Three Hidden Fees to Look for When Choosing a Web Hosting Plan
Posted on Tuesday, Apr 05, 2011 in "Random Stuff"
As the World Wide Web continually expands on a daily basis, the web hosting industry becomes even more competitive. In fact, it appears that nearly every web hosting provider now claims to offer the best hosting services, with no hidden fees applied. Unfortunately, most web hosting providers do have some faults that are often overlooked by the general public, until the fault becomes evident due to a mistake or event that occurs after the hosting plan has been purchased. Hidden fees are not really “hidden” per se, they are actually fees that are not readily apparent, which may be found in the fine print, but which the web hosting provider does not necessarily notify the customer of. Although many of these fees are seemingly mandatory charges that must be applied during checkout, more attention should be paid to what these fees are and how expensive they can be. The following are three hidden fees to look for when choosing a web hosting plan.
Account Setup Fees
Many web hosting providers choose to charge account setup fees, which can boost the initial overall cost of the hosting plan. Setup fees can range anywhere from $10-$50, depending on the hosting provider and the size of the hosting plan. Unfortunately, these fees are usually charged at the checkout process, and are only mentioned in fine print on the advertisement page or check out page. Even though there are web hosting providers that do not charge account setup fees, most novice webmasters fall victim to a hosting service that does.
Customer Service Fees
Hidden service fees are perhaps the most noticeable type of hidden fee charged by web hosting providers, because most customers become upset when they realize they have been charged a fee for using what has been advertised as “free 24 hour customer service”. Although these fees are more warranted than arbitrary fees like account setup fees, it is a common practice for web hosting providers to charge such fees without first notifying the account holder. Thus, it is best to inquire whether or not your hosting provider charges customer service fees for requesting e-mail or hotline assistance.
Domain Transferring and Ownership Fees
Some hosting providers will charge a fee when a webmaster attempts to transfer their domain from another host. Before switching hosting providers in choosing another hosting company, it is important to inquire whether or not they charge domain transferring fees. Other web hosting providers will offer you free domain registration for life or for a specific period of time, only to register your domain in their name so that it actually belongs to them. After this, the company will then charge domain ownership fees, which must be paid on a regular basis or the hosting provider will regain ownership of the domain. Therefore, when selecting a hosting plan that offers free domain registration it is important to find out whether or not domain ownership fees will be charged in order to maintain full ownership of your website.
