INEXPENSIVE WEBSITE HOSTING SERVICES

There Are Now Many Good Inexpensive Website Hosting Services Available. Choose from This List and You'll Likely Leave Happy.

As I mentioned when discussing how to Choose a Hosting Service, you would be wise to use a paid hosting service. But, that doesn't mean it needs to cost you an arm or a leg. This list details some of the inexpensive options available today.

Eventually, if your website becomes a mega-site with mega-traffic, you will have to upgrade to a more expensive hosting plan. At that point, you will want to. Until then, go with one of these inexpensive options. I personally use the first service on the list: HostGator. However, all of them are reputable and inexpensive website hosting services.

Inexpensive Website Hosting Services: The List

HostGator - HostGator is one of the ten biggest web hosting companies in the world. They successfully host over 2.5 million websites. It only costs $4.95 per month to host a single domain with HostGator, if you buy a 3-year plan ($8.95 if you pay monthly, payable with credit card or PayPal). You can also host unlimited domains for $7.95 per month (for 3 years). This is exceptionally good, particularly if you want to register and host more than one domain name or website/blog. With the most inexpensive plan, you get: unlimited bandwidth, essentially unlimited disk space (you have no limit on the size of files, but you are limited to 250,000 files), unlimited subdomains and FTP accounts, unlimited email accounts, autoresponders, a full-featured control panel (cPanel), a SiteBuilder with thousands of templates, 24/7 support and a handy online chat service option, instant backups, free setup, a 99.9% uptime guarantee, and a ton more. From a technical perspective, PHP and Perl scripts are supported. WordPress blogs are easily integrated. Virtually all of the possible technical needs of a website or blog are easily provided for by HostGator. The two upgrade plans have still more features. You can even get your own free toll-free telephone number with the $12.95 per month plan. You can see a side-by-side comparison of the planse by going to www.HostGator.com. This is one of the best inexpensive website hosting services out there and the one that I think is the best overall value for most people.

FatCow.com - FatCow is environmentally conscious. All of their servers are powered with 100% wind energy. And, they are cheap. For $3.67 per month you get SSL secure servers, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited disk space, unlimited email, unlimited MySQL databases, unlimited hosted domains, and a free domain name. You also get access to their "Script Barn," which contains lots of easily installable scripts. Also included are search engine tools, online store building tools, Google Custom Search and Webmaster Tools, and much more. For the environmentally-minded and budget-challenged, FatCow is a "green" and inexpensive website hosting service. Get more details at www.FatCow.com.

HostMonster - HostMonster hosts 600,000 websites and also has 24/7 customer service. The most attractive aspect of HostMonster is that it provides just about all of the services HostGator does, but for less money. Their $5.95 (for 12 months) includes hosting unlimited domains, unlimited bandwidth, and unlimited disk space. It also provides a cPanel, one-click installation for 50+ scripts, 99.9% uptime guarantee, a SiteBuilder with templates, unlimited email accounts, SSH, SSL, FTP, RoR (Ruby on Rails), CGI, Perl, PHP, MySQL, and much more. They include domain name registration in the cost of hosting and continue to renew the registration for the life of the acocunt at no additional charge. See all the features offered by this inexpensive website hosting service by going to their website: www.HostMonster.com.

1 and 1 - 1 and 1 is the world's largest hosting service. You get a proven track record and high reliability with them. Their least expensive option is $3.99. This option includes one domain and unlimited bandwidth. Disk space is limited to 10 GB. You can host 20 external domains and 25 subdomains, have 600 email accounts (with a limit of 2 GB of email space). An added benefit of using 1 and 1 to host is that they include privacy when you use them to register a domain at no extra charge. 24/7 customer service and a 90-day money-back guarantee are also provided. Although limited, most people will never come close to reaching the limits that come with 1 and 1 hosting accounts. Go to www.1and1.com to see if this inexpensive website hosting service is right for you.

GoDaddy - In addition to being the world's largest domain name registrar, GoDaddy also provides inexpensive website hosting services. Their least expensive plan starts at $4.99 (minimum purchase of 3 months). They also have $6.99 plans and $14.99 plans. However, only the $14.99 plan includes unlimited bandwidth and disk space. One benefit of choosing GoDaddy as your hosting solution (if you also chose to Register Your Domain Name with them) is that there is no transfer required. Your domain name and hosting will be through the same service, thus streamlining the process. Again, it is unlikely that a new website or blog will hit the bandwidth (data transfer) or disk space limits if you mainly have text content. However, if you have downloadable video or audio files, you might have your website temporarily shut down if you hit your limit. GoDaddy also provides many useful technology helps as well as excellent customer service. To see the technological capabilities provided with one of the GoDaddy hosting plans, go to www.GoDaddy.com.

Dot5Hosting - Dot5Hosting is an excellent option. For $3.95 per month you get unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited email addresses, unlimited domain names, a free (no additional cost) domain name, and over 140 do-it-yourself tutorials. They also provide blogging and forum tools, website builders, and ecommerce tools. Dot5Hosting also is compatible with CGI, PHP, Perl, .htaccess, RoR, and much more. This inexpensive hosting service is a real bargain at less than $4.00 a month. Go to www.Dot5Hosting.com to see if it suits your needs best.

Yahoo! Web Hosting - Yahoo is one of the biggest names in the world of all things internet. Not surprisingly, Yahoo! offers relatively inexpensive website hosting services. Through Yahoo! Small Business, you can get Yahoo! Web Hosting for $7.46 a month (for 3 months, $9.95 thereafter with year-long signup). With Yahoo! you get unlimited disk space, unlimited data transfer (bandwidth), and unlimited email storage. It also provides an entire suite of website design tools and 24/7 customer support. Also included is a control panel (cPanel), advanced scripting tools, database tools, support for third-party design tools, and exclusive online marketing discounts. Click the link to evaluate the details of Yahoo! Web Hosting.

One.com - One.com is truly an inexpensive website hosting service. Its base package is just $1.45 per month. That is difficult to beat. For less than a buck-and-a-half, you get 3 GB of disk space, unlimited bandwidth and email addresses, virus and spam filters, a photo gallery, a WebEditor and 3-click blog, FTP login and statistics, PHP5, MySQL, and a daily backup service. The drawbacks are that there is a $13.80 annual fee and a $6.90 transfer fee. So, if you had to transfer your website or blog to this host, the "real" monthly fee would be $3.18 per month. That still isn't too shabby. To investigate more, go to One.com.

Inexpensive Website Hosting Services: Conclusion

There are plenty of good, inexpensive website hosting services available. This list contains the best values that I have found. I feel confident recommending any of them. Eventually, you will have to move to one of the Devoted Website Hosting Services if your website or blog gains success. However, for the vast majority of people and online ventures, it is best to start with one of the services listed on this page.

Once you've decided on a hosting service, it is time to move on and understand Website Merchant Accounts.