Last Updated on December 1, 2020
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Are you searching for cheap web hosting?
Every website builder comes to a point where they need web hosting. You could be building a website for an institution, your company or even a personal blog. Whatever the case, all websites need web hosting. This can be free or premium hosting. Therefore, accounts must be registered with any of the thousands of hosting companies across the world.
For beginners, there are several questions lingering in the mind that beg answers. Like, what actually do web hosts do? Where should one find a web host providing cheap hosting? And depending on your locale, some would ask for cheap web hosting in UK, for instance.
Whatever the situation and case in which you are, there are some things you need to know before you commit yourself to any cheap web host in 2020.
As a customer of any web hosting company, it may be prudent to learn a little about what you signup for. Of course, there is no need to get deep into technical detail to purchase web site hosting.
What is Web Hosting?
Every website requires web hosting. More than 2 billion websites exist on the internet. These sites have content in the form of information, images, audio, video and other types of content. All this content must be stored somewhere. Web hosting is actually the physical resources for your website on the world wide web.
So what web hosting providers do is give you access to their server space for your website content. Their business is to invest in servers and technology to take care of your website. They maintain the infrastructure as well as provide technology to make your website connect to the internet.
This kind of service will come at some premium which is dependent on the type of web hosting you request for. There are several types of web hosting as you will see later.
There is also free hosting. For example, WordPress has free and premium hosting. Though free web hosting may appear pretty goody for a startup, it has its limitations as will be shared later.
Types of Web Hosting
There are several types of hosting. Here we list four of them.
Shared Hosting
This is where your website is hosted with other websites on the same server. With a shared hosting plan your website shares server resources with other sites hosted by your service provider. Shared hosting plans are the most common and cheapest. Your domain together with other domain names on a server will share resources like Random Access Memory and Central Processing Unit.
The cost of shared hosting is low and it comes with helpful tools. Like one-click installs of content management systems, website builders and WordPress hosting. Shared hosting is a popular hosting solution among website start-ups. Due to shared resources, if one domain on the server has a surge, other domain names may be impacted negatively as well.
Virtual Private Server(VPS) Hosting
Virtual Private Server hosting is also a shared hosting. However, it’s hosting features imitates the functionality environment of a dedicated server hosting. This hosting plan is therefore in the middle of shared hosting and dedicated server hosting. Though not the cheapest hosting, VPS is popular among website owners in need of better reliability than shared hosting.
With VPS hosting, your website is hosted within its own space on the server. It offers relatively cheap hosting but provides control near to dedicated hosting.
Dedicated Server Hosting
Like the name suggests, dedicated hosting is exclusive to you. Website owners with dedicated server hosting have unfettered control of the server hosting their website. You are given full root and admin access. This means that server settings are completely under your management. You choose the software, security and whatever configuration you are in need of.
Dedicated hosting comes with high uptime rates and fast loading speeds. With all that kind of control you are given, dedicated server hosting can be very expensive. This kind of hosting is suitable for enterprise-level websites with more than 100,000 visits in a month.
Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting is kind of a hybrid version of a VPS. Individual servers combine together in a network providing resources to the hosted website. If one server goes down, the other servers will be available to provide the needed resources. In this way, even traffic spikes will easily be accommodated.
Cloud hosting has the advantage of scalability. As your site grows with time, the hosting is available to provide the required resources. Actually websites on cloud hosting boast of higher uptime rates. The pricing for this type of web hosting is normally according to your usage.
Understanding Web Hosting Terms and How They Impact on You
SSL
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. This is a security feature. It is a standard security technology that establishes an encrypted link between a web host server and a browser. In this way, all data passed between a web hosting server and a browser remains private.
Websites with SSL certificate have their URLs begin with ‘https://’ and those without this security feature begin with ‘http://’. For people using the Google Chrome browser, websites without SSL certificate are shown as ‘un-secure.’ Obviously, if your site shows like that, your would-be visitors will quickly bounce away and ranking your website in the search engines will be negatively impacted. Some web hosts ask you to pay for SSL certificate but most cheap web hosting companies provide this security feature free of charge.
Storage Space
Storage space is also sometimes referred to as web space or disk space. It is the amount of server space allotted to your website by web hosts. This is where all files associated with your website are held. These include images, text files, databases, and emails.
