Web Hosting Trends in 2021 Shaping the Industry

The last few years have been interesting for the web hosting industry. We've seen many changes in technologies and trends, including an increase in cloud computing services.

As the number of online businesses rise, the demand for web hosting services increases, and in 2021, the industry will be heavily impacted by this demand.

According to a study by Fortune Business Insights, the global market size for web hosting has reached $73 billion, and it is predicted to reach $267 billion in 2028.

The next five years will be even more exciting as we see what the future holds for hosting providers. 

There are many points to consider when choosing a reputable and reliable hosting company. Knowing the trends can help you decide what services would suit you better. 

Here are some essential points to consider:

- Security
- Uptime
- Speed
- Reliability 
- Customer service

Security is becoming more critical than ever. In the last few years, security breaches have increased by 67%, reveals a report by Finances Online. While uptime is a significant factor, especially when a site starts to get traffic, 99.9% is the average uptime offered by most hosting providers. 

However, more providers plan to offer 100% uptime, which can be attractive for the most prominent high-traffic sites. Another exciting trend is personalized eCommerce and customized hosting. 

eCommerce requires specific operations and maintenance. Those services are now being offered as unique and separate packages for people wanting to create an online store and sell services. 

Let's look at some predictions and trends that give us an idea of where web hosting will go over the next decade!

1. Cloud Hosting Will Be the Most Popular Form of Web Hosting

Cloud hosting has been on the rise for the last few years, but going ahead, it will be the most popular form of web hosting. Based on a study, it was found that 93% of businesses are moving their sites to a multi-cloud architecture.

Cloud computing provides several benefits including:

- Virtualization
- Scalability
- Disaster recovery
- Better uptime 
- Dedicated IP address

Disaster recovery makes this type of hosting an attractive option for businesses looking to go online.

This means anyone who plans to build a personal website or take their business online for the first time must have a cloud-based web hosting service provider in mind.

As the world moves to digital data, we expect that most of it will be stored and used on virtual servers rather than physical servers. This is a win-win situation for both the organization as well as its customers.

How Can Cloud Hosting Benefit Businesses?

Cloud hosting uses multiple serves to balance traffic load and maximize uptime. A site can tap into different servers and use its resources, which means that if one server fails or gets too much traffic and fails, another server takes over and keeps everything running. 

If you think about several computers interconnected with each other, you can get an idea of cloud hosting. Cloud hosting will also help businesses maintain their competitive edge in the marketplace and will allow them to focus on developing innovations for online products.

2. Virtual Private Servers (VPS) Will Become More Affordable and Widely Used

Virtual Private Servers are virtual machines available for temporary or permanent use. They offer the best of both worlds: you get a lot of flexibility and affordability with resources, and there’s no maintenance overhead associated with dedicated servers.

In other words, VPS uses virtualization software to divide one server into multiple servers using a layer on top of the operating system. However, the entire server is dedicated to you, so you’re still using all the resources such as RAM and CPU. 

Businesses will increasingly turn to VPS services as they become more affordable in 2021. Virtual private servers essentially give organizations control over their architecture, allowing them to change or upgrade their hardware at will without having to pay for new servers. 

Typically, a site owner may choose a VPS hosting plan when the traffic starts increasing and exceeds the shared hosting allowance, but it is not to the point of needing a dedicated server, which would be more expensive. 

Additionally, VPS services offer a more cost-effective alternative to dedicated hosting. They provide nearly the same level of performance and scalability while costing considerably less on an hourly basis.

3. Dedicated Servers Will Still Be in Use, But Only for High-traffic Sites or Those with Specific Needs

Dedicated servers are still the gold standard for high-traffic websites or websites with specific needs. They provide the most functionality of any hosting option but are also the most expensive to maintain monthly.

As the name implies, dedicated servers mean that your site has its own server all to itself, thus offering immense power and flexibility. 

Speed and loading time are becoming crucial factors in 2021. Google is making them ranking factors because slow sites can damage user experience. This is also crucial if you are creating SEO-friendly content and want your server to contribute to increasing your search rankings. 

For sites with massive traffic, a drop in speed, even minor, can be significant in terms of sales. Based on a study, 40% of people will leave a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. 

For those who want to improve their website conversion rate and customize their site further, dedicated servers will be a suitable option.

Virtual machines will not replace dedicated servers in 2021 as they don’t offer enough scalability for high-traffic web applications. This transition will take place over the years, but for now, dedicated servers are the go-to hosting option for high traffic and scalability requirements.

4. More People Are Using Managed WordPress Hosts to Simplify Their Site Management Process

WordPress is slowly becoming the best CRM for small businesses and startups. According to Kinsta, WordPress was the most popular content management system in 2020, and it was used on 34% of all websites present on the internet. 

