Posts Tagged ‘Webhosting Companies’

There’s an old adage which states that “You get what you pay for”.

In most areas of life, and business, this holds true. Not necessarily so, however, in the webhosting industry. Often, you pay too much, and don’t get what you pay for.

Several weeks ago I got a call from a web designer friend of mine.

“John,” He said “You won’t believe this”.

He went on to tell me about a Plastic Surgeon he was redesigning a website for. This client was paying $600.00 per month for his webhosting account.

“The incredible thing is” He related, “I can’t get the current host to return my phone calls or emails”.

After looking at this clients needs, I was shocked to find that there was nothing special about his site that justified his being on anything other than a basic shared webhosting plan. We quoted him a monthly rate of under five dollars.

In this case, the client was being ***** by an unscrupulous host who was not only overcharging him, but not even providing the basic support he needed.

This is an extreme example, no doubt, but it all to often characterizes the poor deal which most website owners fall into.

Several years ago, there was no such thing as a webhosting industry. Nearly all websites were hosted by local ISP’s. The average monthly cost for hosting a website was $20.00 per month. Often, if you called the ISP with a technical question, they would tell you to buy a book or take a class.

Around 1996, we saw the emergence of a few “webhosting” companies. These were companies which were strictly committed to hosting websites. Using the economy of scale, they were able to offer incredibly useful webhosting packages for around $10.00 per month. What’s more, some of these companies provided useful tech support which was geared towards meeting a website owners needs.

Fast forward to 2005 and we now see the emergence of a new type of web host – the cheap webhosting provider. These are companies which offer hosting for less than $5.00 per month.

Generally, cheap webhosting providers are newer companies. There’s a reason for this. It’s extremely difficult for the older companies to lower their prices when they already have a large customer base which pays higher prices. They’d be slashing their gross, and most companies just can’t afford that.

So how do cheap webhosting providers offer such a low price to begin with?

Part of it is that servers, hard drive space and bandwidth are much, much less expensive than they were several years ago. Cheap webhosting providers capitalize on this.

Another part is that cheap hosting providers use a different business model than the older providers. Webhosting is a very competitive business. Until recently, web hosts attempted to compete by providing the most tools and features. The problem with this model is that not everyone needs everything. Most web hosts provide free backup services to all of their clients. Backups are costly, and not everyone needs or wants them, but everyone pays for them because they’re built into the cost of the package.

A cheap webhosting provider, on the other hand, might give you the basic features that everyone uses, but offer weekly backups as an available add on feature, putting the cost of backing up websites on only those customers who want that service.

This all sounds great, I know, but what about service? Will I get competent and fast customer support from a company which charges me $4.00 per month?

The answer, surprisingly, is usually yes.

Obviously, not all cheap webhosting providers will give you great service. But not all expensive webhosting providers will give good service either. Our Plastic Surgeon friend couldn’t get his $600.00 host to return his emails.

But, with a cheaper provider, the key for the providers success is customer retention. A savvy web host will endeavor to please his existing clients by providing the best support possible.

January 7, 2010 - 12:36 pm No Comments
John Pierce asked:




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Why Virtual Hosts are not Safe

January 1, 2010 - 5:08 pm No Comments

John Parks asked:


Individuals who are looking to create and maintain their own website find themselves faced with a very difficult decision: what kind of webhost or server to use. Some people opt to host the website themselves, as well, on their own private servers. While this is a great (and preferred) option for large companies and businesses, this option just isn’t feasible for the majority of computer users who are looking for website hosting. This is why these people turn to the internet to find the right company for their webhosting needs; and one of the more popular types of webhosting services is known as virtual hosting.

Through virtual hosting, multiple websites and domain names are hosted on one single server. This helps webhosting companies keep consumer costs low, as the need for multiple, expensive servers is eliminated. While this is becoming more common in the industry of webpage hosting, it does have its drawbacks – and one of the biggest is the issue of internet safety.

More webmasters and webpage hosts are becoming concerned with viruses and malicious web-based attacks; and rightfully so. Attacks such as this can cause companies to lose valuable data including customer records, employee records, and much more. These kinds of attacks can take many hours, even days to fix, and can end up cost a company quite a bit of money to get things back to normal. Because of this security has become a top priority to many. And for most of these people, the security offered by virtual webhosts is just not enough to meet their needs.

Because several different (unrelated) websites may be located on one server, malicious computer attacks or viruses that are aimed at one particular site may end up affecting the entire server. Now not only is the original target company paying for these attacks, but other sites that may have nothing to do with yours will have to deal with the same problems. This is what turns many people away from using a virtual host for their website.

Virtual webhosts are still an effective tool that can be used within a specific company or workplace, but by no means should it be used to transmit sensitive data out of one specific building. As long as all of the data and information on your virtual webhost is being shared only throughout your immediate organization, security is not that big of a concern – unless of course, you have a rogue employee.

There are many different options when it comes to finding a webhost for either your personal site or a company website; a virtual host is only but one choice. While many people find it meets their needs and specifications just fine, the security issues involved with virtual webhosting simply cannot be denied. If you are in need of a bulletproof security system to protect your company’s network, you should definitely look elsewhere. However, if you are looking to create a small, local network to share information with a handful of employees, a virtual webhost can achieve this effectively while still keeping your initial investment at an absolute minimum.

For more information on webhosting, visit http://www.domainhostingvirtual.com/



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Cheap Webhosting – What You Need To Know Before You Sign Up

December 28, 2009 - 9:45 am No Comments

Dean Shainin asked:


Webhosting is a service that enables you to upload and store a site’s HTML documents and related files on a Web server that can be accessed through the internet. Another term for webhosting is site hosting.

With a number of webhosting companies on the internet, it is sometimes hard to find the one that offers true cheap and quality webhosting. Before, you began to search for companies that offer cheap webhosting, it is important to know what exactly you are looking for. This includes your site features, internet programming languages, database connectivity features, email addresses, domain name, traffic you expect and many other considerations.

Some cheap webhosting services offer ‘unlimited bandwith’. This is a false claim since ‘bandwith’ refers to the amount of information between the hosting servers and the end user. Another important consideration in choosing a cheap webhosting is its support services. You must know how prompt the cheap webhosting company can address the problems you encountered. Do some research on the webhosting company’s website. Know how long they have been in operation. Then know if the company offers the service you are looking for.

If you purchase your own domain name, make sure that the cheap webhosting company supports them and they give you 1 email address. A number of companies offer 10 or more custom pop email accounts with unlimited forwarding address with sometimes no additional costs.

Linux based cheap webhosting services are usually cheaper that Windows, offers PHP and MySQL and telnet accounts. Linux is often used by cheap webhosting companies because Linux based languages and databases are free to install. Windows are usually more expensive that Linux, should support ASP, could have Cold Fusion, Access, SQL Server at additional cost.

It is hard to find cheap webhosting using Windows since it is expensive for a hosting company to purchase. Cold Fusion, Allair, SQL Server need to be purchased at quite a high price. Access is sold at a very minimal price. If you are looking for extra features in your Windows host then you should be ready to pay extra. If you are looking for a cheap webhosting service, then a Linux based service would be the one for you. However, if you are using Microsoft Access databases, a Windows based hosting service with Access support is a requirement.

When choosing a cheap webhosting company, you must check their support services, do some research from others and compare your requirements with that of the cheap webhosting company’s offerings before you take the plunge.



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