|
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
>> Return to Web
Design Article Knowledgebase Index
|
