Breaking Down the Cost of Web Hosting

You may be curious to know why so many web hosting companies have different prices for what is nearly the same service.  Well, one cause is that, just like any business, the web hosting industry has scams and shady companies looking to make all the money they can off the unknowing.  They offer higher priced services with the belief that someone will pay for them.  On the other hand, most web hosting providers actually have legitimate reasons for the prices they charge, whether they are high or low.  Knowing this can help clear up some confusion regarding the pricing differentiation of web hosting services.  Let’s take a look at some factors that impact cost the most.

Support – This just might be the single most important factor that impacts the cost of a web hosting service.  Companies that deliver quality support and quickly respond to technical issues tend to have a much higher ratio of skilled employees to clients.  Because maintaining a well trained staff and efficient support system can be costly, these firms often charge more for their services.  For these providers, satisfied customers usually results in more business.  Some companies choose to cut corners in the support department in order to offer a cheaper service.  Unfortunately for them, their businesses usually do not survive.

Network and Infrastructure – A large portion of the costs for a web hosting service can be attributed to the company’s network and infrastructure.  Some companies store their severs in many different data centers which isn’t cheap by any means.  In addition, redundant internet connections, electrical systems, backup power and security features are needed to ensure a reliable service.  All of this results in a pricing structure that enables the host to maintain a reasonable profit margin.

Loss Selling – Some web hosting firms sell at loss in hopes of expanding their client base and selling additional services to those same customers at a later time.  For instance, a company might price their hosting plans lower than market costs to make other services such as web design, SSL certificates and search engine marketing more attractive to the customer.  Although there are many benefits to be reaped from attracting customers with lower prices, this is still a risky move.  If the gamble the host takes backfires, it may be difficult for them to maintain quality of service over the long term.

Over Selling – This is one of the most common practices in the web hosting business and a major reason why prices are so cheap.  A perfect example would be a company that offers unlimited disk space on a piece of hardware that only has a capacity of 100 GB.  Because the average website only requires minimal space, the firm is able to get away with overselling and still maintain quality of service for its customers.  However, this is still risky because there is always a chance that several customers will maximize the resources allocated to them.

When evaluating web hosting packages, one must keep in mind that the lowest price doesn’t necessarily translate to the best value while the highest price does not guarantee the best return on investment.  Regardless of the cost, it is all about prioritizing your needs, doing your homework and choosing a provider wisely.

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Nov 25, 2009 : Cheap Web Hosting One response so far

November is Cheap With Pronet Hosting

As the US economy has been in a recessionary situation, the hunt for bargains has become more prevalent as of late.  Businesses are also looking for ways to save and keep those hard earned dollars a bit longer.  One way to cut costs is by looking for great web hosting deals.  Pronet Hosting is very aware of the current financial situation for just about every business out there and wants to help.

About Pronet

Pronet Hosting got its start in 2001 with a group of internet technology experts ready and willing to serve the hosting public.  This IT team brings over seven years of experience with Apache, Linux, and Microsoft platforms – ensuring that all operating systems needs are handled.

Rated as one of the fastest growing and top budget hosting companies in 2008, Pronet excels at giving its customers feature rich services, cost effect pricing and expedient customer support.

Hosting account basics

Each web hosting account with Pronet Hosting comes with unlimited web space, unlimited bandwidth and completely free setup.  The company has three levels of hosting to choose from – Basic, Medium and Premium.

Pronet offers Cpanel as a control panel, allowing its customers complete control of their accounts using one of the best and simplest administration programs around.

In addition to the previously mentioned unlimited features, Pronet Hosting also gives its customers unlimited sub domains and FTP accounts.  Through Fantastico (Unix hosted accounts), customers have access to over fifty free scripts – Wordpress, OSCommerce and Image Gallery are just a few of what is offered.  PHP5, Ruby on Rails and Python are all supported for those heavier scripting needs.  All accounts are e-commerce ready with a choice of three different cart programs, shared SSL access and the ability to setup payments via Paypal.

For those hosting clients who opt to use a Windows based account, Pronet offers Plesk as a control panel and this includes the Plesk Pro Pack – over one hundred free scripts ready to be installed with a simple click of the mouse.

