What Is A Website?

Chapter 2.2, in which we discuss the puzzle pieces that compose a website, starting with website hosting, databases, and content management systems.

🖼️ David Erickson/Midjourney - three dimensional puzzle pieces in a cyberspace environment

Before we fully dive into the reputational signals websites generate, it is important to first to fully answer the question, just what is a website?

Before we even get to the content, technically speaking, a website is a collection of technologies that work together to make it possible for you to use them. In addition to the domain names we covered in Chapter 1, websites also need these technologies to function: 

• A computer to host and serve files,

• A database to manage content, and

• Content management systems. 

What Is Website Hosting?

Website hosting is the process of storing and making a website accessible on the internet. Website hosting providers allocate space on their servers to store website files, and ensure that the website is accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

When you create a website, you need to upload the files to a web hosting provider's server. During the early days of the web, I used to do this manually by uploading hand-coded HTML files and associated images to my hosting provider using software specifically designed for this purpose, using the File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

The hosting provider stores the files on their server and assigns your website a unique IP address. This IP address is used to locate your website on the internet.

Website hosting providers offer a range of plans and services, depending on the needs of the website. Some hosting providers offer shared hosting, where multiple websites share the same server resources, which can introduce the risk of the “bad neighborhoods” we discussed in Chapter 1. 

Other providers offer dedicated hosting, where a website has its own server resources.

Website hosting providers also typically provide website maintenance services, such as backups and security updates, to ensure that the website is running smoothly and is secure from potential threats.

What Is A Computer Server?