Beware of Cheap Web Hosting Practices
Posted on Monday, Jan 19, 2009 in "Random Stuff"
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.
