fuss-free-cheap-web-hosting-tipsCheap web hosting has never been more freely available than it is today, nor the market more competitive. With an increasing number of companies offering cheap web hosting, it’s worth considering a few things to make your life easier before you take the plunge.

As technology advances and cheap web hosting becomes more and more reliable, finding cheap web hosting that is of a good quality is no longer as hard as it once was.  There are, however, still a few things you need to be mindful of when signing up for cheap web hosting.

Being aware of these few things before signing up for a new cheap web hosting plan will make your life a lot easier in the long run.

1. Check out the cancellation terms

We’ve all done it. You’re that excited to start work on your new website that you plump for the first cheap web hosting package that you come across and sign-up. However, what happens if in six months you no longer need your website?  Or if the service provided by your host isn’t up to the required level? You’re going to want to cancel the web hosting agreement.

However, some cheap web hosting companies make this a lot more difficult than it needs to be.  Many will require that you telephone them to cancel rather than emailing or selecting an option in your account.  This can be quite awkward and time consuming, and when you call they’ll almost certainly try and keep hold of you.  So you may want to check the cancellation terms just to see how you should cancel should it come to it.

Perhaps more important though is to check out whether there are any charges for you cancelling your contract early?  While you will have a cooling off period after initially signing up, once that period is over you may be tied in for 12 months or longer depending on the deal you went for.  Always check this out.

2. Beware cost increases

When you’re shopping for cheap web hosting you will almost certainly see special offer pricing on new web hosting accounts with many companies. They represent fantastic value, starting from only a couple of pound per month.  However, read the small print.  There is a lot of variance in the pricing terms offered from one cheap web hosting company to the next.  Some will only give you the advertised price for three months, after which you will be automatically bumped up to the regular cost.

Others will advertise a cheap rate but you must sign up for two years or more to qualify, and pay upfront for this term in full.  Host Gator often run similar costing models to this.  If you select to pay monthly, you could end up paying significantly more.

3. What happens if you hit your limits?

It wasn’t all that long ago that breaking the limits given to you by your cheap web hosting provider would be easy to do.  Nowadays, providers do offer a greater amount of bandwidth and disk space, some even offering unlimited (NOTE: it’s rarely ever unlimited in the true sense of the word) of both.  However, what if you go over these limits?  Make sure you read the small print and check out what the limits are and what happens if you do breach them. Some cheap web hosting providers will slow your site down or perhaps take it offline, others will just charge your account an ‘overage’, the rates of which are nearly always higher than the general web hosting cost.  Be mindful of what happens if you use too much of anything.