Types of Hosting
Once you have got set up with your domain for starting up your site, the next step is to find a service provider to host your domain.
There are four main types of hosting prevalent today
– Shared (okay for small starter websites, but less scalability or traffic handling capabilities)
– VPS (your own virtual nook in a shared server, better than Shared hosting, less traffic spike handling)
– Dedicated (dedicated server for only your website, costly but good, best for brands/corporations)
– Cloud (latest in technology, lot of scalability and options available, costly)
Why and when to go for Shared hosting?
You should opt to go for Shared hosting if :
– You are looking for an extremely cost effective solution
– Testing out your idea for traction is important to you, and if it will take some time before your site starts making any money
– You are looking for easy upgradation if required
– You can compromise on user experience on your site slightly in the initial months
However, it should be noted that shared hosting sites come at the bottom of the value chain for the providers – hence, the quality of uptime, as well as support expected would go down significantly.
So, a couple of dollars per month is not a big push for you, then, we will definitely suggest that you look at VPS servers for hosting your website, as you would get much better performance that way.
You can find the best VPS providers here.
However, there are a couple of shared hosting providers you can definitely look at, to test out the initial stages of your website, before you move on to better things.
What do we want in Shared Hosting providers?
The main factors that we are looking for are :
– Low downtimes
– Performance value for money
– Ease of set-up, and admin panel build quality
– Support, as shared hosting is prone to support requirement often
And the astonishing thing that we have found out is, many of the better content sites on the internet in this domain, are suggesting brands that are simply bad in their performance, mostly because of high marketing spends and big affiliate programs. Shared hosting is an area where new users must tread very carefully, as only a few providers would actually live up to their end of the bargain.
So, here we have not put forward many names, only three – that we believe can be depended upon.
SITEGROUND
Siteground has a wide range of offerings in the hosting space – they have been around for a while, and the overall market feedback is good.
PROS
– Well documented high uptime – they have a 99.9% uptime guarantee
– One of the few providers in this segment to have good performance constantly
– Cost is extremely affordable – their plans start at 4$ monthly for the first year
– Good support system
CONS
– Their rates become nearly 3x from the second year onwards
Siteground’s standard plans are as follows :
All things and options considered, we believe that Siteground has the best to offer when looking at shared hosting providers.
BLUEHOST
Bluehost is one of the more popular providers around when it comes to shared hosting services.
PROS
– Money Back Guarantee of 30 days
– High audience base
– Their admin panel interfaces are really good and easy to use
– Very cost effective – their plans start at only 3$ monthly
CONS
– Support, as per common user consensus, for shared hosting, is nothing to be thrilled at
– Renewal costs are 3x, as with Siteground
Here is a look at the various options for Bluehost:
Bluehost is a good option to try and test out the waters; especially, with the 30-day money back guarantee, you can always treat it like a free trail.
NAMECHEAP
Namecheap is an established name in the Domain-Hosting-SSL space, and they have multiple shared hosting offerings.
PROS
– Support is prompt and helpful
– Comes with free website builder and free SSL for the first year
– Reliable name in the space
– Cost effective – their plans start at 3$ monthly, renewal prices are the same, which is an added advantage
CONS
– Uptimes are good, but not thrilling
– Admin panel interface could be better
Namecheap has three shared hosting plans, namely :
- Stellar
- Stellar Plus
- Stellar Business (on Cloud)
If looking at stable costs in shared hosting, Namecheap is the best bet due to same renewal costs throughout.
Happy Building!
Do let us know if we can help, or if you have any questions. We are happy to help!
If you are looking for custom services, do check out our Services tab for solutions. We have tailor made long-term offerings for start-ups, personal projects, SMEs and brands; as well as standalone deployments.