web hosting

4 Critical Factors to Consider Before Choosing a Cheap Host

Even though cheap hosting has become more prevalent in recent times, there are many factors you need to consider before signing up for service.  Because you never know what is behind that unbelievably low price, here are four critical factors you should keep in mind:

Downtime

A web host could provide you with all the tools needed to create a professional, feature-rich website that garners the attention of your audience.  However, if your site is constantly unavailable, its beauty will not mean a thing to the users who cannot access it.  Realizing that excessive downtime is one of the easiest ways to kills your online popularity, it is critical to find a cheap host that is more committed to reliability than a low price.

Limited Bandwidth

Before entering any type of hosting arrangement, it is vital that you consider the monthly bandwidth allocated to your account.  It is a known fact that bandwidth is a key component needed to support website traffic and plays a huge role in its success.  If your site has a large number of visitors, it will obviously require more bandwidth.  The challenging part of it all is that you may experience traffic spikes when least expected and be left with a sudden shortage of resources.  This is definitely a situation you don’t want to find yourself in as it could once again lead to dreaded periods of downtime.  If traffic is of any importance, make sure your cheap hosting plan comes included with enough bandwidth to support your current and future traffic requirements.

Technical Expertise

The technical expertise of the hosting provider is one area that doesn’t get enough attention.  This doesn’t necessarily refer to the company’s infrastructure or hardware, but the people behind all the technology.  Web hosting providers must be technically inclined for the simple fact that many of their customers are not.  This expertise will be needed to provide you with support and encounter all the technical issues that might arise.  You may not know a thing about servers but there is no excuse for your web host, cheap service or not.

Level of Support

One of the biggest drawbacks of cheap hosting services has been the lack of support.  It seems as if some companies are cutting cost in various areas to provide affordable service and the critical department of support is often the one to suffer.  Support is very important and should come at no additional cost.  Even if you are only paying a couple of dollars per month, ensure that your plan comes with world-class support that makes you feel like a million dollar customer.

At the end of the day, it is not impossible to find a company that provides a cheap service yet works hard to keep up the reliability.  However, it may take you a little extra time so exercise a bit of patience and make your selection wisely.  After doing your research, it should be much easier to find a premium service that comes at a bargain price.

Avoiding Common Web Hosting Traps

Web hosting providers come a dime a dozen but landing a good one isn’t always easy.  There are many choices out there and some overwhelm you with so much glamor that it becomes pretty easy to get dazzled by their marketing techniques.  This article will discuss several crucial web hosting traps that you need to look out for.

Amazingly Low Price

It’s true – web hosting is very affordable, so much that “cheap hosting” has become one of the most highly sought after offerings on the market.  Unfortunately, some providers have to make substantial sacrifices in order to drop the price of their service.  Whether it’s overloading the server with customers or cutting back on support, it all affects the overall quality of service and could leave you with major issues.  Not all cheap web hosting packages are of poor quality but because several are, you need to be very weary of an amazingly low price.

Limitations

Whether it’s for personal or business matters, your website is almost certain to expand.  Over time, you will need to upload more files, possibly add new software and hopefully receive more traffic.  Don’t go after the first web hosting deal you run across or one that only offers enough to support you for the first couple of months.  Instead, check out a variety of hosts and focus on those with features that allow your site to grow.  Sometimes, a provider’s one-size-fits all hosting package isn’t the solution you need.

Unprofessional Site

A web host that comes with all the bells and whistles may warrant the red flag but so should a company with an underdeveloped website.  It doesn’t have to be glamorous, but a respectable web hosting provider must look the part.  They should have a professional appearance with a site that is simple to navigate, making all the essentials easy accessible.  You should have no trouble locating the FAQ page and especially an email address or phone number.

Incredible Claims

Most web hosting companies advertise a 99.9% up time guarantee, which is to ensure that your website is up at least 99.9% of the time over a given month.  Sadly, many hosts are just advertising this percentage instead of upholding it.  A host that really lives up to its up time guarantee will offer money back, credit or similar items if they are not able to deliver as promised.  This is actually a rarity and if you don’t know you’re supposed to be compensated, your site will just be down until the issues are worked out behind the scenes.  This could be hours or days.

