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 raped 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.
About the author:
John Pierce is a technology writer and the Customer
Service Manager for Gold Zero Web
Hosting - http://goldzero.com-and the Webmaster
for Cheap Webhosting Info Guide - http://cheapwebhostinginfo.com
