Cheap Web Hosting

Many Choices Available

Many cheap web hosting plans let you publish your own website for just pennies per day. For example, iPage offers packages starting at $2.50 per month and AvaHost offers packages starting at $4.95 per month. Yahoo also offers a paid version of its free Geocities hosting service that starts at $4.95 per month.

Unfortunately, choosing the right cheap web hosting service for your needs isn’t always easy. There are literally thousands of different discount hosting companies, so you’ll have to do some research to find a plan that offers the best blend of affordability and performance.

When to Choose a Cheap Web Hosting Plan

Generally, cheap web hosting plans work well for the following types of projects:

• Blogs
• Family websites
• Club or organization websites
• Small home based businesses

However, since discounted web hosting services generally offer minimal technical support and fewer advanced features than other plans, they’re not recommended for larger business websites. If your project contains pages that use a database function or involves several large audio and clips, you may also find a budget hosting service is insufficient for your needs.

Another drawback to cheap web hosting plans is reliability. While all web hosts will have occasional downtime, the most inexpensive plans will typically spend the most time offline. This probably won’t be an issue if you’re creating a website for 20-30 of your family members, but it can be a major concern if you’re planning a project that expects thousands of visitors per day.

Finding the Right Plan for You

Before you sign up for a cheap web hosting plan, you’ll want to compare the features offered by several different companies. Find My Hosting is a searchable database that helps visitors locate cheap web hosting plans. You can search for a plan by price, available disk space, server type, amount of data transfer, or the number of free email accounts included. You’ll then receive price quotes from up to 10 different companies based on your search criteria.

In addition to the technical issues that are relevant to your project, you’ll want to consider the following factors as you’re evaluating cheap web hosting plans:

• Price
• Set up fees and cost for domain name registration
• Whether the billing is on a monthly or yearly basis
• Technical support offered
• Restrictions on the type of content you can include on your website
• Availability of templates or other page design tools
• Cancellation policies
• How long the company has been in business

Although customer reviews can be helpful when choosing a cheap web hosting plan, don’t base your decision on reviews alone. Remember, no business can keep all of its customers happy 100% of the time. In addition, people are generally more likely to post negative reviews than positive comments. You’ll need to conduct your own research to determine if an unflattering customer review indicates a pattern of poor customer service or one person’s opinion.