With a managed WordPress host, you don't have to worry about installing plugins or updates, as they're all taken care of by the hosting provider. Some of the most famous examples of web hosting offering managed WordPress plans include Bluehost and Hostgator, among others. 

With managed WordPress, people have an easier time creating their site since they are provided with:

- Backups
- Security
- Updates
- Better speed and performance
- Staging site if needed
- Easy site management and less confusion
- Fewer plugins needed

In this modern time, when people have less time and their attention is scattered in any direction, a service that takes care of technicalities is needed more than ever. The site owner can focus more on the content creation process and improving their website’s visibility. 

This trend is expected to grow in 2021 because it will help people spend more time on marketing efforts than site management tasks that don’t contribute to the business.

5. Hosting Companies Are Starting to Offer Free SSL Certificates as a Standard Feature on All Plans 

Safety concerns are on the rise as the internet becomes more accessible. Hosts are starting to offer free SSL certificates as a standard feature on all plans because they recognize that it's not just businesses who need protection from data breaches but also individuals.

SSL certificates started their trend in 2018 when Google Chrome started to show a non-HTTPS mark indicating that the site is not secure. 

More recently, Google Chrome blocks sites that don’t have an SSL and redirects visitors to a new page, informing them that the site is not secure and asking them if they want to progress.

If visitors want to go further, they have to click a button to go to the desired site, but they make the button small and difficult to find. Not having an SSL certificate makes a site look bad, and visitors are more likely not to visit it. 

Hence, offering an SSL certificate is pretty usual for a web hosting provider, and it gives an advantage to those who provide them for free. The real purpose of the SSL certificate is not to rank in Google but to protect and secure website data from those who try to steal them. 

At the beginning of 2021, 97 on 100 sites were found to have an SSL certificate based on Google. This trend will continue in 2021, and more hosting providers will come out with similar offers for their clients.

6. Web Hosting Providers Are Offering More Features Like Backups, Security Monitoring, and Website Builders

Web hosting companies are trying to become a one-stop solution for website owners by offering more features like backups, security monitoring, and website builders. 

Some hosting providers have even built their in-house editors to make it easier for clients to create free websites using domain names already owned by the host.

This trend will continue into 2021 as web hosts try to find ways of adding value to what they offer in addition to just hosting the site. 

For example, services that they may offer include:

- Web development services
- Design Services
- SEO services
- Tools for SEO improvement and checks
- Content writing services
- Site audit
- Logo maker tools and design add ons

Additionally, we will see a rise in web hosting providers that offer more than just traditional shared hosting to add value. Some website hosting providers add value by promoting their excellent customer service and support in case of need. 

It can be an essential factor for new people or less experienced site owners when choosing a new host. 

Specific hosts may start offering domain name registration and e-commerce business capabilities. For example, customers can enjoy the benefits of having all their services under one provider.

7. The Cost of Web Hosting Is Expected to Decrease Over Time Due to Increased Competition Between Providers

We have already seen web hosting costs going down over the years. Some of it can be attributed to the increase in competition among hosting providers trying to undercut competitors by offering lower prices.

The increased competition is suitable for consumers who can take advantage of the decreased price or the added features some web hosting providers include to beat the competition. 

The most affordable web hosting services are shared hosting plans. They range typically from $ 0.99 to $ 7 and have an increased price on renewal. 

For the moment, they control 31.7% of the market, and they are predicted to have an annual growth rate of 10% until 2025. While cloud hosting is expected to have an annual growth rate of 18%, dedicated hosting will have 5%. 

For entry-level shared plans, users are allowed to host just one website. For mid-tier plans, most companies allow users to host unlimited domains.

There will likely be a continued decrease in the cost of web hosting over time, which is good for small businesses and individuals looking to host their own websites without paying too much money upfront on monthly fees.

8. Companies That Specialize in Specific Niches Will Have a Higher Demand 

Companies that specialize in specific niches, such as WordPress or Magento, will have a higher demand than those offering all types of web hosting for bloggers and businesses. This is because small web hosting companies are looking for niche markets or a target audience with less competition. 

Web hosting services that specialize in one niche offer personalized services and have features that help make work easy on the site owner part related to the type of industry they are in. 

The best example is to be found with the best website builders. Typically, they have templates for every significant niche available with most providers. 

Customers like to have a service that addresses their needs based on what they are trying to do instead of a generic service they have to customize.  

Takeaway

It is essential to keep your web hosting costs low and be aware of the trends in this industry. Virtual servers are an increasingly popular option for those who need a range of flexibility on their infrastructure. 

The cloud provides more security features than physical hardware or software stacks which will help you stay ahead of potential breaches and vulnerabilities that may compromise your customers' data.

These predictions should give you some food for thought about positioning yourself with new technology and making the most of your web hosting needs.