Questionable Business Practices

You should strongly consider avoiding any provider with complex pricing schemes and other questionable methods.   For example, the price might be advertised as $3.95 per month but you may have to lock into a three-year contract in order to get that price.  Although this is a common practice, you need to make yourself aware of situations where promises turn out to be tricks.

Non-existent Support

A web hosting provider’s approach towards support can tell you a lot about their approach to the overall service.   When you call or email with questions, they should be more than happy to help, or at least act like it.  Don’t just fall for their 24/7 support claim.  Put them to the test to get an idea of how they will react when you really need help.

Heed the Tricks of Cheap Hosting

Cheap hosting has become a very popular niche, but there is another side to the service which the average customer may not be aware of.  Some web hosting companies employ a wide variety of tricks in order to sell their cheap service, many of which could hinder your ability to be successful with a website.  Learning about these practices will help you know what to expect and hopefully elude the hosts behind them.

Lack of Experience and Track Record

The web hosting market is filled with thousands of companies who are just waiting to provide you with service.  One should also beware that some of these providers have not been in business very long.  Even worse, some do not have the manpower, knowledge and experience it takes to run a web hosting business.  Signing up with a host that is just hitting the scene and riding the learning curve might leave you with a lot of heartache when things to start to go wrong.  While everyone has to start somewhere, it is best to find a company that has a proven track record.  This is one that is most likely to provide you with the best service.

Lousy Support

There are many web hosting providers that will cut back on every aspect they can in order to save money.  One of the most vital areas they sacrifice is support.  These are companies who make it next to impossible to get the help you need.  They may offer limited support by allowing you to only contact the staff via email.  Some will even advertise 24/7 support but fall short by taking forever to respond to your inquiries or simply not answering the phone.  This is why it is so important to make sure you sign up with a host that can provide quality support.  It is a good rule of thumb to test the company with an email or call during late night hours or over the weekend.  Whenever you need help, they should be able to step up and deliver.

Shady SLA

The Service Level Agreement or SLA, is often overlooked but you should never disregard it.

The SLA is to entail how problems that the web host encounters will directly influence the customers experience.  This agreement needs to be read thoroughly before signing up with any web host.  If the company doesn’t offer one, move onto the next.  If the SLA does not clearly outline the level of service you are to receive and what will happen if is not upheld, you should probably find a company that offers something more comprehensive.

Beware of the Middleman

When running across a cheap hosting plan, there may be a chance that you are not dealing with a web hosting company at all, yet an agent selling packages on their behalf.  This is known as reseller hosting, a practice that allows entrepreneurs and small businesses to profit from web hosting.  Although reseller hosting isn’t necessarily a bad thing, you should keep in mind that you will have no direct contact with the web host, the company who is doing all the work and actually housing your data.

Conclusion

There is nothing wrong with cheap hosting as it can be a viable option in many situations.  With that said, it helps to be informed on these questionable practices so you can stay away from the companies sacrificing quality for a cheap service.

Beware of Cheap Web Hosting Practices

At first glance, cheap hosting is an ideal solution for individuals and small businesses looking to create a web presence.  After all, why pay top-dollar when so many hosts are offering the same service for next to nothing?  Yes, cheap hosting appears to be the route for obvious reasons but is it really a reliable solution?  You may find this service questionable after reading about some of the most common cheap hosting practices.

The Ambitious Newcomer

It takes a lot to run a web hosting company.  Providers require servers, bandwidth and a plethora of IT experts to help maintain the infrastructure.  Those who lack the resources and expertise to run the infrastructure outsource their hosting operations to third-party professionals, thus enabling them to elude the hassle and enormous costs.  Aside from financial resources, the cost savings obtained from outsourcing is what allows many companies to offer web hosting packages at competitive prices.

