hosting Goes Green
While this is still in the works, we can expect to see website hosting going green in the years to come. As more and more information gets stored in the cloud versus physical servers, it lowers the need for building machinery, which does have a positive effect on the planet.
However, it doesn’t necessarily make cloud storage a greener option than physical servers. Physical data centers still exist to store cloud information, and while there are fewer of them needed than physical servers for dedicated or shared hosting, they still have their challenges, including the need for cooling.
The internet contributes to 2% of all greenhouse gas emissions, so it’s not the greenest thing out there. While users have become more adept at deleting files they don’t use, every file leaves a trace.
Green website hosting is in the works, although there’s currently no particular research or collaborations to point to. However, we can expect to see web hosting companies partnering with renewable energy businesses to create new solutions to a problem that still exists, despite our best efforts to quell it.
Conclusion
Website hosting might be the last thing on anyone’s mind when it comes to doing business online, but failing to keep up with the innovations in the industry means your business could fall behind without you even realizing it.
The most innovative things happening with website hosting right now might not seem like they’re huge changes. But in practice, they can make a significant difference to users, both website owners and website visitors.
With better website hosting comes improved security, increased website loading speed, and a better user experience when people visit your site. These features lead to improved customer service and ultimately, happier customers which mean converting them is made easier.
Next-generation web hosting is bringing changes that aim to level the playing field while still making great service available to everyone. The end goal remains to help business owners streamline their website processes and increase revenue while making the user experience as smooth and pleasant as possible.
About the Author
Jordan Fuller is a retired golfer and businessman. When he’s not on the course working on his own game or mentoring others, he’s researching and writing value-packed articles for his website, Golf Influence.
