Using cheap web hosting is not necessarily a bad decision. In fact, many major hosting companies are offering affordable web hosting packages to survive in the competitive industry. Cheap hosting is also called “Shared Web Hosting”. As a smart customer, you should watch out for good deals. Low-cost hosting packages may be available for a starting annual price of $20 or less. However, they may only deliver basic features and services. This shouldn’t be a surprise.
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KnownHost Pros:
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What is Cheap Web Hosting?
A web host is a company that is in the business of renting servers and selling online access (bandwidth), so users can host their files and share data with others. Cheap web hosting companies resell their products in smaller bits (plans) so they can get good profits. Their goal is to price these small packages affordably while ensuring maximum profit.
Since there is a very little barrier in this industry, many new web hosts are popping up every day. This fact helps to keep the cost of the hosting plan low and the service quality reasonable since many web hosts are competing in the industry.
Cheap Web Hosting – Avoiding Risks
Obviously, when you decide to go with cheap web hosting, there is a bigger chance that you get stuck with a bad web host. Luckily, with proper steps, you can minimize the risk the steps are:
Customer Service and Technical Support: Like any online business, it is important to have easy and friendly communication with your hosting provider. If you have a query or problem, you should be able to seek help immediately, regardless of the fact that you choose the cheapest hosting plan. Luckily, all of our listed cheap web hostings will offer you 24/7 customer service over the phone, email, or live chat. One good way to find out is to call customer service after midnight, preferably at weekend, to find out whether the web host can provide help, whenever you need it.
Security, Reliability, and Features: When choosing cheap web hosting, you should make sure that it offers sufficient bandwidth, disk capacity, and uptime warranty. Obviously, you should prepare a list of your prioritized requirements and make sure the web host can provide them. Security, reliability, and performance are important for any website, don’t let the low price make your site compromised.
Money-back Guarantee: Money back guarantee is a promise that an affordable web host will deliver a satisfactory service, despite the low price. It is also a sign that the web host is both honest and confident about its service.
No Hidden Charges: You should be aware that some cheap web hosting companies may have hidden charges. For example, they may put a restriction on the bandwidth and the database size. Consequently, as your website grows, you may be forced to pay much more.
Pros and Cons of Cheap Web Hosting, is it Really Worth it?
For many website owners, cheap web hosting is an attractive plan to pay a small sum each month to keep their website running smoothly. Cheap hosting can be a sufficient storage plan for many people who plan on running small-scale websites. But are there any odds with cheap hosting services? Let’s see their pros and cons.
The Pros of Cheap Web Hosting:
Individuals who want to run a personal website may not need to pay for expensive web hosting. Small websites with a few pages or a blog do not take up much space on a host’s servers, so a hosting company can store this data cheaply.
For small businesses, a cheap web hosting plan can be a way to cut the costs of starting a new company. In this modern era, most companies need websites to attract new customers or sell products. Hence a cheap host may be enough for a simple website. In some cases, high-quality hosts offer their services cheaply. A web host without the “bells and whistles” of a more user-friendly site might be able to store large amounts of data at a low price.
The Cons of Cheap Web Hosting:
Cheap web hosts often make their money by convincing clients to upgrade to a more expensive service. A website owner who plans on getting a lot of traffic should consider upgrading to a more expensive plan or looking for a pricier host. The bandwidth required to display a webpage is a large part of any host’s operating costs. When a flood of visitors tries to view a page at the same time, the sudden increase in bandwidth usage may exceed the caps set by a cheap host. This will make a site unavailable to potential viewers or customers during periods of high traffic.
Site owners who need to store a large amount of data will find that cheap hosts usually have limited storage space. Anyone who needs to store a high volume of images, videos, sound clips, or other data-intensive files should expect to pay for the extra space.
How to Choose Cheap Hosting ?
Web hosting allows businesses to make their websites accessible to the world through the World Wide Web. There are numerous web hosting choices present for businesses and individuals who want to host their personal websites. However, different options contain different costs and people are generally looking for cheap hosting solutions.
Options such as dedicated hosting or cloud hosting are better in terms of the features offered, however, these are expensive and may require you to purchase a virtual space on a web server or buy physical servers. If you are looking for tips to select cheap hosting, read on.
Determine Your Needs: The basic step in finding any kind of hosting is to first determine your own preferences and needs. If you require specific tools which are not available in cheap hosting options, then cheap hosting is out of the question. Make a list of all your requirements such as the maximum storage required, data transfer limit, database options etc. These will make the searching process easy.
Define Your Budget: The next thing to do is to determine your budget and the funds that are available to you. Once you have determined the cost, you can easily set a limit to the cost of the hosting plan. However, while setting a budget, you need to be aware of the payment and subscription offers of hosting companies. Most companies require you to sign up for yearly, two yearly or 3 yearly subscriptions.
Reliability: Cheap hosting does not mean that the quality of hosting services is also poor. Therefore, check out the uptime guaranteed by the company. Also check out the technology used in their data centers such as monitoring of data, security options, data backup as well as the power alternatives in the event of power outages. If the company has good and enough power alternatives, you do not need to worry that your website will stay offline when the power fails.
Resources and Features: You should already be evaluating your hosting company based on resources and features which you highlighted while making a list. Therefore, look out for features such as databases, available email accounts, number of email addresses, media support, cart tools, spam protection, virus protection etc. Also, check if the resources such as the bandwidth and data storage space are enough.
Customer Support: Customer support is an essential part of all hosting services. If the support is not good, you will find yourself in a fix. You might require competent and appropriate support while setting up your website or adding in content to the website. Check out the accessibility options and availability of the customer support
Following the above mentioned tips while selecting a cheap hosting provider will allow you to maintain quality while paying low.