Guarantees

Each account with Pronet Hosting comes with a 30 day money back guarantee and the company boasts a 99.9% uptime capability.  Servers are high performance and run on the CentOS operating system.

Customer support is offered 24×7 and includes online tutorials, ticket support and documentation.  For the “do-it-yourselfer”, the company has a knowledge base filled with information and topics to help every web hosting client, new or old.

Pricing

For the month of November, Pronet Hosting is discounted all its hosting accounts (Unix and Windows) to a flat fee of $25 for the entire year.  Just a little over $2 a month gives a choice of six different account levels all filled with every basic web hosting need.

Conclusion

When the economy gets tight, it affects everyone, even businesses.  One way businesses can tighten their belts and save on money is to keep an eye out for great web hosting bargains.  Pronet Hosting understands this need and, for this month only, has stepped up to the plate by reducing costs without skimping on features or support.  Pronet Hosting is definitely worth checking out.

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Nov 06, 2009 : Cheap Web Hosting No responses yet

The Fly-by-Night Aspect of Cheap Web Hosting

The web hosting industry is a very competitive business, literally filled with thousands of companies vying for your business.  This competition has resulted in a large segment of companies offering rock-bottom prices to entice you to purchase their service.  In these tough economic times, a low price is hard to pass up.  Despite this, you must be very cautious as a cheap hosting plan could actually cost you severely.  While cheap hosting has many potential pitfalls, the one that could be the most damaging to you is the fly-by-night company, the shady firm the soars through to steal your money and vanishes in the blink of an eye.

How to Spot ‘Em

Being able to distinguish the fly-by-night host from the reliable company with an upstanding reputation in the industry is a skill you need to pick up quickly.  How do you know if the company will be around next year or if they will crumble after three months of service?  It isn’t easy, but it can be done.  Below we have listed a few things you need to look for when evaluating cheap web hosting providers that will help you make the determination.

Bad Grammar and Spelling

A fly-by-night company or one operating an outright scam usually doesn’t pay much attention to the grammar and spelling of the content on its website.  Too focused on making money and cheating customers, they often make simple steps that are easy to catch for the trained eye.  A reputable hosting firm pays attention to detail, taking the necessary steps to ensure their website content is well written and clearly explains its service offerings.  Of course mistakes are simply that, but if you notice too many of them, it should signal a red flag that something might be wrong.

Unprofessional Appearance

A web host that is serious about the business has a serious looking website that exudes nothing but professionalism.  Everything from their logo to the site design is well structured and visually pleasant.  The fly-by-night company is more apt to putting in a half-hearted effort with an elementary template design and a crappy logo.  In many cases, they won’t even take the initiative to make sure all the links on their site function properly.

Unbelievable Testimonials

Testimonials can be a powerful marketing tool for any business.  However, they can’t always be taken at face value for the simple fact that you can’t always verify their legitimacy.  Fly-by-night hosts are notorious for littering their websites with testimonials from supposed happy customers that have nothing but rave thing to say about the company.  These can be hard to identify, but you can often tell by examining the style of writing.  If the testimonial appears overly technical or you just don’t believe it, the testimonial may have been written by the webmaster or someone within the company opposed to a real customer.

Remember that these are not the standards and that you need to be keep your eyes peeled for many more signs.  We merely provided these as guidelines to give you a couple of things to watch out for so you can avoid the trap so many others have fallen into.

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Nov 05, 2009 : Cheap Web Hosting No responses yet

The Hidden Costs of Cheap Hosting

We would all prefer to get something for a cheaper price these days and website hosting is no different.  However, when it comes to this kind of service, that bargain price tag just could be attached to some major problems that leave you wishing you could reverse time and pull out of the agreement.  If you are not careful, this decision could end up costing you in more ways than one.

