Should You Opt for Cheap Web Hosting?

Unsurprisingly, most people tend to opt for low cost or cheap web hosting. Its cheap and cost effective so why not anyways. And the reality is that most people’s web hosting needs are pretty easily met with a cheap web hosting plan. But if you’re someone who needs more than the typical shared server plan, going with a cheap web hosting plan can be a wrong choice. So how do you know if cheap website hosting is right for you or not?

Consider the Price

First of all, you want to consider the price relative to what you are getting. You should shop around and find the best cheap web hosting prices, which doesn’t always mean the cheapest monthly rate. Remember the more disk space and bandwidth you get for the money, the better the value. However, you really shouldn’t be paying more than $5 a month or so for cheap web hosting.

Consider the Purpose

The question really comes down to what you are using your site for. If your hosting is for a personal page that’s little more than a blog, or a site where you can share stories and photos with your extended family, a cheap web hosting plan will do you just fine. On the other hand, if you’re involved in e-Commerce or affiliate marketing, time is money, and you need to make sure your host is reliable and has a minimum of downtime. If the server crashes or a technical malfunction causes problems with your site, it could cost you much more money than you are saving with a cheap web hosting plan.

Consider Your Needs

In addition, if you have lots of pages and many interactive and complex design features on your site, you’ll need lots of bandwidth and memory, and you can’t get that on a shared server. This is one of the cases where, if you can afford it, you’ll definitely want to go for a dedicated server or at least a VPS (Virtual Private Server).

If you’re just starting out with hosting and you’re not sure what you need, it’s probably just fine to start with a cheap web host. However, if you’re expanding a commercial site and you feel like you may need more than just what your average shared server hosting plan can provide, you probably do.