1.99 Web Hosting: Should You Choose One?
If you want to create a website. First things first, you need a web host. This is obvious. Everyone online knows.
But when it comes to options, there are literally tens of thousands of hosts out there. With such a large number of options, the problem is no longer finding a host, but choosing one from the ocean. It really is a paradox of choice.
When it comes to choosing a web hosting service, the first criteria many will consider is price. Features come second, but it’s undeniable that price is the main reason here. It’s no surprise that many web hosts, from small to established with at least a decade of operation, are running promotions and offering to the world for less than a cup of coffee.
Even at a cheap price, 1.99 hosting services are setting a new low price record. Sure, it’s hard to expect dedicated server-grade performance and top-notch customer service from such hosts. And the features in their plans are obviously too promising, with unlimited storage, bandwidth and whatnot. But for personal websites or many small businesses just starting out with a website, the deal is good, not risky and the expense won’t even be noticeable.
Many of the companies offer unlimited storage, bandwidth, domains, and email accounts. Other features seem to follow hosting industry standards, with MySQL, PHP, Apache and Linux servers, or Windows servers. The default control panel for many Linux web hosts is the popular cPanel, while for Windows, Plesk is king.
Some 1.99 web hosting service providers even supplement their offer by offering a free or discounted domain registration. Typical domain registration will cost around $8.99 for .com/.net/.org, but these providers will offer a domain name for free or at a greatly reduced price.
While the deal is good, you may not want to host your high-traffic eCommerce website or blog on such hosts. It is not clear if the performance of the host server will be able to handle high performance operations required by an e-commerce site and a high traffic website.
When you choose a 1.99 web hosting service, it’s best to choose a company that offers a plan at that price along with several other higher-priced hosting plans. For a web host that only offers one plan at $1.99 per month, it’s clear they’re playing a numbers game with minimal profit margin in an already saturated market. It is still too risky to trust such hosts 100%, with the possibility of the server going down frequently or the hosting company disappearing overnight.
Another important thing to consider when choosing a host at that price is whether they will increase your fees on renewal, lock you into an annual contract, or lock your domain with just your host. Some web hosts tend to do that and it will be unpleasant for them to surprise you with higher fees when you renew the contract, or force your domain to be hosted only on their web host. After all, the domain belongs to you and you should be able to transfer it to any web host you choose.
The lodging industry is competitive. It should come as no surprise that many companies choose to offer such competitive prices and improve their services. This price war, in the end, is a victory for customers.