Poor Site Performance

As unfortunate as it is, there are many companies out their running their service on cheap hardware, making it virtually impossible to get sufficient performance out of your website.  This problem is magnified when the host overcrowds their servers with too many websites, resulting in slow server response and a miserable time for your visitors.  Today’s web is more advanced and faster than ever.  Visitors don’t have to wait around for pages to load.  Instead of dealing with your slow site, they can easily go to one that offers an optimum experience for their viewing and browsing needs.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that this is a bad situation.

Excessive Downtime

One of the most common problems in the realm of cheap hosting is downtime.  Instead of your site running slow when interested users try to pay a visit, it isn’t available at all.  This goes back to the use of insufficient hardware, overloading servers and simply not having an infrastructure in place to properly support the operation.  Although some downtime is to be expected, even a cheap host should be able to ensure that your site is available 99.9% of the time.  If not, you will end up losing the traffic you worked so hard to build in a heartbeat.

Spamming Neighbors

Cheap web hosting is quite appealing to spammers, allowing them to save money while having a place to launch their annoying and potentially dangerous campaigns.  Spammers typically run hundreds of sites, generating small sums of money from each one.  While the individual amount may seem insignificant, their earnings from all those sites add up pretty fast.  Opting for cheap hosting allows them to keep their operating expenses to a minimum while helping them maximize their profits.  Of course hosting next to a spammer doesn’t necessarily affect you directly, but it could end being a huge problem if your web hosting provider is housing thousands of sites for these individuals.   You will start to feel the impact when the entire IP address is penalized and banned from the search engine results.

Conclusion

We painted a rather bleak picture here but that does not mean all cheap hosting services should be condemned.  The industry as a whole has made tremendous strides over the years and this has given companies that ability to provide quality services at a cheap price.  It is up to you to conduct the thorough research necessary to find one.  When partnering up with a reputable and well established company, you can reap from all a cheap hosting plan has to offer.

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Oct 29, 2009 : Cheap Web Hosting No responses yet

Why Pay for Cheap Hosting When You Can it For Free?

Cheap web hosting packages are abundant these days.  However, there are also quite a few solutions that allow you to have a website without paying anything at all.  At least not in terms of dollars.  This type of service definitely has its advantages and can be ideal for many people.  Is it for you though?  Let’s have a closer look to better determine how a free service stacks up against a cheap hosting plan.

The Merits of Free Hosting

The obvious benefit of free hosting is that you don’t have to pay for the service.  Many ISPs offer these services upon purchasing internet service.  There are also professional hosting firms that bundle free plans beside their premium solutions.  This means that you should have no trouble finding a place to host your website for absolutely nothing.  For some people, a free service is exactly what they need to slowly build their web presence and establish a little credibility online, providing them with the ammunition to eventually move onto a paid service.  These are the type of individuals who usually require a website to support personal endeavors or a hobby.  For others however, a free hosting plan is not suitable for their needs in any shape or form.

The Demerits of Free Hosting

The cons of free web hosting outweigh the pros by far.  The major downside is all the limitations that are imposed on you.  Let’s start with space.  When opting for a free hosting plan, you typically get a small portion of space for your website files.  Most free hosts won’t even quote you a specific amount.   With little space to work with, you will be limited to a certain number of pages, images and the overall design of your website.  In addition, there are no uptime guarantees on the service or even guarantees that you will receive technical support.  Although some hosts are willing to resolve technical issues, don’t expect a fast response.  After all, the service is free, so the provider usually does not commit to sorting out any problems in a specific time frame.   Thus, if visitors start to complain about your pages loading slow or not being accessible at all, hold your breath because the host is not obligated to do anything about it.

Breathing Easier with Cheap Hosting

Cheap web hosting is the perfect alternative to the limitations and restrictions of free services.  Of course, you have to pay, but with so many providers on the market, these solutions truly are affordable.  Since you are paying for service, the host is liable for providing you with quality support and making sure your site runs efficiently.  You can choose a package equipped with enough capacity to suit your needs and do not have to worry about ugly third-party advertisements and all the other ailments of a free service.  There are some limitations, but you are far less restricted and have much greater control over your site.  Can you make it with free hosting?  It’s possible, but you are likely to get a much better service when investing a little money into your website.

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Sep 02, 2009 : Cheap Web Hosting One response so far