How to Avoid the Pitfalls of Cheap Hosting

There is no denying it, the trendiest outlet these days is clearly the World Wide Web.  This internet resource has become a reliable medium for the latest breaking news and the place to go for the best deals on an endless catalog of products and services.  You can hop online to do your banking, catch up with the latest gossip or even leave a Tweet let people know you just went to grab a carton of milk.  If you are trying to make a presence in the internet world, web hosting is a service you need to learn more about.  The problem is, there are so many providers and types of services that choosing one often becomes a task that grows bigger than it should be.  When it comes to cheap hosting, you need to focus your eyes on the overall picture, rather than the low price.  This is the best way to avoid the scams and marketing ploys.

Get Useful Features and Resources

Though abundant, not all cheap web hosting plans are created equal.  Some are loaded up with features while others are lacking severely and basically give you what you pay for.  If your web presence relates to business aspirations, there will be some features you can’t afford to miss out on.  This could be anything from PHP or Perl scripts to multiple email accounts or advertising tools.  Two of the most essential components you definitely need to consider are storage and bandwidth.  Your cheap hosting plan isn’t worth much if you don’t have enough space for your content or enough transfer to support your traffic needs.  Only you know the components it takes to make your site a success.  Therefore, it is up to you to find them in an affordable hosting solution.

Don’t Overlook Security

Most customers don’t look for security features in a cheap hosting package but you should.  Websites and servers are being compromised all the time, a factor that means you need to be prepared for the worst.  Even if you don’t know a thing about website security, it is crucial that you sign up with a hosting company that does.   If not, you are leaving yourself wide open to a variety of exploits that range from SQL injection and cross site scripting to viruses and DDoS attacks.  All it takes is one successful attack to cripple your website and possibly put you down for good.  Unless you want to be another statistic, make sure your low-cost hosting solution comes with adequate security.

Conclusion

If you are like most customers, then you are probably seeking a high quality hosting plan that comes at a cheap price.  In order to get the reliable service you’re after, you must have a company that can assure a high level of availability, smooth performance and responsive support to aid in your time of need.  When dealing with a respectable, well known hosting provider, these qualities are not all that hard to come by.

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Jul 03, 2009 : Cheap Web Hosting No responses yet

Deciding Between Free and Paid Hosting

There are many types of web hosting on the market as the options range from dedicated servers to niche variations like Windows and Linux hosting.  For most customers however, the decision often boils down to these two choices: free or paid hosting.  Indeed, free hosting really does exist and many customers are taking advantage of this option.  However, there are a number of factors that must be considered in your decision to take the free or paid route.  Let’s go over some of them.

Your Web Presence

The biggest advantage of free hosting is pretty obvious - no money is involved.  Thus, if money is tight and you have come to the conclusion that this is your best option, free hosting may be ideal for you.  In moving forward, you sign up for the service and now what?  Before getting ahead of yourself, let’s first consider some of the disadvantages.  We will start with the domain that allows visitors to find you on the web.  When opting for a free web hosting solution, you will likely be provided with a domain name that resembles: “freehostservice.com/yourwebsite”.  While this is okay for some users, it is not suitable for most, especially those trying to establish a business and credible web presence.  For these customers, having ownership of their domain is crucial.

Resources and Features

Another disadvantage of free hosting is the limitations on vital resources and features.  If you take this route, be warned that you will probably have very little disk space at your disposal.  Once again, this isn’t necessarily a problem for someone who only needs a personal homepage that will be accessed by family and friends.  On the other hand, if your plans call for a large number of files or pages, the amount of disk space provided by a free hosting service probably will not be sufficient for your needs.  The same usually holds true for bandwidth, another important resource you can’t afford to be without.  Bandwidth is crucial because it supports the visitors who come to your site as well as the activities they perform.  The last thing you want potential customers to see when they visit your site is a message stating “This site has exceeded its bandwidth allowance.”  If you were establishing trust within your audience, this is a surefire way to stifle it.

