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Creating a website is now easier than ever thanks to the range of website builders, themes, and templates available for beginners and small businesses. With that variety comes a lot of terms being thrown around and for those new to web hosting and building, clarification is sometimes needed. When people think of the best web hosting templates, their actual purpose and function often get confused with website themes and hosting, both of which are essential parts of having an accessible site but have vastly distinct roles. This blog will give you an overview of web hosting, templates, and themes and how they differ from each other.
Table of Contents
The Basics: Website Templates vs. Themes
Website templates and themes are pre-designed layouts that provide the framework for building a website without you needing to know how to code. They are usually professionally created and designed to offer a user-friendly way to get a great-looking, functional website up and running quickly and easily.
Layout & Design
They control the overall layout, look, and feel of the front end of your site. This includes all the design components, like color palettes, headers, footers, typography, page layouts, and so on.
Widgets & Plugins
You don’t need to have extensive knowledge of coding or web design; they are ready to use once you download and activate them. You can customize the look and feel of your pages, and copy/paste your text, logos, images, and any other media. You can add extra features, such as contact forms, social media, and e-commerce integration in the form of widgets giving you as much functionality as you need.
Remember that entry-level themes may limit you to specific layouts only with limited customization options, while more advanced ones can give users much more creative freedom and functionality.
Templates vs Themes
Templates and themes both serve the same basic purpose in setting up a website but there is a key difference between the two.
While themes cover your entire site, templates are used for individual pages or posts. Like themes, they control layout and design, how content is displayed, and functionality but only for single pages.
They also offer additional flexibility. By using templates, you can add custom pages and sections to your site that are not included in your overall theme. For example, you can add different templates for blog posts, landing pages, or other content that needs to appear separate from other sections of your site.
Overall templates and themes are a cost-effective solution, especially for small businesses, looking to establish themselves online quickly and easily without spending a fortune on custom web design.
Website Builders
Before you can start using templates and themes, you need the software that allows you to put them to use. That’s where website builders come in. They are the platforms that give you the tools and means to create, customize, and publish a website.
Like themes and templates, website builders are designed to be user-friendly allowing users with any skill level to create and launch a professional-looking site. The core appeal of website builders lies in their use of themes and templates, which serve as the foundation for how your site will appear to your visitors once you are finished building it.
The best part of website builders is their simplicity. The process typically involves selecting a template or theme as a starting point to define the layout of your site. There are a variety of pre-designed themes and templates catering to everything from small blogs to large e-commerce stores.
These can then be customized by adding colors, fonts, and logos to reflect your brand’s image. Your content can be added using the drag-and-drop editor that most site builders are based on. This also applies to adding widgets for features and site functions, as well as writing your own HTML if you have the skill.
Many website builders come with additional features and integrations. For example, if you are running an online business, you’ll have access to e-commerce tools along with payment portals. These allow you to streamline tasks like product listings, orders, marketing, and customer support.
Other tools include SEO (Search Engine Optimization) analytics and performance tracking to improve your website’s visibility, and social media integration for connecting with your social accounts.
For more information, read our Knowledgebase – What SEO Features Does Website Builder Have?.
Using a website builder can not only save you time and money but also give you full control of its management and how it is maintained. Below are two examples of website builders that make site creation a breeze:
WordPress
WordPress is one of the most widely used site-building tools around the world. Initially designed as a blogging platform, the WordPress Content Management System (CMS) has grown to be able to support a massive range of website types, from personal pages to large businesses. One of WordPress’s biggest strengths is the huge library of both paid and free themes, templates, and plugins.
The amount of choice available allows you to customize your pages to your heart’s content and add as much functionality as you need. That said, as powerful and versatile as the WordPress CMS may be, it does require more technical knowledge to install and learn how to get the most out of the platform.
For more information, our Blog What is WordPress, refers.
Hosted.com’s Website Builder
Hosted.com’s Website Builder gives you an intuitive and easy way to create a fully functional site without needing any coding skills. You get access to over 200 professionally designed, responsive templates that will look great on any device they’re viewed on. Drag-and-drop widgets streamline the process of adding the features you need and simply copy/paste to add and arrange your text and media content. If you’re an online store, integrated e-commerce tools and payment gateways will have you up and running in no time.
Finally, anti-spam and anti-virus software and a free SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Certificate will help keep your site safe from cyber threats and trusted by visitors.
Note: Hosted.com’s Website Builder is only available as an add-on to a cPanel Web Hosting Plan.
Web Hosting: What You Need to Know
When you create a website, all its files and data need a place to “live.” Web hosting involves renting space on a physical server connected to the internet, it’s like leasing a storage unit for your site’s digital assets.
Web hosting is a service that provides the infrastructure, software, and backend services that allow your website to be accessed and displayed on the Internet. Providers are often asked for web hosting HTML templates, or web hosting with WHMCS template, there is no such thing – these are misunderstandings of basic concepts and platforms within the industry. Hosting providers maintain and operate the physical servers, which are housed in secure data centers. These data centers safely store your site’s files and data so you can concentrate on managing your site and business.
Quality hosting servers have been designed to handle high user traffic volumes while ensuring maximum uptime, stability, and security. Without getting into the technicalities of how hosting companies build and maintain their server infrastructure, here is what’s involved:
Professional web hosts utilize powerful carrier-grade servers, often distributed across multiple data centers globally. This is called geo-redundancy, and it acts as a safety net that helps maintain maximum uptime and stability in case one or more servers go down.
