Expert Comment on TechRadar’s “The Future of Web Hosting” Review

The beginning of the year is all about trends and what they might bring. It’s no surprise that I was caught by TechRadar’s The future of web hosting: 5 things to look out for in 2022, where the tech industry’s authority and our partner forecasted the future. 

As a person who lives and breathes web hosting, I took the liberty of giving a few takes on TechRadar’s insights. I recommend reading TR’s article by section and returning to this tab for my comments.

First – about Domains, and on Web3

I believe we are transitioning from “One World. One Internet.” (as the ICANN slogan currently says) into “Multiple Worlds. Multiple Internets.” 

People are starting to grasp Metaverses and NFT-based domains. For example, unstoppabledomains.com already registered 2 million NFT domains in a short time. Many new ways to create a presence online are emerging.

With the ICANN gTLD round around the corner, it will be interesting to see if crypto registrars with fat pockets attempt to secure their current Web3 extensions as gTLDs for Web2 purposes.

On the other hand, the good ol’ classic .com and country-level ccTLDs still hold prestige and are not going anywhere. But as businesses begin to see potential in Web3, we will see more convergent services that enable domains to be owned by the same entity and resolve in both DNS and ENS (Ethereum Name Service). Seamless resolution via a cross-connect point between Web2 and Web3 would be a good start to a new decentralized hosting shift.

Cloudflare already proposed a gateway service that gives IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) and Ethereum blockchain access. This way, you can retrieve Web3 content and serve it via HTTPS on a classic domain.

Second – about the Content

My most considerable concern is that we are still way behind with the mobile versions of websites. Website speed on mobile is still statistically about 2-3 times slower than on desktops and is usually not optimized for viewing, let alone purchases or interactions.

The shift from desktop to mobile-first happened a long time ago, and we need to start accepting that. We will see more and more sites with Apple Pay, Google Pay integrations, simplified and mobile UX-driven designs, pushing for mobile-first. Auto-login with iCloud or Google Auth, straight from the browser, could also be a new thing this year.

How many of you remember when websites had the “Best viewed on Internet Explorer”? It would be fun to see a website with a “Best viewed on iPhone” tag. 

If we want this to happen, we need to give our customers the tools to create mobile content. At this point, no-code SaaS and website builders like Hostinger will pick up, making it easier for them to adapt their toolkit quickly. 

Third – about Web hosting.

The digital world is trending towards convenience. People want to focus on what they do best, and usually, a website is more of a tool than a goal.

In 2022, as website hosting providers, we will need to focus on overlaying SaaS providers, agencies, and people doing the work for their clients. In fact, all web hosts should identify, prepare for, and adapt to that. We need to understand that our service will most likely be resold by someone doing middle-man work – for example, a developer coding a website or an agency selling WordPress sites. 

Fourth – about Threats

I very much agree with TechRadar’s prediction that cybersecurity will be a huge topic. As I noted, when the world trends toward convenience, security automatically declines. I believe the need for automated website scanning and automated hardening tools will rise. 

Finally – Sustainability

In 2022, sustainability will be one of the critical factors in selecting a web host. Everyone needs to start chipping in, I guess firstly, by doing the basic stuff. We have already begun auditing ourselves on how to become more sustainable and cause less harm to the planet. We choose green DCs, look after our power consumption, and choose the right hardware vendors.