When taking a look around the hosting marketplace, you will observe features such as PHP, Perl, MySQL, FrontPage extensions and cPanel among others.  These are offerings you generally don’t get with a free hosting plan.  When you are not paying for the service, such features can be quite scarce and almost non-existent.  This could send your plans to a crashing halt, especially if there is no way for you to incorporate a shopping cart and sell your goods or services online.

Conclusion

In the end, there are so many drawbacks to free hosting that listing them in a single article would be impossible.  Therefore, it is recommended that you take careful consideration before making a decision.  Professional web hosting services are very affordable these days and with a good company behind you, this could prove to be a worthy investment.

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Jun 19, 2009 : Cheap Web Hosting No responses yet

How to Gauge a Cheap Hosting Service

Cheap hosting can be defined as any type of service with hosting plans for under $10 a month.  If you take a look around, you will see that these low-cost offerings are currently dominating the market.  Cheap hosting services are mainly geared toward personal users and small businesses.

Although it shouldn’t be difficult to find a company that offers such a service, it is important to understand that not all budget hosts are reliable.  Before signing up, we suggest taking the following steps when looking for a provider.

Get a Good First Impression

The evaluation process starts from the moment you visit the web hosting provider’s front page.  During your visit, you should ask yourself a few questions.  Does the website speak professionalism?  Is it easy to navigate and find all the information you need?   Is contact information available?.  If so, is it just a physical address or an email address and toll-free phone number.  If you don’t see any contact details, your internal red flag should go up immediately as if you can’t get in touch with the company, how can they provide you with a reliable service?

Know the Guarantee

The web hosting industry is filled with money back guarantees and promises, thus you will probably encounter a few.  When going after a cheap hosting package, you want to sign up with a host that offers is a respectable guarantee.  Keep in mind that the average hosting provider will not openly publish its satisfaction guarantees.  However, if you have to look deep into the terms of the service agreement and are not satisfied on where the company stands in regard to giving back your money, it may be a good idea to take your search for budget hosting elsewhere.

And the Uptime

Almost all web hosting providers advertise an uptime guarantee.  This refers to the amount of time the web server is up and doing its job of serving your web pages.  Most companies offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee, which sounds pretty good on the surface.  What you need to do is determine what measures the host is taking to ensure this level of uptime and how you are taken care of if the guarantee isn’t upheld.  Even though you are paying for a budget service, there is no need to deal with excessive downtime.

Put an Emphasis on After Sales Support

There is much that needs to be considered when choosing a budget host, but the one factor we will leave you with is after sales support.  Sure they gave you a value deal and fast activation of your account but now what?   Do they make any self-help resources available to you?  What if you have questions about scripts and databases or want to know why the server is performing sluggishly?  Any company can sell you a budget hosting plan but only the good ones come through after the sale is made.

Choosing a cheap hosting solution should never translate into shorting yourself.  If you jump on the first thing that looks good, you could be doing just that.  Lucky for you, there are a number of respectable companies you can count on to provide a highly reliable service.

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Jun 05, 2009 : Cheap Web Hosting No responses yet

What Makes Web Hosting So Cheap?

The internet garnered worldwide popularity in the mid 1990s.  In those days, web hosting was out of reach for the average consumer as only businesses and those in the higher tax bracket could afford the services.  Needless to say, there were far fewer websites and almost everything on the web was commercial or business related.  So, what changed?  How did we get to the point where nearly anyone can afford a web hosting plan?  The simple answer is evolution.

Both the internet and the closely tied World Wide Web have grown immensely over the years.  And because web hosting is the only industry with the power to instantly connect people to the world, it only makes sense for this market to evolve as well.  This industry allows people from all over to take advantage of free email services, business tools and an arsenal of features that suit personal and business needs.

The Evolution of Affordable Web Hosting

From the very beginning, the web hosting field was thoroughly analyzed in attempt to make the process less complex.  As more breakthroughs were made, the potential grew and more companies appeared on the scene offering service.  This expanded the market and enhanced the field at the same time.  From server space and bandwidth to database management and development tools, the industry experienced a major overhaul that began to offer both power and simplicity.   Larger than it had ever been, the web hosting game quickly became all about who can offer the best service at the cheapest rate.  From there, the competition commenced.

