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Why Cheap Hosting Isn’t Really Cheap

Michelle Givens 5/19/13 9:11 AM
05-May-Post

Cheaper isn’t always better! Especially when it comes to the web world.

Yes, you may need to cut costs; especially when the economy is so uncertain, but should you really trim costs associated with your web hosting service provider? I am glad you asked! I will let you decide after you read the list of pros and cons for cheap hosting versus the more premium alternatives.

Slow vs. Fast Webpage Load Time

Do you wait around more than a couple seconds for a website to load? Why do you think your customers will act any differently? Industry surveys have found that most online shoppers expects your webpage to load in two seconds or less, and after three seconds, up to 40% will abandon your site.

When you use settle for the cheaper hosting providers (GoDaddy, BlueHost, HostGator, etc.) You are put on a server with thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of other websites. Then you are expected to battle it out for with one another for the servers resources. This battling leads to very slow page load time.

In comparison, the more expensive hosting providers are only going to put only 100s of clients on one comparable server. Due to this, you are not fiercely fighting for resources. Your website, in turn, loads wayyy faster, which will keep visitors from leaving before your site even loads.Which option would you rather have?

Unlimited vs. Dedicated Website Resources

True of False: Unlimited resources is better than dedicated resources. False, dedicated resources is much better! You may be thinking, how are dedicated resources better than unlimited?? Ever heard the saying, “If it is too good to be true, it probably is”? This philosophy still holds true in the web hosting world.

The cheaper hosting options do provide A LOT of unlimited items these days…unlimited bandwidth, unlimited disk space, unlimited email address, etc. Well all of these unlimited items would be terrific, if you were not sharing them with everyone on your box. So, in essence, you are at the mercy of whoever is on your box! If one person decided to upload 10 Gigs of pictures, your site is going to pay the consequence.

When the premium hosting service providers limit your resource usage, the limitations actually help your website perform better. How? The limited/dedicated resources give your website its very own channel to use for web traffic. These dedicated resources keep you from fighting with other websites that are hosted on the same server box, which decreases your website’s load time and increases the responsiveness to your visitors instant need!

Generic vs Personalized Customer Support

How many times have you had issues with your website or email? How many times have you been super frustrated with the technical support offered by your cheap hosting providers?

With cheap hosting, you only have a 1800 number or a chat window. And ALOT of the time, these call centers are not located in the US. This can add to your frustrations!

In contrast, with premium hosting solution providers, you have a specific technical support team or personal contact that will resolve your issues. Enabling you to receive higher quality support!

Now that you know the top pros and cons of cheap hosting vs premium hosting…which would your prefer?