How much do you pay for your web hosting account? Are you happy with the services your hosting provider supplies? Do you think you’re paying too much or getting a great deal?
Most webmasters, whether frugal or not, take the price of web hosting packages into account. For many, a low priced unlimited everything hosting plan is more favorable than a pricier plan with a well established hosting company. Is that really the way to choose your next host? Let’s take a look at how much you should be paying for web hosting.
Cost versus needs
When most people go shopping for a new car they have a basic idea of what sort of vehicle they’d like to invest in. Some will want a tricked out SUV with custom rims and an awesome stereo system and others will be looking for a basic and inexpensive ride that gets good gas mileage. Web hosting shoppers should (but often don’t) shop this way. Just as you cannot compare a $60,000 SUV to an $8,000 economy car, you also cannot lump all web hosting plans together. There are many different types of web hosting and each has its own pricing structure.
The many types of web hosting
There’s an almost endless amount of web hosting plans on the market today. Some of the more popular hosting plans include:
Basic hosting: This plan usually offers either a small amount of space and bandwidth or is advertised as offering unlimited features. With a basic hosting plan you’ll usually get a control panel, maybe some included software, plus email and FTP accounts. Basic hosting starts at just a few dollars a month.
eCommerce hosting: eCommerce web hosts deal solely with online business ventures. They give customers space, bandwidth, email and FTP accounts, in addition to shopping carts and access to merchant services. Customer service is generally top-notch with eCommerce web hosting and the plans can run from a few dollars a month to more than $50 per month.
Business class hosting: This type of hosting is also for businesses. Corporations, online stores, networked businesses and any website that requires 100% reliability will benefit from business class hosting. With this type of plan you may or may not have access to a control panel, but you will get all the features of eCommerce and basic hosting, plus specialized software, SEO tools and always available support. Business class hosting excels at making sure your website is as reliable as your business, and is the most expensive type of hosting. Prices vary greatly with business class hosting and depend largely on the number of users accessing the hosting account and services needed.
How to use price and knowledge to find a host
Before beginning your search for a hosting plan it is imperative that you decide what type of hosting you need. If you desire a business class hosting plan, there’s no need to waste your time looking at basic hosting plans. Once you’ve narrowed down your needs, set your budget and read quality web hosting reviews that factor in the price of each host. Reviews will help show you not only where you’ll get the most bang for your buck, but also who offers the most reliable service and support.