Is your web site hosting cost effective?
Choosing the right web hosting company is an important aspect in
cutting your web hosting costs down. The web hosting industry,
boosting several thousand web hosts, is still young and growing
at a remarkable pace; hence finding the right host is not only
difficult, but very time consuming; fortunately though it is
worth the time and effort. There are a few things to keep in
mind when exploring; when deciding to form a partnership with
the host. Below are just a few things to consider, which
directly attribute to final cost.
Bandwidth -- Figure out approximately how much bandwidth (data
transfer) your web site requires. As above, ensure you get more
bandwidth than your site uses. For example, if your website uses
8GB bandwidth per month, then choose a plan, which offers at
least 8 or 10GB bandwidth per month. This again will prevent
'spikes' of over usage, leading to higher extra costs. As a
reference, an average web site should pay no more than $3 per GB
for bandwidth usage.
Disk Space -- Knowing how much web space your web site needs and
compensating for a bit extra, for growth. For example, if your
web site needs 200 MB of disk space, look for the plan which
offers at least 250 to 300 MB of web space; this will prevent a
large unexpected bill at the end of the month when high priced
costs, charged by most web hosts for extra disk space usage, are
added on to your bill. As a rule of thumb, an average web site
should cost you no more than $1 per 10 MB
Add On -- Ask the web host if they have "Add-ons" facilities for
purchasing projected extra disk space or bandwidth. But, be
careful, if your web site needs only 2 GB extra bandwidth, you
may have to buy an extra package in blocks of 5GB bandwidth; in
this case, look for the host which will allow you to purchase
extra disk space and bandwidth allowance as per your needs, this
is crucial to cost savings
Caution: Ensure that you know the over-usage allowance rules;
you need to know what happens if your web site uses more disk
space or bandwidth than you have been allocated. The web host
who informs you of possible over-usage well in advance, allowing
you to take measures to reduce or budget for extra usage, is
'worth their weight in gold'.
No. of Web Sites -- If you have more than one web site, sign up
an account with a web host who provides multiple domains hosted
on one account; this will work out a lot cheaper than an account
per website.
A good tip would be to ask your friends and colleagues if they
want to host their websites with you on one account. For example
at M6.net a person or persons with 4 websites can save roughly
$20 per month by signing up an M6-2, multiple hosting account.
Databases and Scripting Support -- Ensure that all the
applications your web site uses (FrontPage, ASP pages,
databases, cgi, PHP, etc.), are supported within the chosen
account type. Find out if there are any extra fees for
particular applications or associated database support. For
example allot of hosts charge extra set-up fees to install
FrontPage, which may be avoided by choosing another host
offering the same features with no extra costs.
Mail Server -- Emails are the lifeblood of your online business.
Ensure that you get a sufficient number of email addresses with
your own domain name (preferably unlimited); these are necessary
for other email features like forwarders, and auto responders,
etc. There is no need to pay an extra fee for use of a mail
server as many hosts offer this service now for free, within the
hosting plan.
Avoid Long Term Contracts -- Many web hosts offer huge discounts
on yearly or half yearly payments in advance, this may appear a
good way to go, but note how long you are locked in. If possible
avoid long-term contracts until you are sure about the services
and reliability offered by that particular host. Paying on a
monthly basis obviously has its benefits. If there are concerns
with your service encouraging you to seek a new host elsewhere,
you may lose out on many months of hosting fees when breaking a
yearly or half-yearly contract; but, if the necessity arises, a
loss of only a few days to close a troublesome account, is
preferable.
Thinking ahead with reference to an established plan of action
will help you avoid most surprises, and definitely help towards
cutting costs, short term or long-term. Work out your growth
rate and project future expansions. Keep a good record of past
and present bandwidth and web space usage; this will help to
project future needs.
Savings are mostly a matter of common sense, but in this
industry of high technology most people forget this rule and try
to look for the best, most efficient and most expensive
technical programs and software to save them a buck or two. As
in most businesses good cost effective groundwork is the best
start to cutting costs.