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Getting Started with Shared Hosting

Ryan Lewis avatar
Written by Ryan Lewis
Updated over a month ago

To publish a website, you need web hosting. Web hosting provides access to a server where your website files are stored, allowing your site to be available worldwide 24/7/365.

This guide walks you through the essentials of getting started with Shared Hosting—from account activation to launching your website and email.

Table of Contents

  • What Is Shared Hosting?

  • Account Activation

  • Accessing Your Hosting Control Panel (cPanel)

  • Setting Up Your Domain Name

  • Creating a New Website or Transferring an Existing One

  • Setting Up SSL

  • Setting Up Email

  • Getting Support

What Is Shared Hosting?

Shared hosting means your website is hosted on a server that is shared with other customers. Multiple websites reside on the same physical machine and share server resources such as CPU, RAM, disk space, and network bandwidth.

Because resources are shared, this is the most cost-effective type of web hosting. It is an excellent choice for:

  • Blogs

  • Personal or business websites

  • Portfolios

  • Forums

Shared hosting is also easy to manage and does not require advanced technical knowledge, making it ideal for beginners.

Account Activation

Your shared hosting account is automatically activated as soon as payment is received, allowing you to begin using the service immediately.

In rare cases, an order may be flagged for manual verification. If this happens, you will be contacted with instructions before the service can be activated.

Accessing Your Hosting Control Panel (cPanel)

Your cPanel login details are included in the Welcome Email sent immediately after your service is activated.

cPanel is where you manage all aspects of your hosting account, including:

  • Creating and managing email accounts

  • Adding or removing domains

  • Managing files and directories

  • Creating and managing databases

  • Setting up SSL certificates

  • Creating backups and restoring data

  • Monitoring disk usage and account information

Cyber Edge Hosting uses cPanel, the industry-standard control panel trusted by the majority of web hosting providers worldwide.

How to Log In to cPanel

  1. Open the login URL provided in your Welcome Email

  2. Enter the username from your Welcome Email

  3. Enter the password from your Welcome Email

  4. Click Log In

  5. You will be redirected to the cPanel dashboard.

Setting Up Your Domain Name

A domain name is your website’s address (for example, yourdomain.com). Every website requires a domain name.

To connect your domain to your hosting account, you must set the correct nameservers at your domain registrar. The nameservers are provided in your Welcome Email.

Once the nameservers are updated, DNS propagation may take up to 24 hours to complete worldwide.

If your domain was purchased through Cyber Edge Hosting, the nameservers are already configured for you.

If your domain was purchased from another provider, log in to your registrar’s control panel and update the nameservers using the values from your Welcome Email.

If you are migrating an existing website, you may wait to change nameservers until after the migration is complete to avoid downtime.

Creating a New Website or Transferring an Existing One

Creating a New Website

Some applications require a properly pointed domain to function. You may either:

Point your domain immediately using the nameservers provided, or

Develop the site privately using alternative methods (such as a hosts file modification or an under-construction page) before going live

If uploading files manually via FTP, place your website files in the public_html directory, which is the document root of your primary domain.

Alternatively, you can use the built-in 1-click installer in cPanel to deploy popular applications such as:

  • WordPress

  • PrestaShop

  • OpenCart

  • Magento

Transferring an Existing Website

We offer free website migrations with no downtime.

To request a migration:

  1. Open a support ticket from your Client Area

  2. Provide login credentials for your existing hosting account

  3. Specify your preferred migration date and time

Our team will transfer all website files, databases, and email accounts, verify that the site loads correctly on the new server, and guide you through updating your nameservers once the migration is complete.

Setting Up SSL

Free SSL certificates are available with shared hosting plans. SSL encrypts data between your website and its visitors and is required for secure browsing and HTTPS.

You can enable SSL directly from cPanel. Once enabled, your website will automatically support secure connections.

Setting Up Your Email

Before sending or receiving email, you must create an email account in cPanel or access webmail through your browser.

Creating an Email Account

  1. Log in to cPanel

  2. Navigate to Email Accounts

  3. Click Create

Email Client Configuration

Use the following settings when configuring your email client:

  • Mail Server (POP3 / IMAP / SMTP): mail.yourdomain.com

  • Username: Full email address (e.g., [email protected])

  • Password: Email account password

Port Information:

SMTP: 465 (SSL) or 25 (non-SSL)

POP3: 995 (SSL) or 110 (non-SSL)

IMAP: 993 (SSL) or 143 (non-SSL)

SSL ports are strongly recommended for enhanced security.

Webmail can be accessed at: https://yourdomain.com/webmail

Your exact email configuration details are also included in your Welcome Email and can be found in the Client Area under My Details > Email History.

Getting Support

Cyber Edge Hosting provides 24/7 technical support through the following channels:

  • Live Chat for immediate assistance

  • Support Tickets with fast response times

Live chat is recommended for quick questions, while support tickets are ideal for more complex requests.

Our team is committed to timely and professional assistance whenever you need help.

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