Most web hosts offer unlimited storage plans. This generally means that files associated with your website can grow as much as possible without attracting extra fees from the web hosting company. If you plan to create a large website it is prudent to look for a web host offering storage unlimited.
Unmetered BandWidth
Bandwidth is the amount of data transfer that occurs between your website and the end-users in a specified period of time. A web host normally provides this in gigabytes per month for their hosting plans.
So for a web host offering un-metered bandwidth, this simply means that no matter how much data is transferred from your website, you will not incur extra charges.
Uptime
What is website uptime? This is the time a website is available to be accessed by users over a period of time. This is mostly provided as a monthly percentage and dependent on your web hosting provider.
Due to several reasons, websites sometimes experience downtimes. The very minimal to which downtimes occur the better for your website. It is gratifying to note that there are cheap hosting services that offer record uptime for your website.
Load Time
Page load time is the average amount of time taken to download and display the content of a web page. We are living in a fast world and internet users expect an instant display of a web page. Delayed load time will affect user experience and will make you lose your web site visitors to your competitors.
Page load time is important because search engines like Google use it as one of the ranking factors. Whilst there are several factors that can affect load time, your web hosting provider also contributes to website load time.
Unlimited SSD Storage
Solid State Drive(SSD) storage is a technology to store data using integrated circuits assemblies. This is an advanced data storage technology. Web hosting services with SSD offers faster and reliable hosting over servers with traditional Hard Disk Drives(HDD).
Unlimited SSD Storage is an offer that allows you to grow your website without extra charge on this storage. Since SSD storage affects the loading speed of your website, it is prudent to choose a web hosting provider offering the SSD technology in their data centers.
1 Click WordPress Install
Web hosting providers are striving to make even first-time website owners find it easy to have their websites up and running in a very short time. WordPress is a popular content management system used by many websites.
Instead of letting you go through complicated ways of installing your content management system hosting services providers have simplified it by giving you a 1 click install facility. Once you have registered your domain picked your hosting company, all you do is go to the control panel and choose the 1 click install option.
Free Website Builder
A website builder takes away the pain of being tech-savvy in creating your website. No design and coding skills are required for you to make a stunning website. Website building is basically reduced to point, drag and drop. This way it today very easy for anyone to create a website and basically concentrate on the content than the technical aspects of it.
While website builders may come at a price, there are also some free ones. And a number of hosting companies are available that offer a free website builder.
Control Panel
This is a web-based interface that allows you to manage your website’s hosted services. You are actually provided with a massive set of tools to manage your website.
There are tools giving you control on Database Management Systems, server account management and mailing infrastructure management among other controls.
Free Cloudflare CDN
CDN stands for Content Delivery Network. Cloudflare is a CDN that provides certain advantages to website owners. These advantages include caching of your content which helps to improve web page loading speeds and a reduction in bandwidth usage. It also provides increased security by blocking threats before they reach your website.
Therefore a hosting company providing free Cloudflare CDN is an advantage and you should consider taking it up if it is being offered.
Linux Servers
Linux is an open-source operating system with a lot of functionality, robustness, and adaptability. A Linux server facilitates the use of powerful open-source programs like PHP, MySQL, Python and many more to build your website.
This does not mean you need to know Linux when you choose a web host providing Linux server hosting. The hosting company provides an interface through the cPanel that makes web hosting account management easy. That way, you are able to manage databases, email, domains and much more.
What is the Cheapest Way to Host a Website?
In your quest for the cheapest web hosting plan, there is one fundamental question you must answer. What is the purpose of the website you want to create? When this question is answered and the purpose is clear in your mind, finding a cheap hosting company should be fairly easy.
One cheap way to create a website is to find free hosting and a free domain. This, of course, comes with its own pros and cons. The basic plan for free hosting is likely to come with advertisements on your website by the hosting provider. You are likely not to have 24/7 support in case of technical challenges.
On the other hand, a free domain, even though cheap in a sense will come at the expense of not having an exclusive domain name. You end up with a subdomain. Meaning that the domain name of your provider will appear somewhere in the URL of your website.
The cheapest way to host a website is to seek free hosting and a free domain. But this option should be taken if the purpose of your website is tolerant to the cons of such hosting.
