How to Choose an Affordable Web Hosting Company
Most of the companies that provide web-hosting services promise great customer support and at least 99 percent uptime and additionally, most companies claim to offer affordable packages. However, you should investigate such claims to determine whether they are true. Here are tips on how to choose an affordable web host:
Trial Offer
Look for a web hosting company that gives its potential clients trial offers. Although such offers run for limited periods, they give site owners the opportunity to evaluate web-hosting services. More importantly, make sure the trial offer is free. If you have to pay to access such an offer, it would be wise to look elsewhere. Further, check the BBB rating of any host you are giving consideration to.
Unlimited Space and Bandwidth
A good web host should offer unlimited storage space and decent bandwidth. To ensure site owners do not abuse unlimited space and bandwidth allocated to them, web-hosting companies put certain caveats in their terms of service (TOS). For example, a web host may prohibit the use of unlimited disk space to backup personal files. This means you can only use unlimited disk space for your website. Nevertheless, it is advisable to go for an affordable package that offers both unlimited disk space and good bandwidth so that you do not necessarily have to pay extra money for additional disk space and bandwidth as the number of visitors to your site increase.
Discounts
Choose a hosting business that offers a wide range of discounts to its clients. Examples of such discounts include sign up discounts for new clients, discounts for upgrading to new affordable web hosting plans as well as discounts for referring new clients. Such discounts can save you a substantial amount of money over time.
Avoid Non-Essential Add-Ons
Web hosts make a lot of money from selling add-ons to their clients. However, in most cases, such add-ons are not essential. For example, some hosting businesses offer virtual receptionist add-ons. If your website does not receive a lot of web traffic, signing up for such an add-on may not be a wise financial decision. If you have doubts about an add-on recommended to you by your host, consult an experienced web developer/designer.
Technical Support
Avoid hosts that do not provide 24-hour technical support to their clients. This is because, in case you experience a technical issue during non-business hours that you cannot solve by yourself, you would have to either wait for support to come back online or hire someone else to troubleshoot and fix it. Over time, this could be quite expensive because there are tons of problems that could arise. These include backup issues and control panel configuration problems. Downtime of any sort is always bad news for host and sometimes "wait until tomorrow" just doesn't cut it.
Avoid Reseller Accounts Unless You Really Need One
Hosting plans that come with reseller accounts tend to be more expensive. In general, reseller packages alone cost anything from $10 to $20 per month. This is in addition to the cost of the hosting plan that you choose for your website. According to a report published in the magazine Entrepreneur, reseller accounts make financial sense for businesses that run several websites. If this is not the case, stick to an affordable web hosting plan that does not have reseller accounts.
Cost
At the end of the day, the cost of a hosting package will determine whether it is affordable or not. To find the best deal, you should shop around and do a price comparison. In general, prices vary from one host to the next depending on factors such as hosting package features, add-ons, discounts, and coupon codes. Create a list of about six or seven hosts that you feel are affordable and offer hosting plans that suit your website's needs. Whittle this list down to two or three firms that you can contact to find out more about their services. Then seek out their top promotional discounts by utilizing Pinterest boards that provide promo code information for numerous hosts.
Script Support
Another way of reducing website hosting costs is to go for a company that provides script support. Make sure the host you choose has support for popular web scripts. For instance, a hosting plan that comes with a built in script for running WordPress on your site will make it relatively easy to use this popular blogging platform. Otherwise, you will have to pay a web developer to configure your website to run the blogging platform of your choice.
Check Unbiased Reviews
Seeking the advice of an expert is always a good idea before making a technology purchase. Contrary to popular opinion in certain spheres of influence – objective web hosting reviews may still be found on the Web. NCM Online provides “data-driven” evaluations that rely heavily on speed and reliability testing performed by reliable third-party services. You can visit their website for additional information on the best and worst shared web hosts.
In summary, when searching for affordable web hosting, consider factors such as the cost, script support, trial offers, unlimited space and bandwidth, technical support, discounts, and reviews. All of these aspects can make a huge difference to a company that is running a website on a shoestring budget.