How to host a website: a plain-English guide
Kofi Agyem, Founder and CEO, CloudzyroPublished
Everything you need to put a website online: the kinds of hosting, choosing one, getting a domain, uploading your site, HTTPS, email and what it costs.
1. What hosting a website means
A website is a set of files, and sometimes a program, that has to live on a computer that's always on and connected to the internet. That computer is a server, and hosting is renting space on one. When someone types your address, their browser asks your server for the page and shows it.
To host a website you need three things: somewhere to run it (hosting), an address people can type (a domain name), and a way to connect the two (DNS records). The rest of this guide takes them in order.
2. Step 1: work out what kind of site you have
- A static site: HTML, CSS and JavaScript files, or the output of a site generator such as Astro. The simplest and cheapest to host.
- A web app: a site with a server behind it, such as a Next.js or Node.js app, that renders pages or answers API requests.
- A WordPress or PHP site: runs on PHP with a MySQL database, usually on cPanel hosting.
- A site built with an AI tool such as Claude, ChatGPT, Lovable or Bolt: usually one of the first two.
3. Step 2: choose the right kind of hosting
- App hosting (also called a platform): you send your code, and the host builds and runs it for you. Best for static sites and web apps. On Cloudzyro this is Sites & Apps, free to start.
- cPanel (shared) hosting: a control panel with a file manager, email accounts and one-click installs such as WordPress. Best for WordPress and PHP sites, and when you want email on your domain. On Cloudzyro this is Web Hosting, from $3.33 a month on a yearly plan.
- A virtual private server (VPS): a server of your own that you set up and maintain. The most control and the most work.
Things worth comparing: whether the free plan allows business use, whether quiet sites go to sleep, what happens when a site gets busy, whether team members cost extra, backups, and how easy it is to get help.
4. Step 3: get a domain name
Your domain is your address, like example.com. You register it with a registrar for a year at a time. Pick something short and easy to spell, and check the yearly renewal price, not just the first year. Many hosts, Cloudzyro included, let you buy a domain in the same place as your hosting.
5. Step 4: put your site online
How you send your site to the host depends on the kind of hosting:
- From an AI tool: connect your host to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Codex and ask it to put the site online. Cloudzyro supports this through MCP.
- From Git: connect a GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket repository, and every push goes live by itself.
- Upload: send a folder or a zip of your site.
- On cPanel hosting: upload with File Manager or FTP, or install WordPress in one click.
Before you connect your domain, check the site at the temporary address your host gives you. On Cloudzyro that's a free your-name.cloudzyro.app address.
6. Step 5: point your domain and turn on HTTPS
To send visitors to your host, add DNS records where your domain's DNS is managed. For an app host that's usually a CNAME record for www and an A record for the bare domain; for cPanel hosting it's often easier to change the domain's nameservers to the host's. Changes usually take minutes, sometimes longer.
Your site should always load over HTTPS. Good hosts get and renew the certificate for you automatically, at no cost.
7. Step 6: set up email (if you need it)
If you want addresses like hello@example.com, you need email hosting. cPanel hosting usually includes it, or you can use a separate email provider. Either way, email depends on MX records in your DNS, so leave them alone when you point your website at a new host.
8. What it costs
- A static site or small app: free on many app hosts. Cloudzyro's Launch plan is free, business use included.
- A busy app with a team: Cloudzyro's Boost plan is $20 a month per site, with the team included.
- WordPress with email: cPanel hosting, from $3.33 a month on a yearly Cloudzyro plan.
- A domain: about $20 to $45 a year for common endings such as .com, .net, .org and .co.uk; .io costs more.
9. Keep it running
Once your site is live, keep backups (or a host that keeps versions you can restore), keep software such as WordPress and its plugins up to date, renew your domain on time, and keep secrets such as database passwords out of your code.