Budget Web Hosting - Are They All Created Equal?

Choosing a budget web hosting company can be overwhelming. In fact, choosing any web hosting company can be a challenge due, in large part, to the fact that there are so many of them. Do a search for "web hosting" with the quotes around the keywords on Google, and it'll return over 5 million documents! That doesn't mean there are 5 million web hosting providers but there very well could be at least 1 million! That's a lot of web hosts. How can you choose one that meets your need?

What is Budget web hosting anyway?

Budget web hosting is generally defined as any hosting service that is below $10 per month. The budget comes from the low price. Now, most companies in the budget web hosting category only offer one year plans. Most budget web hosting companies however, will quote you the monthly fee you would pay if you divided the annual fee by 12 months. Keep that in mind when you are comparing one company with another. The other thing to look out for is the setup fee. Do they charge you a setup fee to get started?

Evaluate your general impression of the company.

The first place to start evaluating budget web hosting companies is their front page. Does their website give you a sense that they are professional? Is it easy to find all of the information you need? Take a look at their contact information. Do they list a physical address, an email address and a phone number to contact them? If they don't provide any contact details, that has to throw up a red flag. If you run into problems setting up your website, and you have no proper contact information, how are you going to get service from that company?

Do they have a toll free support number?

Does the budget web hosting company provide a toll free number for you to contact them? If they are based in Atlanta, Georgia and you are in Seattle, Washington, you don't want to be paying long distance to them if you need to get them on the phone about a concern you have. A toll free number also speaks to their willingness to deal openly and honestly with their customers.

What kind of guarantee do they offer?

Choose a budget web hosting company that offers a good guarantee. Most budget web hosting companies don't openly publish their satisfaction guarantees. If you have to look in their terms and services agreement to find out where they stand with regard to giving you back your money if you are not satisfied, you should look elsewhere.

What is the uptime guarantee of the site in question?

Uptime guarantee refers to the amount of time the server is live and serving your web pages. An uptime guarantee of 99% means that the host guarantees that their servers will be up and operational 99% of the time. Over the course of one year, 99% uptime would represent a downtime (the one percent) of around 87 hours in a year or an average of 7 hours per month. An uptime of 99.9% would involve only 8 hours of downtime for the entire year.

What kind of after sale support can you expect?

While there are many other factors you could consider, the final one I will deal with is after sale support. What kind of resources do they make available for you. Find out if the budget web hosting company offers free scripts. Do they have any marketing tools they can make available to you? What kind of support for setting up your account can you expect from the budget web hosting company? All of these factors must be taken into consideration.

Just because a company offers a budget web hosting service, doesn't mean you necessarily have to compromise on features, quality or service. All three will only be found, however, if you make sure to do your homework to find a budget web hosting company that is a good fit for you.

This article was written by Joe Duchesne, president of http://www.yowling.com/, a business web hosting company that specializes in helping online business owners increase their website traffic. Copyright 2004 Yowling. Reprint Freely.

---

Criteria of Choosing an Ideal Web Hosting Company

Before we talk about what it takes to... Read More

Top 6 Ways to Promote Your Web Hosting Business Part 1

Promoting a new company in the crowded industry of web... Read More

Budget Web Hosting - Dirty Secrets That Can Squash Your Websites Chance of Success

When it comes to budget web hosting, there are a... Read More

Top 5 Mistakes that May Drive Your Visitors Away in Less Than 2 Minutes

You took the leap. You set up a website to... Read More

Handling Your Email Addresses

--Company Email Addresses--Web hosting companies should provide company email accounts... Read More

How Can I Get The Web Host Services And Support I Need, Hassle-free?

Choosing a host or switching hosts can be an agonizing... Read More

In Search of Webhosting: First Understand the Industry

In search of a webhosting company for personal or small... Read More

Setting Up Your First Web Hosting Account

The BasicsSetting up a web hosting account for the first... Read More

Solving Common Problems with Hosting Companies

For those of you with Web sites, you probably know... Read More

Unlimited Bandwidth in Web Hosting

Bandwidth explained:Bandwidth is the amount of data transfer that you... Read More

Are Free Webhosting Accounts Really Free? - 5 Critical Things to Consider Before Choosing a Free Web

Many free web hosting accounts are free to use, however... Read More

7 Key Points to Consider When Choosing a Web Host

With literally thousands of web hosting companies in the industry... Read More

Choosing Your Web Hosting Package

General rule of thumb is not to sign up for... Read More

Good Web Hosting ? What Is It?

With hundreds of web hosting companies to choose from today... Read More

Finding a reliable hosting provider

The website hosting business is very competitive these days with... Read More

The ?Website? CHECKLIST : Domains, Hosting, Web Design

This article is meant to all who already have a... Read More

What to Look for in a Free Hosting Provider

The first thing that you must realize when looking for... Read More

Avoiding Bad Web Hosts

The Internet represents the most powerful communication revolution since the... Read More

Linux vs. Windows Web Hosting, Does It Make A Difference?

One of the most confusing decisions someone new to web... Read More

Unique Features that Leading Web Hosts are Now Offering

Some web hosts are offering more than others for the... Read More

Dedicated Server vs. Co-location Web Hosting

So - you know shared hosting no longer cuts it,... Read More

GBs and Gbs of Web Hosting

What is web hosting you ask? Web hosting refers to... Read More

EBay Pictures Make Money

If you have ever used EBay then you know how... Read More

Types of Web Site Hosting

First of all we must determine the meaning of the... Read More

Web Hosting - How To Choose The Right Provider For You

Thousands of companies, tens of thousands of different plans and... Read More

Is Free Hosting Really Free?

Sooner or later, as everyone finds out, nothing in this... Read More

How To Choose The Best Web Host For You

Web Hosting is a service. Auto mechanics also provide a... Read More

How to Choose a Web Hosting Company

Web Hosting AdviceChoosing a web hosting company to host your... Read More

Dedicated Web Hosting : The Executive Summary

What is Dedicated Web Hosting? Dedicated web hosting can alleviate... Read More

How to Choose a Web Host - Frequently Asked Questions

In this article you'll be provided with helpful information about... Read More

How to Transfer Your Web Site to a New Web Hosting Service?

There are various reasons why an online business owner like... Read More

Web Hosting: Shared or Dedicated - Which Should You Choose?

Before you begin your search for a web host you... Read More

Advanced Hosting for the Mission Critical Web Presence

As companies that conduct their business online have proliferated, hosting... Read More