There is a lot of variation in the cost of web hosting, and for good reason. Some hosts charge $3/month while some charge $10/month or more, and it seems like they’re offering the same thing. Cheap web hosting is supposed to be affordable, but there is a point where hosting becomes TOO cheap. Generally you should avoid hosts that offer cheap web hosting for less than $3 per month, as they are usually unreliable.
There are several benefits to having quality web hosting, the most obvious of which are support and load time. Support is very important because chances are you are going to have an issue you need help with at some point, and you want dedicated, skilled people to help you out. Load time is also very important. You want your site to load as quickly as possible, to encourage people to stay and view more pages. If your site is run on crappy cheap web hosting, people will be able to tell due to the incredibly slow load times.
While there is no easy way to find the truly quality web hosts out there, there are a few ways that make the process fairly simple. First of all you should check out sites like this. Look at the main page and reviews of individual hosts, and use the information to help you select a host. Another good way to find a quality host is to ask around. Every webmaster has had experience with at least one host, and many have switched hosts at least once in the past. Ask around on popular webmaster forums or message boards, and soon enough you will have a bunch of honest, unbiased reviews on many different hosts, directly from your peers.
Written by Web Hosting Expert on Sep 30, 2009.
If you’re new to the world of the Web and like to get started right, then this article is for you. Your first step is to decide what you want to do. Obviously you want a website of some sort, but what type of website? What will it be about? What will you offer that no one else can?
Spend some time thinking to yourself about what you really want. Choose something that you are interested in and won’t get bored of. Your next step is to get cheap web hosting and a domain. The domain should be chosen carefully. I highly recommend getting a .com, as they are much better in general. Once you have selected a domain, don’t purchase it quite yet. First you should find some cheap web hosting. Shop around and find something that seems reasonable to you, and buy it. Some hosts offer free domain registration, so don’t buy a domain before hosting.
You now need to set the nameservers on your domain to point to your cheap web hosting account. If your domain was registered through your host, then this step is not necessary, as it’s already done. To set nameservers, simply log into your domain registrar and go to “nameservers” and enter in the proper information. If you don’t know what to put, contact your host and ask.
Now you need to start building your website. There are a thousand ways to go about this, but I suggest keeping it simple for now. If you’re completely new to coding/HTML, then maybe a few tutorials would be a good idea. Build some ultra-basic sites and get a feel for what you’re working with. Then, move on to bigger and better things when you’ve gained some experience.
Written by Web Hosting Expert on Sep 29, 2009.
I get this question a lot, so I figured I’d answer it definitively once and for all. 99% of the time, “unlimited web hosting” means nothing but a marketing strategy. No, that $5/month plan is not actually unlimited. If it were, it could run massive sites like Youtube or Myspace. In reality, both Youtube and Myspace spend millions of dollars per year just for hosting.
Generally when it comes to cheap web hosting, an unlimited plan is technically unlimited, until the host decides to contact you. Hosts are smart, and they know that many webmasters THINK they need a large hosting plan but they really don’t. So, they sell them “unlimited” plans, and the plans are used just like any other limited plan. However, if the host notices someone that consistantly is pushing the limits on their plan, then they will send that person an email or call them up. If the host is nice they will give you time to either upgrade your account or switch hosts. If they are not so kind, they will simply suspend your account until you get back to them.
While it may seem unfair, keep in mind that cheap web hosting is, well, cheap! You can’t expect a company who only gets $5/month from you to care much for your welfare! If you’re wondering if this practice is really legal, it is as long as it’s in their terms of service or other disclaimers (you know, those boring long ones that no one ever reads). If you’re really worried I suggest thoroughly reading through their ToS, or contacting the host and asking what the limits are. They may say unlimited, but if it’s cheap web hosting chances are it has a limit, whether that limit is published or not.
Written by Web Hosting Expert on Sep 28, 2009.
All hosting packages, regardless of their type or cost, should have at least some basic maintenance. Cheap web hosting generally doesn’t need much more than an occasional glance at server loads and bandwidth/storage limits, but many hosting packages require you to watch very closely. After all, you don’t want to come home and discover that your server has been down all day! A disaster like that hurts not only your site, but also discourages your vistors and seriously damages your reputation.