Along comes a new company looking to dabble in the web hosting industry.  Noticing all the low prices on the market, they come up with the bright idea of offering their service at a fraction of the price.  What better way to increase profits and overall growth of the company?  Things usually start out well for the new ambitious web host.  With everyone searching for affordable hosting, customers flock to the cheap service provider.  The veteran hosts even notice some of their clients fleeing for the cheaper service as well.  In the spirit of competition, they also lower their prices in order to keep pace in the market.  Here’s the catch – more than likely, the prominent web hosts have the flexibility and resources that allow them to trim costs without suffering any major financial losses.  The brilliant newcomer?  Well, they usually find themselves in a world of trouble.

Cutting Back Equals More Losses

Despite all the customers, the incredibly low price leads the newcomer to cut corners and make sure the company remains profitable.  They start by relieving some of their IT staff and technical support personnel.  When that isn’t enough, they began to trim away more essential aspects of their infrastructure.  They cut back on the maintenance and security procedures that are vital to any web hosting company.  Next, they overload their servers with customers.  From there, its reducing the number of servers entirely.  The cheap web hosting provider is still in business but in bad shape.  Limited personnel and IT engineers has resulted in horrible customer service.  The lack of preventative measures leads to more hardware failures and excessive downtime.  Overloading and minimizing servers results in poor performance and you’ve guessed it, more downtime.  Now that cheap but reliable web hosting package isn’t nearly what it is was advertised to be.

There is Hope

The cheap practices of an overzealous web hosting company hurts you the most.  Fortunately, not all cheap services are cheaply run as there are several reliable hosts on the market.  There is nothing wrong with trying to save a few dollars with an affordable web hosting service .  Just don’t go too low because you might get less than you paid for.

The Beauty of Cheap Web Hosting

It seems as if everyone is working on a tighter budget these days.  Harsh economics times have not only affected consumers, but also caused several organizations to the rethink the significance of budgeting.  As elementary as it may seem, this presents a tremendous challenge for many professionals.  For most companies, budgeting involves critical aspects such as advertising and promotions, IT resources and general expenses.  Small businesses and large enterprises today both have to factor web hosting fees into the budget as well.

Saving Money on Your Web Presence

Owning an entire web server isn’t practical for every company.  After all, purchasing the hardware is quite expensive and the operation becomes even more costly when considering administrative tasks.  This is where web hosting comes in as it allows you to establish a web presence for a fraction of what it costs to maintain your own internet-based infrastructure.  Web hosting companies give you the power to run your business online while bypassing the cost associated with housing and maintaining a server.  Not only do they provide you with the hardware, but also vital resources such as memory, bandwidth and disk space.  They set you with useful features that allow you to create a dynamic site with relative ease.  You can pay a premium price for such a service or save yourself a bundle by opting for cheap web hosting.

The Evolution of Cheap Hosting

The birth of cheap services can be attributed to the highly competitive market that is the web hosting industry.  Whereas such services were simple and limited in the past, today’s web hosts offer a greater range of options at a price most small businesses can afford.  Although a dedicated server is a totally different environment, cheap web hosting isn’t necessarily limited to a shared server.  For example, you can easily find a VPS (Virtual Private Server) plan at a very reasonable price.  A VPS is the perfect medium in between a shared and dedicated server.  It provides the stability and performance that may be jeopardized by sharing resources with thousands of website owners and a level of flexibility that is similar to dedicated hosting.  Fierce competition in the market has raised the standards of cheap hosting, meaning you shouldn’t have to sacrifice on much of anything.

Cheap Isn’t Always What it Seems

Many people have a misconception of cheap web hosting, believing it requires you to trade features, flexibility and quality of service for an amazingly low price.  This is understandably so, as a number of companies have blemished the market with their shady practices.  Fortunately, there are several outstanding web hosting providers that offer a wide range of features and services to their customers.   Some of the most inexpensive hosting packages will provide you with numerous email accounts, e-commerce tools, security mechanisms and enough server capacity to support the growth of your website.  Can you accomplish more with a high-end web hosting solution?  Probably.  Be that as it may, a cheap alternative can set you up just as well and put you on the path to success.