Web hosting guides
Original, plain-language guides to choosing and running web hosting. Each starts with the short answer, then explains.
Basics
Hosting vs domain registration: what each one is
A domain is the address and hosting is the building. How the two are bought, connected and renewed separately.
Read the guideSetup
Choosing a PHP version for your hosting
How to pick a PHP version your site and plugins support, why old versions are a risk, and how to test a switch safely.
Read the guideSecurity
SSL certificates on hosting, explained
What an SSL certificate does, how automatic Let’s Encrypt renewal works, and how to fix mixed-content and redirect problems.
Read the guideSetup
Nameservers vs DNS records: pointing a domain at hosting
The difference between nameservers and DNS records, how long changes take, and the safe order for pointing a domain at new hosting.
Read the guideMoving
How to migrate a website: a checklist
A host-neutral checklist for moving files, databases and email to new hosting without losing anything or taking the site down.
Read the guidePerformance
Website speed: what to check first
How to tell whether a slow website is a hosting problem or a site problem, and what to fix first.
Read the guideEmail on your own domain
How mailboxes on hosting work, the DNS records (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC) that make them deliverable, and what to ask about limits.
Read the guideSecurity
Hosting security basics you control
Updates, passwords, backups and permissions: the security jobs that stay with the website owner, even on managed shared hosting.
Read the guideChoosing
Choosing a plan, and knowing when to upgrade
A rule-of-thumb method for matching a hosting plan to your website’s sites, storage, email and databases, and the signs you have outgrown it.
Read the guideLooking for the buying guides?
Goji’s own guides cover hosting prices in Nepal, buying a domain and hosting together and installing WordPress. We link to them instead of repeating them.