While most companies have a website and see the value in its ever-present availability online those business owners and employees may not know where that website is hosted. Often the agency or third party contracted to build the original website may have purchased the domain and established DNS and hosting on the company’s behalf.

Businesses care that they have a functioning website and aren’t necessarily concerned with where that site is hosted. But when the site goes down, or its due for a redesign – knowing who hosts a website is critically important.

WHO IS A WEBSITE HOSTING PROVIDER? WHAT IS THEIR ROLE?

A web hosting service allows your business to make its website accessible via the world wide web. Web hosts provide space on a server that must be leased by a client. Those host contracts usually expire/renew each year. Typical web hosting providers include godaddy.com, siteground.com, hostgator.com, and countless others. Most providers also act as domain registrars and DNS providers.

Some larger organizations may host their own site, but smaller businesses tend to work with hosting organizations because of the reliability, security, and lower cost than the equipment and maintenance investment required for in-house web hosting.

Businesses are most concerned with web hosting when their site is undergoing significant work, like a website redesign, or it is experiencing downtime due to interrupted service, hacking, or expired web hosting service.

HOW DO I FIND WHO HOSTS MY WEBSITE? 

If you have no idea who hosts your website, or when the hosting expires, you can quickly identify this information in a variety of ways.  

The easiest way to do this is through one of the countless hosting lookup tools that can be found through an internet search. Sites like www.whoishostingthis.com, or www.hostingchecker.com can quickly identify a website’s hosting provider so you can take the next steps toward retrieving login information.