Are You Over-Paying for Your Web Host Service?
The decision to start a web site is usually accompanied by a great sense of pride, excitement and anticipation - as it should be! But sometimes that excitement and anticipation can lead you to an unrealistic assessment of just how much "service" you need from a web host service. Almost all web host service companies break up their service offerings into three packages (at minimum): a basic package, a mid-level package, and a high-level package. The names of these packages run the gamut, such as "bronze," "silver," and "gold," to "value," "business," and "pro." Basically, there are as many different names for these packages as there are marketing people to dream them up. But almost all packages have the following traits in common: a basic package will typically cost less than $10/month, a mid-level package will cost about $20-$50/month and a high-level package will cost maybe $100+/month.
What's the difference? Well, usually the higher level of service you buy, the more amenities you get, such as larger disk space and greater bandwidth, right up to the point where you can rent a full server all to yourself (those would be the highest-level packages, typically costing well over $100/month).
The fact is, most people only need a basic level of service because most web sites just aren't as complex as their owners believe (I am NOT talking about e-commerce sites - that is a whole different story, for a future article). Below are some of the most common mistakes I've seen with respect to choosing a web host package:
1. Thinking you need huge amounts of bandwidth from the start - a sort of "build it and they will come" mentality. The fact is, web host services offer plenty of bandwidth with their basic packages, and even a 100-page site that has many photos on it will usually only cause a blip on the radar (with respect to bandwidth usage). What web host companies are really looking for:
(a) Web sites that offer massive downloads files, such as mp3 files, video streams, or any other type of massive data transfer. A regular web site, even if it's packed with photos, is rarely a concern.
(b) Web sites that receive massive numbers of hits. Even a regular web page can take up a lot of bandwidth if it receives a massive number of hits - but keep in mind, we're usually not talking about "thousands" of hits per month; we're usually talking about "hundreds of thousands" of hits per month before you start pushing the edge of your bandwidth needs.
(c) Web sites that have a combination of (a) and (b) above.
2. Thinking you need huge amounts of disk space. The fact is, most web host companies offer anywhere from 3-15 Gigabytes of disk space with their basic packages nowadays - there is simply no need to pay extra for more disk space, unless you happen to be a professional photographer who needs to keep thousands of high-resolution photos on your web site. Photos used on web pages are usually quite small - 10-30 Kilobytes or so. Web designers use low-resolution photos so their pages load quickly; otherwise, you would be singing the Jeopardy song while you waited for all the high-res photos to load. The point is, a regular site is hard-pressed to use up even 1 Gigabyte of disk space, let alone 15 Gigabytes.
3. Going with an e-commerce web host service when you don't need to. Web host services that specialize in e-commerce charge more $$ per month because they bundle shopping cart services & support into their packages - fair enough. But if you go with one of these companies and you aren't doing e-commerce, then you're paying too much.
I'm not saying you shouldn't have big dreams of having 100,000 visitors/month to your web site - of course you should! What a great problem to have! Just keep in mind: Your web host service will be delighted to upgrade your service package to whatever level you wish, anytime you wish, and they typically need only a few minutes to upgrade you. Therefore, all I'm saying is: don't pay for a higher level of service until you actually need it.
All the best!
What's the difference? Well, usually the higher level of service you buy, the more amenities you get, such as larger disk space and greater bandwidth, right up to the point where you can rent a full server all to yourself (those would be the highest-level packages, typically costing well over $100/month).
The fact is, most people only need a basic level of service because most web sites just aren't as complex as their owners believe (I am NOT talking about e-commerce sites - that is a whole different story, for a future article). Below are some of the most common mistakes I've seen with respect to choosing a web host package:
1. Thinking you need huge amounts of bandwidth from the start - a sort of "build it and they will come" mentality. The fact is, web host services offer plenty of bandwidth with their basic packages, and even a 100-page site that has many photos on it will usually only cause a blip on the radar (with respect to bandwidth usage). What web host companies are really looking for:
(a) Web sites that offer massive downloads files, such as mp3 files, video streams, or any other type of massive data transfer. A regular web site, even if it's packed with photos, is rarely a concern.
(b) Web sites that receive massive numbers of hits. Even a regular web page can take up a lot of bandwidth if it receives a massive number of hits - but keep in mind, we're usually not talking about "thousands" of hits per month; we're usually talking about "hundreds of thousands" of hits per month before you start pushing the edge of your bandwidth needs.
(c) Web sites that have a combination of (a) and (b) above.
2. Thinking you need huge amounts of disk space. The fact is, most web host companies offer anywhere from 3-15 Gigabytes of disk space with their basic packages nowadays - there is simply no need to pay extra for more disk space, unless you happen to be a professional photographer who needs to keep thousands of high-resolution photos on your web site. Photos used on web pages are usually quite small - 10-30 Kilobytes or so. Web designers use low-resolution photos so their pages load quickly; otherwise, you would be singing the Jeopardy song while you waited for all the high-res photos to load. The point is, a regular site is hard-pressed to use up even 1 Gigabyte of disk space, let alone 15 Gigabytes.
3. Going with an e-commerce web host service when you don't need to. Web host services that specialize in e-commerce charge more $$ per month because they bundle shopping cart services & support into their packages - fair enough. But if you go with one of these companies and you aren't doing e-commerce, then you're paying too much.
I'm not saying you shouldn't have big dreams of having 100,000 visitors/month to your web site - of course you should! What a great problem to have! Just keep in mind: Your web host service will be delighted to upgrade your service package to whatever level you wish, anytime you wish, and they typically need only a few minutes to upgrade you. Therefore, all I'm saying is: don't pay for a higher level of service until you actually need it.
All the best!
posted by Vivian Black at
3:26 PM
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