Shared Web Hosting

Shared Web Hosting is the cheapest class of paid hosting plan. It’s called ”shared” because your website shares a physical computer with many other customers. The server may have some speed quotas to protect each customer’s right to good service, but in general, one popular site on a shared host can effectively dominate lesser sites on the same host.

But with that said, there’s a lot to love about shared web hosting. It’s the easiest type of plan to manage. Your access is tightly restricted, and everything is set-up for you. It’s a straightforward service that suits many needs, but not all. Read on for help on how to decide of shared web hosting works for you:

Why buy shared web hosting: With shared web hosting, you’ll have everything your visual designers need, most of what your techie might need, and nothing else. Shared web hosting plans are the best choice for most personal websites and sites for small groups, like an activity club or a local restaurant. If your site only gets a few dozen visits per day at most, you might never outgrow your shared hosting plan.

Plan ahead! If the hosting provider promises easy upgrade to a VPS, and if you expect a few months’ build-up before your website sees heavy traffic, a shared web hosting plan is probably a smart buy.

Be sure to do the math before investing time and resources on using your shared web hosting plan. The addition of greater features when you upgrade later, may cause you to rethink, backtrack, and redo parts of your website. If that happens, you might spend far more on repeated techie help, than you saved by choosing shared web hosting!

What to expect: Most shared web hosts are capable of most of the same technologies, as the more business-oriented plans. The important differences are in:

1. Control – Admin and techie controls are limited in shared hosting plans.
2. Capacity – You’ll have less disk space, lower data transfer limits, and fewer features.

Bear in mind: as the customer choosing the cheapest type of web hosting plan, you may not get business-class support from your shared hosting provider. When you compare web host reviews, make sure to look for reports written by customers who bought shared hosting. They may have a different experience with a given host, compared to other customers.

Costs: With VPS plans becoming so popular, and hosting costs falling, a shared web hosting plan may be cheaper than you expect. Many of the top web hosts charge very low prices, year round, and provide excellent service.

Just remember, hosting companies often consider shared web hosting to be the ghetto of their empire – don’t expect hand-holding, extra-mile customer service efforts if all you’re buying is a shared hosting plan. Compare prices and features accordingly! The highest-tier shared hosts, with surprisingly good features and service promises, should cost no more than US $12-15 per month.