If you’re on cheap web hosting (or shared hosting) then most of the maintenance is not in your hands, but in the hands of your host. Don’t worry – they know what they’re doing, and as long as they are a respectable company they will do their best to keep their servers running at full potential. So, if you have cheap web hosting, all you can really do is sit back and watch. I do however encourage you to pay attention to your bandwidth usage, especially if your site gets a decent amount of traffic (more than 500 UV’s/day or so, or many many pageviews). Obviously you have to watch your storage limits too, but that’s not as important as it won’t cause the server to crash or your host to shut you down.
If you have a VPS, your job depends on what your host does for you. A “managed” VPS is basically like an upgraded shared server, in that it’s all managed on the host’s end. If yours is unmanaged, then you are expected to perform regular maintenance on it. Depending on the specific server, “maintenance” may entail a number of things. I suggest you do some research into the specific server you are running and find out the best ways to keep it running smoothly. If that’s not an option, contact your host and ask what you can do.
Written by Web Hosting Expert on Sep 27, 2009.
Cheap web hosting is what every website needs to actually appear on the internet. Anyone can have a local website without spending a dime, but nobody else can see it. In order to have a publically viewable site, you must have cheap web hosting (or any type of hosting really). When you have hosting, you usually also need a domain, but you can get a free one if necessary.
There is also free web hosting out there, but it’s very bad. First of all, it’s unreliable and goes down a lot. Second, it’s usually overloaded, so load times can be very, very slow. If your site loads slow, nobody will want to stay on it, so you won’t get much traffic. Your job as a webmaster is to please your viewers and provide valuable, meaningful or useful information. If your site is on free hosting, nobody will stick around long enough to know if your content is useful or not!
To me, cheap web hosting is hosting that’s affordable, but still functional. Most hosts provide a shared plan, which basically means you will be sharing a server with 50-500 other people, depending on the size of the server itself. While this is not ideal, it makes hosting a lot more affordable. For you to rent a full server for yourself, it would cost you something like $200+ per month. Cheap web hosting, on the other hand, costs only about $5 per month. The choice is obvious for most people.
For 90% of webmasters, cheap web hosting is all you’d ever need. Only a small percentile will actually “outgrow” shared hosting. This individuals have several choices. They could get a VPS, which is basically an upgraded shared account, or they could go all-out and rent a dedicated server of their own. Both solutions are much more expensive, so I wouldn’t choose either unless you have to.
Written by Web Hosting Expert on Sep 26, 2009.
Many webmasters, both novice and experienced, have trouble understanding nameservers, and more importantly, how to set them. Basically, when you set your nameservers on a domain you are telling the DNS server to “point” the domain in the direction of your server, so that it doesn’t pull up Myspace when you go to facebook.com! Every domain must have its nameservers set, but don’t worry, you can usually do it in bulk if all your domains are hosted on the same server.
Setting your nameservers shouldn’t be too hard, but it could be depending on your domain registrar. I recommend using a popular domain registrar like Godaddy or Name.com, as they make the process easy. Also, if you register domains through your host, the nameservers should be set automatically, which is nice, but that also means that it would be pain to transfer the domains if you ever switch hosts.
To set your nameservers on a typical domain registrar, simply login to your account and look at your domains. The way you go about this will differ from registrar to registrar, but look around for things like “Domain Management”, “Nameservers”, etc. Once you have found it, you should see 2+ spots to place some text. That text is what your host sent to you in your welcome email. If you do not have that message, you must contact your host and ask what you should set your nameservers to. Once you have them (note that you need at least 2), enter them into the correct place and submit. Depending on the registrar and host, you should have a 24-48 hour wait until the domains are fully propogated. This wait time is normal and is nothing to worry about. However, if it’s been more than 50 hours or so and your site still is not loading through the right domain, contact your registrar and/or host.
Written by Web Hosting Expert on Sep 25, 2009.
In order to attract new customers, many cheap web hosting providers offer certain perks when you buy a plan. Usually these come in the form of additional discounts on future orders, free items, vouchers, gift cards, etc. Some hosts offer perks and some don’t, but if you look around you’ll probably be able to find one that does.
The most common item bundled for free with purchase of cheap web hosting is advertising vouchers. Usually hosts will offer you vouchers for Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing, MSN Adcenter, etc. The amount varies, but it’s usually around what you paid for a year of cheap web hosting, or even more. So it would not be odd to pay $50 for a year of hosting and get a $75 Adwords credit.
Many hosts offer additional discounts when you buy cheap web hosting from them. For instance, once you’ve bought a plan, you will often be given a special promo or discount code. These codes often offer quite a bit of savings, so don’t take them lightly. You may also be given a discount on your current order if you are spending enough money, or you may get some kind of one-time offer that can only be taken advantage of right after your purchase.
