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An Affordable Web Hosting Primer |
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Written by Chad Cook
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Sunday, 17 December 2006 |
An Affordable Web Hosting Primer
Not all web hosting plans are the same. How do you decide on an affordable web hosting plan that will meet your requirements and still be within your budget? There are several factors that you should be aware of.
Cost is always a consideration. If you're just getting your site up and running, you don't have extra funds to spend on web hosting, so you'll want the most for your money. Look at a few providers and compare features.
What types of traffic allowances do the affordable web hosting plans you're considering offer? Some of the most affordable plans have more generous
allowances than the more expensive plans, while some have less. Be sure to select a plan that will let your site's traffic grow. Don't box yourself into an upgrade the moment your traffic starts to grow. There are many web hosting sites available that will permit moderate traffic with no extra cost.
What kind of disk space do they have available? Don't get in to a plan that won't support the volume you hope to do. Look at the statistics. Many affordable web hosting plans have lots of capacity and are not too expensive.
What is their service record? Are they down a lot, or seldom? This is an important consideration, because nothing chases away traffic more than "this page is currently unavailable." That message translates to lost traffic. Naturally, every web host requires maintenance time, so anticipate some time offline, but compare outage records.
You'll want to be able to go over your traffic statistics. Choose a web hosting provider that has a good traffic statistic reporting feature. You should have this information to target your advertising and analyze your traffic to keep your site growing. Many of the most affordable plans have easy to use, effective statistical programs that will give almost every user the information they require to properly manage their site.
There are a number of other features that you may be interested in. Many web hosting sites, including the affordable, low cost options, offer domain name registration and renewal as an aspect of their service. This reduces your responsibilities by another step. If they offer this service, take advantage of it!
There are lots of excellent affordable web hosting companies on the internet. One of the top rated is HostGator.com. For a low fee of $9.95 per month, you not only get service you can count on and a 30 day money back guarantee, but you'll be able to host any number of sites for this low cost. They also have a program called SiteStudio that assists you to set up your website without HTML or FTP.
Even more exciting, there is not setup fee.
Another popular choice is StartLogic.com. They have several plans that differ in price depending on the length of the plan you choose. Plans begin at $6.50-$12.50 per month. They include a marketing guides manual with every plan to help you get going on promoting your site. Although they are one of the latest providers, they are growing quickly by word of mouth, due to reliability and excellent customer service.
Naturally, there are many other options available when you're seeking affordable web hosting services. Compare plans and remember to factor in your site's growth when you're selecting a provider. Remember, the goal is to increase your traffic, so be certain that your affordable web hosting plan can handle it! |