What is the Cheapest and Best Web Hosting Service?
Finding cheap web hosting service may be a daunting task, especially to a first time customer. But with just a bit of careful thought, you can get a cheap web host that will serve your interests.
Like mentioned before, the major consideration is the purpose of your website. Once you clear that in your mind, it should be fairly easy to settle for a particular hosting offer that will benefit you.
As you look at the cheap hosting offers available, your preoccupation should not necessarily be about the monthly cost. It is important to consider the fine detail. It is said the devil is in the detail.
Some cheap web hosting companies may offer starter plans that may be as low as less than $1 per month but renewal costs may be more than three-four times higher. Other attractions given could be a free domain, free SSL but again, these offers could be for a limited time. So as a customer looking at these plans on offer, you need to review them carefully and consider what is included in these deals to make a better choice.
Here is a list (in no particular order) of five cheap web hosting companies you may consider.
#1.
Bluehost is one of the widely recommended cheap web hosting providers. It services over 2 million customers worldwide and its customer service is reportedly very good. Though it’s services are cheap, has a record-breaking uptime and fast loading speeds.
Among their plans, the cheap one is the shared hosting plan. This plan comes with a free domain for one full year, free SSL certificate, access to their support team 24/7/365 and one-click WordPress install. The one-click install is also applicable to other website builders in case you are not using the popular WordPress.
At $2.95 a month, this cheap hosting plan does not come with unlimited storage but still provides a handsome 50GB storage space, unlimited bandwidth and provides for up to 5 email accounts.
Pros
- Excellent website loading speed and uptime making your website online almost 24/7/365
- Plans coming with a free domain name saving the customer money in the range of $10 to $15. This is excellent for a customer on budget
- Free SSL certificate and integrated security features
- WordPress has officially recommended Bluehost
- Services come with a 30 days money-back guarantee
Cons
- The cheapest price is tied to a long hosting commitment of 36 months. This means that the power to utilize this offer is capped if you want to go for fewer months
- The rate at which you renew the hosting plan reverts to original pricing
[su_button url=”https://bit.ly/2XIZMAa” target=”blank” background=”#51ef2d” color=”#120f0f” size=”5″ icon=”icon: arrow-right” icon_color=”#090808″]Go To BlueHost.com[/su_button]
#2.
A2 Hosting claims to have a blazing fast web hosting solution. At a monthly cost of $2.96 for shared hosting plans, it’s an amazing offer for anyone wanting to set up a website.
The shared hosting plans come with a pack of features. These include free SSL certificate, unlimited storage on SSD servers, one-click WordPress installation, 99.9% uptime commitment and 24/7/365 guru crew support. At the moment A2 Hosting is not offering free domain registration though this can change anytime. Despite that, they have superb discounts on their plans you will not notice there is a domain fee in the total package.
offers unlimited email accounts on their plans except the shared hosting lite plan which comes with 25 email accounts. Similarly, the lite plan offers only one website hosting while the other plans offer unlimited websites.
Pros
- You are allowed at registration to choose your preferred data center location
- Provides 24/7 phone, live chat, and email support
- High-performance SSD servers giving you fast loading speeds
- Anytime money-back guarantee
Cons
- The cheapest price is locked to a long hosting commitment of 36 months
[su_button url=”https://bit.ly/2wGpUj0″ target=”blank” background=”#51ef2d” color=”#120f0f” size=”5″ icon=”icon: arrow-right” icon_color=”#090808″]Go To A2Hosting.com[/su_button]
#3
With more than 40,000 clients, GreenGeeks is an eco-friendly hosting provider. GreenGeeks puts back 3 times the power it consumes into the grid in the form of renewable energy.
Features on offer from include unlimited email accounts, free domain registration for one year, free SSL certificate and an excellent uptime record. They also provide WordPress hosting.
For small websites and blogs that are just starting, GreenGeeks offers a starter plan at a monthly cost of $2.95. The company has the latest speed technology to provide enhanced loading speeds of client websites. Technology like SSD hard drives, inbuilt caching technology, and Cloudflare powered CDN services.
Pros
- Nightly automatic data backups
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Free domain name, SSL certificate and Cloudflare CDN
- Free site migration service
Cons
- The cheapest starter plan of $2.95 is locked to a 36-month plan and renews at the actual cost
- Setup and domain fees are not refundable.
