Is Cheap Domain Hosting Worth the Cost?

Manipulated properly, almost anything can be sold at a bargain price. The thing is, once it’s been twisted and bent to work at a discount, you might well want nothing to do with it. Further, sellers can make their products look reasonably priced with heavily discounted “introductory rates” only to obscenely ratchet up the cost when “trial periods” end.

So, with all of that said, is cheap domain hosting worth the cost? Well, there’s “cheap” and then there’s “inexpensive.” While this delineation might seem tedious and superfluous at first, on close inspection it makes a world of difference. And trust us—you want the latter. Below we will share a few tips to make sure you are getting what you need without breaking your budget.

Loss Leader Pricing

That low-priced deal you took to get established was great. However, the hosting company’s hidden strategy was to take a loss on the first year of service, only to make it up and then some on all subsequent years. Even worse, to get that super low introductory price, you may have inadvertently signed a contract guaranteeing them as many as three years of business. Oh, and one of the clauses was an agreement to pay the full price of that three-year contract if you decide staying with them after the first year isn’t worthwhile. So, do yourself a favor and take a close look at your chosen service before agreeing to any digital contract.

Beware of Hidden Fees

Yes, that $5.00 monthly hosting fee looks great, until you discover it’s sitting on top of auto-renew and transfer out fees. Or you’ll be expected to pay a premium if you neglect to sign up for auto renewal. What’s more, once you find out you’ve been snookered and decide to move your domain elsewhere, you’ll be hit with fees that can triple the domain cost. Bottom line? Read the terms of service very carefully.

Nickels & Dimes Add Up

Yes, you signed up at a nice price. But, do you want ads on your site from people with whom you have no affiliation or derive any revenue from? No? Well, you’ll pay to make them go away. Do you want more storage or bandwidth? That’ll cost extra. Do you want a virtual private server? Yes? That’ll cost even more. What about support? Yep—that costs extra too.

Long story short, before you get excited about any number you see advertised, make sure you’re getting as much as possible of what you’ll need at that price. Otherwise, you might be setting yourself up for a far more costly experience.

Know What You Need Before You Shop

The best way to avoid these traps is to have a solid idea of your needs before you commit. If you’re running an ecommerce business, you’ll need robust security, a lot of bandwidth to handle traffic during peak periods and payment processing capability—at the minimum. If you just need an online brochure for your company, you can get by with a lot less. The key is to know what you need so you can budget accordingly—and make informed decisions.

Not every business is the same, nor are all domain hosting providers built according to your needs. While it might take a little longer to make a well-researched decision, it will serve you better than a knee-jerk reaction to seeing a low price tag.

When it comes to domain hosting, there’s a huge difference between cheap and inexpensive and you definitely want the latter. To see the difference for yourself, check out different domain hosting sites to figure out what each has to offer specific to your needs.