Web Hosting Reviews & Ratings

August 26, 2010

Are You Using Shared Web Hosting?

Shared web hosting is often used by novice webmasters that are making their entrance into the world of online business. This is primarily because shared web hosting is the cheapest type of hosting available, so it provides an ideal way for new web site owners to get involved quickly and with a minimal investment. Unfortunately, there are also many disadvantages to shared web hosting, as is to be expected with the cheapest type of any service.

The disadvantages of shared  web hosting include but are not limited to occasional site downtime and slow loading web pages. These disadvantages have given shared web hosting a bad name in the hosting industry, prompting many hosting companies to label their hosting plans differently. In fact, most people don't even realize that they are using a shared hosting plan. If you are not sure whether or not you are using shared web hosting then you may want to consider the following information.

Names of Shared Hosting Plans

Shared web hosting plans go by many names, and are almost never referred to as “shared” hosting. In general, people do not like to share something that they are paying for, so as a marketing tactic hosting companies have removed this term from all of their sales pages. Instead, you will see terms like “basic” and “starter.” Many web hosting companies use precious metals to describe their hosting plans, for example, “the gold plan” or the “silver plan.” The truth is, unless you purchase a VPS or dedicated hosting plan, there is a very good chance that you are using shared web hosting plan, especially if the metal used to describe the plan is low grade, like “bronze” or “silver.”

The Price of Shared Web Hosting

Another factor that can help you determine whether or not you are using a shared web hosting plan is price. If the plan is the cheapest, or one of the cheapest plans available from a particular hosting provider, then there is a very good chance that it is a shared hosting plan. The billing structure is also a solid indicator as well, because most shared hosting plans require at least a year payment upfront. Many speculate that this is done to prevent frequent refund requests due to occasional poor server.  Performance. Nonetheless, it is possible to find a shared hosting plan that will allow monthly payments, however these are rare, and it is much more common to see a monthly billing schedule one a VPS or dedicated hosting plan.

Various Types and Shared Hosting

In most cases, if you are using a hosting plan and you are not sure whether it is shared hosting or not, then you are probably using shared hosting. Hosting companies will proudly display the hosting type if it is not shared hosting, which means you would know if you were using a VPS or dedicated hosting package. It is important to note that some smaller eCommerce and reseller hosting packages are simply powerful shared web hosting plans. If you are still unsure about whether or not you are using shared web hosting then you may need to contact the customer service department of your web hosting provider.

Tags: Shared Hosting,  shared web hosting,  cheap hosting,  downtime,  slow loading,  shared hosting plans