| The very obvious attraction of cheap hosting is | | | | thousands others who have had the misfortune |
| that...err it's cheap! | | | | of suffering the same experience! |
| But what is hardly ever discussed are the hidden | | | | 5. Lack Of Customer Support |
| costs of cheap web hosting which could quite | | | | One of the means with which cheap hosting |
| literally drain your pocket dry! | | | | services keep their prices dirt-cheap low is by |
| So first and foremost you should learn to | | | | cutting corners on essential services like customer |
| differentiate budget hosting from cheap hosting | | | | support. |
| though they both technically fall under the | | | | If your site happens to be parked on some cheap |
| category of cheap web hosting! | | | | web hosting server and you get into a jam that |
| Budget hosting classically ranges from $5 - $9 and | | | | needs urgent attention, then the following lists a |
| is generally quite reliable whereas cheap hosting | | | | number of very practical options you can |
| falls within the $2.75 - $3.50 dollar range! | | | | pursue:a) Cross your fingers and mumble juju to |
| The following list highlights some of the more | | | | voodoo the problem away (just kidding)b) |
| common problems associated with cheap web | | | | Contact customer support and say a prayer while |
| hosting: | | | | hoping for the best but expecting the worst. The |
| 1. Increased Website Downtime | | | | worst in this case being a very, very long wait |
| 2. Poor Server Response | | | | before you get a reply...if at all!c) Be prepared to |
| 3. Very Attractive To Spammers | | | | pay a hefty fee to get any help at all; that hefty |
| 4. Susceptible To Search Engine Ban | | | | fee is usually in the region of $20 - $35! |
| 5. Lack of Customer Support | | | | Management rightfully figures that if your |
| 6. Fly-By-Night Risk | | | | cheaply-hosted site is doing well and gets a |
| 7. Exposure To Infections (Viruses, Trojans etc.) | | | | problem, then you'll probably be very willing to |
| Let me elaborate in a bit more detail about these | | | | shell out a $35 fee to fix that $2.95 per month |
| little discussed hidden costs that almost always | | | | hosted site of yours! |
| invariably plague cheap hosting: | | | | 6. Fly-By-Night Risk |
| 1. Increased Website Downtime | | | | If you have spent any length of time online then I |
| One of the more common problems associated | | | | am sure you know how fickle transactions online |
| with cheap hosting is the increased frequency of | | | | can be. So it shouldn't come as a big surprise that |
| website downtime; in other words the amount of | | | | there are no lack of companies that are |
| time when your website is not available! | | | | here-one-day and gone-the-next. |
| This often occurs with cheap web hosting | | | | In the business such companies are called |
| services because all too commonly there are way | | | | fly-by-night for obvious reasons and the cheap |
| too many websites sharing a single server. It | | | | hosting arena is no stranger to this phenomenon. |
| doesn't take a genius to figure out the longer | | | | A lot of cheap hosting services fall under the |
| your site is down (in other words unavailable) the | | | | category of fly-by-night not because they are |
| more business and traffic you lose. | | | | necessarily out to dupe you from the get-go, but |
| 2. Poor Server Response | | | | because eventually it dawns on them that their |
| Another issue common to cheap hosting arises | | | | profit margins do not make for a viable business |
| (as mentioned above in point 1) because of the | | | | model. |
| huge number of websites loaded on a single | | | | What this means to you is that one morning you |
| server. | | | | could wake up to find that your hosting service |
| The end result of overloading a particular server | | | | has simply vanished in thin air! Once again there is |
| with too many websites is that it greatly | | | | no need to point out how painful this can be if |
| magnifies the server response time. This happens | | | | your site had started performing well! |
| whenever multiple browser requests are | | | | Once again this all boils down to sharing the same |
| conducted at the same time for a large number | | | | server as countless other websites managed by a |
| of sites hosted on the same server! | | | | hosting service that cannot afford state-of-the-art |
| The end result of this means that if a person | | | | defense software! If any one of those thousand |
| tried to connect to your website they will | | | | of websites on that server gets an infection it |