Once it became known that there was a faster, easier and more affordable way to communicate, people flocked to the internet.  Because this opened up endless business opportunities, the need for web hosting services became even greater.  Seeing the potential to make substantial income, web hosting companies began to market their packages at competitive prices.  In the beginning it was mostly large organizations that could afford to offer hosting services.  The demand for web hosting led smaller companies to lease servers and slowly but surely, everyone began to comprehend the technology behind it.  Competition heated up to the point where some providers even offered service for free, relying on the support of advertising just to get a piece of the action.

Web Hosting Today

Today, web hosting is a prominent industry and cheap services are abundant.  Take a trip around the web and you will find a variety of companies offering service for under $10 per month.  Technology has made it easier to manage and now everyone from novice to experienced webmasters can excel.  The popularity of web hosting has played major a role in developing various industries.  Online gaming, web design, freelance writing and many sectors have flourished because of the great demand of web hosting services.

There have been several factors to play a hand in cheap web hosting but just like most industries, it all boils down to evolution.  And while it has come very far, the field still isn’t perfect and there are surely more advancements to come.

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Jan 23, 2009 : Cheap Web Hosting No responses yet

Cheap Web Hosting Companies on the Rise

Web hosting solutions have become a necessity as more individuals and businesses look to leverage the benefits of the internet.  The mere possibility of establishing a strong identity in cyberspace and capitalizing off its popularity is what drives many people to a website.  With  millions of people surfing the web at any given minute on any given day, the potential for success is tremendous.  Those dabbling in the world of web hosting for the first time often desire something more simplistic, mainly because they lack the experience of designers and seasoned webmasters.  Traditionally, the more simple the hosting solution, the less expensive it is.  Web hosting services come in many different varieties and one variation grows more popular by the day - cheap web hosting.

The Evolution of Cheap Web Hosting

Cheap web hosting has become more common and also more advanced.  In the past, this type of solution pretty much lived up to the name, offering nothing more than a bare bones package that was only suited for personal needs.  Now cheap hosting services are offered by some of the most prominent names in the business.  Companies like BlueHost, HostGator and LunarPages are all respected in the industry for their reliability yet have also made a name from services that easily fall under the cheap bracket.  Each company offers a platform that is ideal for individuals wishing to creating a website, providing enough tools that allow them to make their mark on the web.  No longer do they have to worry about space as allotments of server capacity are generous.  Whereas technical support and reliability were once non-existent, cheap hosts now make it a priority to house the best equipment in world-class data centers with trained professionals on stand-by to deliver quality customer support.  Cheap web hosting services still offer simplicity, yet with more power as control panels and development tools have evolved dramatically.

Lower Cost Does not Always Equate to Reduced Features

Cheap web hosts use much more than an incredibly low price to reel in new customers.  For example, many companies offer special deals and promotional packages for new or transferring clients and loyal subscribers.  It is not uncommon to find a cheap web hosting plan that comes attached with free domain names, marketing tools and advertising credits.  For someone with business aspirations, the offering of multiple email accounts and e-commerce features is often too good to pass up.  Today’s web hosting companies have capitalized on technology, providing the luxury to start out cheap and then upgrade as your needs and requirements increase.  More than likely, they have a package that is more robust to suit those demands, perhaps a virtual private server or even an enterprise-class solution such as a dedicated server.  When considering all the possibilities for enhancement, it is safe to assume that cheap hosting will always appeal to a wide range of customers.

Although cheap web hosting is prevalent, such deals do not always equal the best bargain.  This is why it is best to do your research and seek out the most reliable service.  The cheap host that ensures reliability with a platform that enables growth is the one most likely to enjoy customer loyalty.

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Jan 14, 2009 : Cheap Web Hosting No responses yet