Another very common cheap web hosting perk is a free domain. Many, MANY hosts offer free registration for a .com domain of your choice. .com domains usually cost about $10/year to register and keep, so you’d be lucky to get one for free. The only drawback to this perk is that you usually have to register the domain through the host, meaning it’s harder to sell/transfer the site/domain later on if you decide you want to part ways with it.
Written by Web Hosting Expert on Sep 24, 2009.
If you are a business owner, you should have a website. Whether your business is landscaping, dentistry, or rocket science, you need a website. Many old-style business owners think that the internet is overrated, which indeed it might be. However, the internet IS the place where everyone turns to find information about products and services they are looking for. So, simply put, if your business does not have a significant web presence or at the very least a working website, you WILL lose potential customers.
In an economy like this, I can understand that you may be wary of trying new things and risking your hard-earned money. Thankfully it doesn’t cost all that much to buy cheap web hosting and get started with a website, so you can probably afford it, regardless of your current financial situation. All you really need is a domain (which costs about $10/year), and cheap web hosting (which costs $40-$60/year). You could potentially spend a lot on a slick custom design, but that’s not necessary.
If you’re new to websites, I suggest keeping it simple for now. Read a few guides to starting a website, or simply use the wordpress.org software. If you install Wordpress on cheap web hosting you’l have a very user-friendly backend to work with. You can also browse through a variety of different sites to find some good themes for your website. To do this, simply Google “Wordpress themes” or “free wordpress themes”, and find one that suits your business.
Basically you’re looking at a $70-$100 investment, most of which will go towards cheap web hosting. It may seem like a lot now, but I guarantee that your business will improve with even the simplest of websites. So please, do yourself and your business a favor and start a website today!
Written by Web Hosting Expert on Sep 23, 2009.
A lot of people take the task of choosing a host lightly. They think it doesn’t really matter all that much, and they tend to go with the first host they find, or with the host who offers the lowest price. Well, I’m here to tell you that choosing a host is one of the most important things you can do as a webmaster. You should take your time and choose wisely, and never skimp.
There are a lot of qualities to look for in a cheap web hosting provider, but the biggest is probably reliability. You need a host that is always going to work, and a support team that is always going to be there to answer your questions and fix any issues you may have. Most cheap web hosting providers focus more on attracting new clients than pleasing existing ones, so you need to be selective and find a host with a good reputation.
If you plan on getting cheap web hosting, it’s easy to find a good host simply by looking at the price they charge. Look at their most basic package. If it’s less than $4/month or so, then it’s probably too cheap. And yes, there is such a thing! If it’s much more than that it’s probably overpriced, but I wouldn’t jump to conclusions on this end, as it could just be that the specific plan has more storage or bandwidth or something similar.
It’s also a good idea to look around and find some reviews of cheap web hosting providers. This site has many reviews, as do many other websites. You can also ask your friends or contacts and ask them what host they use and if they like it. Word-of-mouth is a great way to learn about hosts because it’s unbiased and real.
Written by Web Hosting Expert on Sep 22, 2009.
Cheap web hosting is, well, cheap. And because it is cheap, it usually has some pretty strict limits as far as storage and bandwidth usage. If you had a dedicated server you would probably never have to worry about storage space, but that’s hardly the case with cheap web hosting. You need to perform maintenance on your server at least every once in a while, and here are some tips on how to do it.
First of all, you should monitor your cheap web hosting closely. Like anything else, prevention is always better than treatment when it comes to hosting. So, commit to monitoring your hosting regularly. You should watch your bandwidth and storage limits, and make sure they are not almost reached. You should also visit your site every few days and just check the load times. If it seems unreasonably slow, it’s probably because there’s a problem with your hosting. Also, remember to check your website from a variety of different computers, with varied internet speeds, etc.
If you do notice that you are nearing your bandwidth or storage limits, it’s not the end of the world. You have several choices from here. You could either sell some sites (which is recommended if you have sites that take up a fair amount of space but don’t really produce revenue/get much traffic), buy a new account elsewhere, upgrade to a better server, or a number of other things. For minor storage issues I suggest that you simply sell of some old websites. Pick that one site that just seems to sit there – you know, that one that you never work on, the one that doesn’t make you much money. Simply head over to the DigitalPoint forums, Flippa.com, or another popular online marketplace, and sell your website!
Written by Web Hosting Expert on Sep 21, 2009.