| experience the hanging browser phenomenon (a | | | | can spill over to all the rest including yours, like an |
| browser that takes forever to connect to a | | | | unchecked influenza pandemic! |
| queried site). Once again you don't have to be a | | | | What If Any Benefits Do You Get From Cheap |
| genius to figure out most people will rather | | | | Hosting? |
| abandon their attempt to access your site than | | | | Okay despite the bleak picture I have painted |
| wait forever! | | | | above it's not all bad news as far as cheap |
| 3. Cheap Hosting Acts Like A Spammer Magnet! | | | | hosting is concerned because vast improvements |
| Cheap hosting is very attractive to spammers for | | | | have been made over the past few years. Just |
| the very obvious reason that it is cheap! You see | | | | so long as you conduct your due diligence |
| web spammers make their money by | | | | (research) there is absolutely no reason why you |
| commanding an empire of thousands of sites, | | | | cannot acquire a good quality cheap hosting plan. |
| each one of which makes some money and | | | | It is a well known fact that competition in any |
| though that amount on its own may be | | | | business drives down prices and the web hosting |
| insignificant when totaled as a whole becomes | | | | arena is no different. |
| quite substantial! | | | | In fact it is actually a mandatory requirement for |
| Obviously to increase their profit margin | | | | any web hosting business of today that wishes to |
| spammers need to keep their expenses as | | | | grow and continue to be competitive to offer |
| minimal as possible which undoubtedly includes | | | | cheap hosting services! Why? Because there is |
| cheap web hosting! | | | | way too much competition to afford to do |
| Sharing hosting with spammer sites in and of itself | | | | otherwise! |
| does not necessarily jeopardize your website but | | | | There Is Cheap Hosting. And Then There Is |
| if your cheap hosting service happens to host | | | | Cheap Hosting! |
| thousands of those spammer sites then sooner | | | | If you are going to opt for cheap hosting it |
| than later your website is going to get: | | | | obviously makes sense to get your service from |
| 4. Penalized/Banned By The Search Engines (The | | | | a well established and reputable web hosting |
| Bad Neighborhood Phenomenon) | | | | company that has a proven track record rather |
| Okay let's consider a situation where your | | | | than some spotty hosting company that is little |
| website happens to be sharing the same server | | | | known! I mean cummon...does it make sense to |
| as that of thousands of spammer sites. In such a | | | | go for a $2.75 cheap hosting plan from an |
| scenario there is a very good chance that | | | | unknown web host rather than opt for a slightly |
| somewhere down the line your website will get | | | | more expensive option of $4.95 from a |
| penalized (or even banned) by Google when | | | | well-known company that you know will still be |
| invariably those spammer sites with which your | | | | around in a few months? |
| site is sharing cheap hosting get involved in search | | | | Because of their sheer size an established web |
| engine malpractice. | | | | hosting company is going to be able to provide |
| You see when your website is hosted on the | | | | state-of-the-art services like defense software |
| same server as other sites (shared hosting) you | | | | even for a budget hosting plan, something an |
| share the same root IP address as those other | | | | upstart web host certainly won't! One final |
| sites, and when a search engine gets fed up with | | | | consideration you should take into account when |
| spamming from a certain IP address it doesn't | | | | opting for a cheap hosting plan is whether your |
| bother going into details to weed out which | | | | web host provides a means for you to upgrade |
| specific domain is the culprit, it simply bans the | | | | your plan seamlessly if the need ever arises. |
| entire IP address. OUCH! | | | | That need will certainly arise when the traffic |
| Having your website tossed from the search | | | | volume of your website (bandwidth usage) |
| engines can be a very traumatic experience | | | | exceeds the capacity allotted it in your current |
| especially if that website had been ranking well for | | | | plan. Ideally you want to be able to upgrade from |
| keywords you had spent time and money | | | | a shared server to a dedicated server with |
| optimizing for. | | | | minimal downtime and as smoothly and painlessly |
| This by the way is not a hypothetical situation | | | | as possible. |
| and actually happened to me not to mention the | | | | |