Many people find this to be a tricky question.
At the end of this article, you will have a clear insight to power your decision-making process, you will understand all the variable factors that come to play when hosting your website, and you will also understand the legal aspect that surrounds domestic and foreign hosting, especially in Nigeria.
A lot of individuals and corporations make mistakes when deciding on which hosting to use. In some cases, this costs them a lot financially and legally. Choosing the wrong hosting can lead to financial ruins, data breaches, and even lawsuits.
Before we delve into the differences between Domestic hosting and Foreign hosting, we must first understand what hosting/ Web Hosting is and how servers are a vital part of Web Hosting.
Web Hosting
Every website you know is ‘hosted’ on the internet.
For a website to be visible on the internet, it has to have a domain and hosting.
A Web Hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their website accessible via the World Wide Web.
In simple terms, Web Hosting refers to the process of renting or buying space to house a website on the World Wide Web.
Every website in existence must take up space on a Server, so whenever you visit a website, the data you are looking at is stored on a computer somewhere on the planet.
If you have ever tried to access a site and received a Server error telling you the page cannot be loaded, this will mean that the computer hosting the site has failed and once such a technical issue occurs the Web Hosting service is responsible for resolving and restoring the web page, this is often done by the technical support team.
If you choose a good host, technical issues will typically be attended to very swiftly.
Servers are a necessary part of our internet experience.
Now that you understand what Web Hosting means, What are Servers?
Servers
A Server is a computer that stores the data of a website, processes requests, and delivers data to another computer over the internet through a client like a web browser.
Servers aren’t supposed to shut down, they run 24 hours, 365 days a year, but sometimes a Server might be down intentionally for scheduled maintenance, this is why some websites will notify users of scheduled maintenance.
Comparing Domestic Hosting and Foreign Hosting
Hosting a website is something that must be taken into careful consideration. There are many important factors one must take into cognizance such as pricing, data privacy, language, SEOs, etc.
A website’s performance is completely dependent on the Web Hosting decision made by the business owner.
There are two major services one can use to host a website namely; Domestic hosting and Foreign hosting. There are several features that distinguish domestic hosting from foreign hosting. Each of these features will be discussed extensively.
To start with, when it comes to website performance, a website with great performance is one that drives traffic and improves conversions and profits.
Domestic Hosting
With a domestic Web Hosting service provider, peak performance is usually guaranteed, this is because distance has a major role to play in the internet speed of a website. For instance, if one’s target audience is in America but then the websites are being hosted on Servers located in China, there might be a delay in website load time.
When it comes to pricing, Understanding all the different elements that affect your website hosting cost will help you pick the best option.
Undoubtedly Servers held overseas will relatively come at a cheaper cost, if the target is to spend the least possible amount on a hosting service, then, there you have it.
As you know, it is never just about the low cost of service, there are many other benefits to consider when paying for a domestic Web Hosting service.
The domestic Web Hosting provider has to operate the Servers from a fewer distance and therefore can offer more benefits.
Domestic Web Hosting solutions are cost-effective as compared with foreign Web Hosting services, this is because the overall cost of running a Web Hosting solution will add up over such distance alternatively a client might just not get the best hosting experience, the overall cost of technology and technical support from a hosting provider who’s Servers a in a foreign land will cost more.
It is important to note that some Web Hosting companies are experts in specific areas while others have a broader business model. If one’s company has a specific niche, it is advisable to use a Server company that understands and matches the said niche.
These specific Web Hosting companies can be found overseas as their regulations are easier to work with.
Also, hosting one’s website overseas means that one must be comfortable with the customer service hours of the company.
Furthermore, a speedy response time from your Web Hosting provider is of utmost importance, for instance, if your website is down and you reach out to your foreign web host support team at noon but you don’t get a response until six hours due to time zone difference, to make matter worse you can’t place a direct call because sometimes they speak a different language from yours.
This would not be the case if you use a domestic hosting service.
Foreign Hosting
Cheap foreign hosting with weak technical support is detrimental as they come with restrictions such as downtime when there is increased traffic on your website and since the space required by your website for data storage can get high, Servers with poor specifications will become slow.
Legal concerns about where a Server is located and the website it is hosting are on the rise. Consequently, companies might be forced to store Server information in their respective countries. Since laws regarding internet use and information security are ever-changing, The need for in-depth research on what one’s company requires cannot be overemphasized.
Beyond the shadow of a doubt, a country’s data privacy laws must be taken into consideration when getting Web Hosting as the data and information of a business are centered on it. Not following the national laws from an international service provider, may result in a shut down which will lead to loss of data access.
In conclusion, before hosting a website, proper research must be done and the different features of each service must be taken into consideration.
If the performance of the website is good, traffic will be driven to the site and this will ensure the long-term success of a business.
As one’s traffic grows, a service provider that can scale along with the site will be paramount.
