An HTML website is still the simplest honest unit of the web: pages of markup, a stylesheet for looks, images, and maybe a little JavaScript. If that is what you have, you do not need a CMS to put it online. You need the files arranged correctly, a quick local check, and a host that serves them as-is. This guide focuses on structure — especially index.html at the root and relative CSS — so the upload succeeds the first time.

Start on your own computer

Before any account exists, open the project folder and double-click index.html (or right-click → open with your browser). You should see your home page. Navigate to an About or Contact page if you have one. Notice whether images appear and whether fonts and colors match what you expect.

If the local open already looks broken, hosting will not heal it. Fix paths and missing files first. Hosting copies what you give it; it does not redesign the site. SiteHost is not a website builder.

What “root” means in practice

The root is the folder whose contents become the top of your live site. When someone visits /, the host looks for index.html in that root. If your zip expands to:

mysite.zip
  └── mysite/
        └── index.html
        └── css/style.css

…then the live root may only contain a folder named mysite, and / will not find index.html. The correct zip content looks more like:

mysite.zip
  └── index.html
  └── css/style.css
  └── images/logo.png

Unzip your own archive into a temporary folder and confirm that layout before you upload. This single habit prevents most “it worked on my PC” mysteries. Related: how to upload website files.

Relative paths keep CSS and images alive

In HTML, a relative link describes location relative to the current file. Examples that travel well:

  • href="css/style.css"
  • src="images/hero.jpg"
  • href="about.html"
  • href="../css/style.css" from a file inside a subfolder

Examples that fail after hosting:

  • href="C:\Users\Sam\Desktop\site\css\style.css"
  • src="file:///Users/sam/site/images/hero.jpg"
  • Absolute links to a forgotten staging URL you no longer control

Open DevTools only if you are comfortable; otherwise, simply re-open the local index.html after moves and renames. If styles vanish locally, they will vanish online too.

Subfolders are fine — if links match

Many portfolios use /projects/alpha.html. That is normal. Just make sure navigation and CSS hrefs account for depth. A stylesheet referenced as css/style.css from a file in /projects/ looks for /projects/css/style.css, which may not exist. From a subfolder you often need ../css/style.css. Inconsistency here is a classic “home page looks fine, inner pages are naked” failure mode.

JavaScript without turning this into a build tutorial

Simple scripts — mobile nav toggles, a lightbox, a little form validation — usually ship as .js files next to your HTML. Include them with relative src attributes the same way you include CSS.

Skip this section’s temptation to adopt a modern build pipeline if you do not already use one. You do not need Vite, bundlers, or a JAMstack lecture to host HTML. If your project *already* outputs a dist or build folder of static files, upload that output folder’s contents — not the source tree full of tooling. For forms that email you, use a third-party form endpoint; SiteHost is file hosting, not an application platform. See HTML, CSS, and JavaScript website hosting.

Publish on SiteHost

  1. Zip the root contents (with index.html at the top of the archive).
  2. Create a website in SiteHost and upload the zip (or connect GitHub if the repo’s publishable files are already clean).
  3. Open the HTTPS preview immediately — custom domain can wait.
  4. Click through every page and resize the browser. Check a phone.
  5. If a publish goes wrong, use deploy history to roll back files, fix locally, and publish again.

Plans start at Starter ($9/mo, 1 site, 2 GB). A small HTML brochure rarely needs more. Pro ($30, 3 sites, 10 GB, staging) helps freelancers who keep a portfolio plus client microsites. Storage math matters more when you host photography; see where to host a photography website.

Trial length is about a day, then paid. No forever-free plan. No cPanel, no bundled email, no built-in CDN (Cloudflare in front is optional later).

Local vs live: differences worth expecting

  • Case sensitivity. Some computers forgive Logo.PNG vs logo.png. Many hosts do not. Match cases exactly.
  • Index behavior. / serves index.html. A file named only home.html will not automatically become the homepage.
  • Clean URLs. Pure HTML sites often use about.html in the address bar. That is normal. Fancy extensionless URLs usually need extra server rules you should not chase on day one.
  • HTTPS mixed content. Once you are on HTTPS (preview already is), avoid embedding http:// images or scripts from insecure sources. Free SSL for a small website explains mixed content briefly.

A résumé site as a concrete check

You export a one-page résumé site: index.html, styles.css, portrait.jpg, and resume.pdf. Locally, the PDF link works. You zip those four items, upload, and open the preview. On your phone, the portrait is huge and slow — you re-export a 1200px-wide JPEG, replace the file, zip, publish. Then you point yourname.com at SiteHost. You still keep the PDF for email attachments; the HTML page is what recruiters browse. More in host a résumé website online.

When HTML hosting is the wrong tool

If editors must log into a dashboard and write posts every day without touching files, a CMS may fit better — and a WordPress CMS is a different kind of hosting. If you need server-side code and databases you design yourself, look past simple static file hosting. For everyone else with a finished HTML folder, the path above is enough.

Questions people actually ask

Must every site use WordPress?

No. HTML sites are valid, fast to understand, and easy to host when you already have the files.

Can I edit one line online without re-zipping?

Workflow varies by host. On SiteHost the durable habit is: edit locally (or in git), publish a new version, roll back if needed. Keep your master copy offline.

Why does my CSS work locally but not on the preview?

Almost always a path or case mismatch, or a zip that nested an extra folder. Re-check root and relative hrefs.

Do I need a custom domain for an HTML site?

No. Preview HTTPS is enough to share with a friend. Add a domain when you want a memorable public name.

How big can the site be?

Starter includes 2 GB for one site — comfortable for HTML and optimized images, not for dumping raw camera files. Compress photos before upload.