The Best Value for Money Web Hosting

I think too much emphasis is put on price when it comes to web hosting. Often, my point can be seen in the service you receive, for example, when a domain name is difficult to manage or transfer. Or your website or email is down and you can’t get an explanation or sufficient feedback.

Realistically, this is your online business you are referring to. But far too often it is treated as an “optional extra” and that the cheapest option is all that is needed.

If this is your online business, and both your email and website are important business tools, why is a pricing comparison so important? Fair enough, price wise, a web hosting company should be offering a market comparable solution, but does $5 or $25 or $50 really make a difference to your business expenses? In reality, this is what it comes down to. It isn’t a thousand dollar decision (or thousands of dollars)! Especially, considering your email depends on it, and more importantly, your website on which you may sell things depend on it! Don’t jeopardise the quality of your hosting experience with an inferior product, just to save a few dollars. Often, I see businesses marketing their site (or business in general) and spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on the marketing. What use is the marketing if the site isn’t available when the potential buyer gets there?

So forget about the pricing and look deeper into your web hosts’ (or potential web hosts’) offerings. Once you are comparing solutions that are in the same ball-park, shouldn’t it be the service that matters?

Firstly, what do you need? How critical is email and a website to your business? How important is it that you have control over your domain name (this is your online address and online business name where customers find you!)? What type of after sales service do you expect? Do you want to wait half an hour in a queue on the phone to get your problem addressed? And then wait another 24 hours for a response? These are all very relevant questions and a lot of the time they are overlooked. They are the differentiating factors between that $5 service and the more expensive offer. What is all of this worth to you?

Once you’ve established the fundamental aspects of your online business and what you expect from your service provider, then you can begin to look for the most suitable web hosting company.

NewSprout Hosting’s MD, Gavin Payne, has been Hosting servers, applications and websites for over 10 years, helping global companies including Telstra, Bidvest, VISA, AVIS, AT&T, Peugeot, BMW, Motorola and many others build their online presence. NewSprout is an Australian company offering website hosting, email services and domain name registrations to business and personal clients. For more information visit https://www.newsprout.com.au