Bandwidth in website hosting is the quantity of data a site can transfer to its users in a particular timeframe.
Therefore, the more bandwidth, the more data you can transfer simultaneously. Bandwidth is usually determined and sold according to gigabytes (GB); however, some hosting companies claim to offer unlimited bandwidth.
The Importance of Hosting Bandwidth
The amount of bandwidth you have impacts how quickly your website can deliver content to visitors during peak traffic times. Therefore, it is essential to expand your audience and boost sales.
A higher bandwidth also enables web owners to have more dynamic content and features on their site, which can entice visitors.
Can You Have Unlimited Bandwidth?
Some shared web hosting providers advertise unlimited bandwidth packages; however, the amount of a server’s CPU (Central Processing Unit) your site can use is limited. They claim to offer unlimited bandwidth as most small sites on shared servers usually never exceed the limit.
These providers are also relying on site owners’ lack of technical knowledge to decide how much bandwidth they need. However, if a site does exceed the limits, the web host can shut it down for a time during a spike in requests and then ask the owner to upgrade their plan.
Therefore, when searching for a web host, check the CPU usage policies of those offering ‘unlimited bandwidth’ and the actions they will take if there is a traffic spike.
Bandwidth Q&A
Typical questions regarding bandwidth include the following:
Q: How much bandwidth do you need for a website?
A: Websites loaded with pages, images, graphics, videos, downloadable content, and visitors need more bandwidth than simple sites.
Q: What happens if you exceed your bandwidth?
A: If you surpass your monthly bandwidth limit, the host may shut down your site, charge you extra fees, or automatically upgrade your hosting package to a version with more bandwidth.
If you work with a managed hosting provider, they won’t shut down your site but update you and adjust your plan so that you don’t lose traffic or have more damage.
Q: How to reduce bandwidth?
A: Reduce your site’s bandwidth by compressing images and reducing the size of large videos or downloadable content. Another way is to use a caching plugin to enable compression from CSS, JavaScript, and HTTP.
Thirdly, you can reduce your server load by storing static content on a Content Delivery Network (CDN) near your audience. Lastly, consider upgrading from a hosting plan to a dedicated hosting, cloud hosting, or VPS hosting package.
