Which Host Should I Choose?

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There are a lot of different hosting options, and which one you choose depends on a number of factors.

Basic Questions

  1. What domain name do I want?
    Some sites offer cheap .com domains, but charge a lot for .ca. For others it is the reverse.
  2. How much storage do I need?
    Many hosts will offer you a lot of storage for a higher fee. Realistically speaking, your average small-business website will fit into 50MB without any problems. A very photo-heavy site might be as high as 100MB, and a professional photographer may need up to 300MB. You are not likely to need more than this unless you are hosting music or video.
  3. How much bandwidth do I need?
    Storage is how much stuff you have. Bandwidth is how often you give it away.
  4. How often will I be hosting a new site?
    Most providers will give you up to 100MB of storage for a small fee when you register your domain name. That is a good deal if you are only mounting one or two websites, but if you will be mounting several (I have nearly a dozen) you are better off getting your hosting and your registration separately.

Finding a Host

As I said, there are a lot of options, and the plans they offer keep changing as they compete for your business. The best way to choose your host is to Google "low-cost web hosting" and see what's current.

Example

Suppose I want to host ten websites, each of which will need around 50MB of space. 8-95.com will let me host 24 domains for $8.95/month and will register each domain for $14.95/year. DotEasy will charge me a flat $25/year for registration and 100MB of storage. Domains at Cost will charge $2.95/month for hosting and $7.95/year for registration

  8-95 DotEasy DaC
Storage 50MB 100MB 250MB
Registration $14.95 $25 $7.95
Hosting $8.95/month/24 $0 $2.95/month
Per Domain-Year $14.95 + 12x$8.95/24 $25 + $0 $7.95 + 12x$2.95
  = $19.43 = $25 = $43.35

You're getting more storage with the other plans, but do you really need it? And the 8.95 plan looks cheap, but I only need 10 domains, not 24 — so my effective price per $8.95/10, not $8.95/24.

So let's do this again, and this time we'll shop around, registering the domain name through Domains at Cost and purchasing hosting from 8-95.com:

  8-95 DaC Combination
Storage 100MB   100MB
Registration   $7.95 $7.95/year
Hosting $8.95/month/10   $8.95/month
Per Domain-Year     $7.95 + 12x$8.95/10
      = $18.69

Realistically, there isn't much difference between $19.43/year and $18.69/year (or, for that matter, $25/year). The moral of the story is "don't spend a lot of time on this decision". Run a few quick calculations, make your choice, and then go on to more important things.

 

References

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