[su_button url=”https://bit.ly/2FbEXpv” target=”blank” background=”#51ef2d” color=”#120f0f” size=”5″ icon=”icon: arrow-right” icon_color=”#090808″]Go To GreenGeeks.com[/su_button]
#4. DreamHost
Hosting over 1.5 million websites, DreamHost is a power-packed hosting provider that boasts of a unique 100% uptime guarantee. It is also another hosting provider recommended by WordPress.
DreamHost is a feature-rich hosting provider. Some features include fast SSD storage, pre-installed WordPress, free domain registration, free SSL certificate, and an extremely generous 97-day money back guarantee which almost any review of this hosting provider will talk about.
A review of their pricing shows a starter plan beginning at $2.59 a month. A check with other hosting providers indicates that DreamHost competes fairly well for the basic shared hosting plan and is one of the cheap web hosting providers available.
Pros
- 100% uptime guarantee
- Unlimited data storage and bandwidth
- 97-day money back guarantee
- One-click software installation
Cons
- Some hosting features may cost extra. Take care to read what you are signing up for.
[su_button url=”https://mbsy.co/wprPs” target=”blank” background=”#51ef2d” color=”#120f0f” size=”5″ icon=”icon: arrow-right” icon_color=”#090808″]Go To DreamHost.com[/su_button]
#5 SiteGround
SiteGround is a powerhouse hosting provider that almost every article on web hosting will talk about. Its performance and quality of support provided is superb even for the basic hosting plan.
Hosting more than 2 million domains, SiteGround has great features on offer. WordPress hosting, super-fast loading speeds, excellent uptime and offers one of the highest-rated customer support 24/7 by phone, chat, and ticket.
The startup hosting plan is pegged at $3.95 per month. With this plan, you host one website, 10GB web space and 10,000 visits per month.
Pros
- Extremely fast loading speeds and excellent uptime
- Free SSL certificate and access to Cloudflare CDN
- Free daily automatic backups and restore
- 30-day money back guarantee
Cons
- The low price per month is only for the first term and renews at the regular price
- The basic hosting plan is limited to 10,000 visitors per month. Beyond that, you have to upgrade.
[su_button url=”https://www.siteground.com/” target=”blank” background=”#51ef2d” color=”#120f0f” size=”5″ icon=”icon: arrow-right” icon_color=”#090808″]Go To Siteground.com[/su_button]
How Much Should I Pay for Web Hosting?
The hosting price is dependent on the type of hosting chosen. The prices per month, of course, differ for each hosting provider for a particular type of hosting. For example, in shared hosting, there will be a range in pricing from what ipage, A2 hosting, Bluehost or inmotion hosting could be offering. The common factor, however, would be that shared hosting is the lowly priced among the types of hosting service on offer.
The average costs per type of web hosting are as follows.
- Shared hosting – $2.65 to $15 per month
- Virtual Private Server(VPS) hosting – $15 to $80 per month
- Dedicated servers hosting – $80 to $750 per month
- Cloud Hosting – $4.50 to $250 per month
Where Can I Host a Website for Free?
There are several companies today offering free website hosting. If the purpose of creating a website will not be hindered by restrictions of free hosting, then go for it. Otherwise, free hosting comes with restrictions on bandwidth, uptimes, loading speeds, storage capacities among other things. Another major drawback is that your site will be a subdomain of the host.
Here is a list of free hosting providers.
- Wix.com – provides 500MB storage, 500MB bandwidth, and subdomain
- Weebly.com – provides 500MB storage, unlimited bandwidth, and subdomain
- WordPress.com – provides 3GB storage, 3GB bandwidth, and subdomain. Note that this is different from WordPress.org
- Bravenet.com – provides 500MB storage, 1GB bandwidth, and subdomain
Conclusion
With so much on the market, many people are searching for cheap web hosting to host their websites. Thousands of people, especially those setting up websites for the first time find it challenging to find cheap web hosting for their use. One major challenge is not knowing the meaning and implication of some technical terms they encounter.
This article has tried to break things down for the comprehension of even non-tech folks. I hope you have learned several things and you are now ready to find your own cheap web hosting provider.