Once the physical servers are set up, they are configured with specific operating systems that are usually Linux-based, web server software such as Apache, database management systems like MySQL, and scripting languages such as PHP and Python.
Providers also take the security of both their servers and websites being stored on them very seriously. This includes configuring iron-clad firewalls, installing SSL Certificates, setting up malware scanning and removal tools, and regularly updating software to patch software vulnerabilities caused by outdated plugins.
Regular backups are scheduled, and worst-case scenario recovery plans are put in place to protect against data breaches and theft. The servers are also monitored around the clock to preemptively deal with any issues along with regular maintenance of the software and hardware.
To ensure fast loading times, professional hosts implement caching mechanisms, Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), and highly optimized settings.
While it is theoretically possible for you to set up your own web hosting server environment, unless you have a deep understanding of the hardware, software, and maintenance involved, it’s best left to the experts.
Hosted.com’s servers have been selected and optimized to provide your website with the best performance on the market. Every aspect of their hardware and software has been fine-tuned and enhanced by our tech to give the stability, security, and performance your site deserves.
We only use the latest carrier-grade hardware and software solutions like Cloudlinux, LiteSpeed, and Acronis, to give your website the performance and stability it deserves.
Along with the performance and stability your website will be protected by a tailored suite of security solutions comprising Patchman, Monarx, ImmunifyAV, and Bitninja. Covering you for everything from malware infections, and vulnerabilities caused by outdated plugins and unauthorized server access.
When choosing a web hosting service for your site, cPanel and WordPress Hosting are two of the most user-friendly options.
Hosted.com’s cPanel Web Hosting is designed to simplify the process of website management and hosting. The core of cPanel Hosting is its simple web-based graphical interface. From this single dashboard, you can manage your domain, server, and email accounts. You can also transfer, edit, and delete web files and databases along with 1-Click installations for the most popular web apps.
WordPress Hosting is a specialized type of hosting designed specifically for the requirements of WordPress sites with servers tailored to maximize their performance and security. With WordPress Hosting from Hosted.com, you get 1-Click WordPress Install, so that you can start building your site right away without any complicated downloads and setups. You also receive the WordPress Toolkit which provides a central, user-friendly interface via which you can manage all aspects of your site. Read our Blog – What Is WordPress Hosting? Definition, Features & Benefits for more information.
With both of our cPanel and WordPress Hosting plans, you get access to our Client Portal, which lets you manage all your Hosted.com products from one simple interface.
As you can see there is a lot that goes into a professional web hosting business. When it comes to hosting a site yourself, it is most commonly done by setting up a local server on your computer. This essentially involves installing software that simulates a real web server.
You can use a standard computer as a local server which is significantly less complicated (and much, much cheaper) than configuring a professional one. By installing a software stack like WAMP for Windows or MAMP for Mac, you bundle together a web server, database, and PHP, which takes the hassle out of the initial setup.
The main reason that people do this is so they can have a place to test and update a site without those changes affecting the live version, similar to a WordPress Staging Area. Unlike the aforementioned hosting types, a site in a local hosting environment will not be accessible online until you clone it over to a dedicated hosting service.
Local hosting also differs from the professional kind in a few other ways. Security does not need to be at the same level as a physical server. Since the server is not online or giving access outside of the computer it is stored on, the chances of it being the victim of cyber-attacks are much slimmer. That being said, website and hosting security is something you should always prioritize and take seriously.
Similarly, updates and maintenance are more focused on checking for compatibility errors when adding new plugins and tools. The same goes for performance, monitoring, and backups.
Web Hosting Templates Explained
Templates and web hosting are therefore two essential components of creating a website, so it’s easy to see why people could mistakenly combine them into a single term “web hosting templates.” Having said that, templates for web hosting do exist, but they are specific to a particular type of industry.
Web hosting templates, or themes to be more accurate, are specifically designed to meet the needs of businesses offering web hosting services. They often include features like pricing tables, service comparison charts, and customer support forms. The average person would typically not use a web hosting template for their site, as they are designed to meet the requirements of web hosting businesses.
They are not a one-size-fits-all theme, so unless you are setting up a hosting business, they are not going to be the right choice for your website.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Website templates and themes provide the overall look and feel of a website. Themes cover the entire site while templates are used for individual pages.
- A website builder is a software platform that allows users to add templates and themes to begin creating a website along with adding the required features and functionality.
- Web hosting is the service that provides the server infrastructure that stores sites’ files and data to make them accessible to the Internet.
- Web hosting templates are purpose made templates designed to be used by users setting up their own web hosting business.
FAQs
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Can I modify a template after it has been installed?
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Other Blogs of Interest:
– Web Hosting Versus Domain Name – All the Facts Explained
– 6 Best Website Builder for Blogs 2024
– Five Best cPanel Alternatives for Managing Websites in 2024
– Web Hosting Comparison: A Complete Guide
– What Is WordPress Hosting? Definition, Features & Benefits
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
Rhett isn’t just a writer at Hosted.com – he’s our resident WordPress content guru. With over 6 years of experience as a content writer, with a background in copywriting, journalism, research, and SEO, and a passion for websites.
Rhett authors informative blogs, articles, and Knowledgebase guides that simplify the complexities of WordPress, website builders, domains, and cPanel hosting. Rhett’s clear explanations and practical tips provide valuable resources for anyone wanting to own and build a website. Just don’t ask him about coding before he’s had coffee.