The Most Common Web Hosting Buying Mistakes

If you have been working with a website for a while now, the following list of common hosting buying mistakes may be a painful reminder of your past experiences.  If you are new to web hosting then this article will hopefully help you stay clear from making a hosting buying decision you may regret later.  This list is in no particular order.

Mistake #1: Not reading the terms and policies of the web hosting company
This actually has to be the number 1 buying mistake that people can make when looking for a web host.  All hosting companies are not created equal and will vary in what they offer and how they handle different situations.  For example, some will have an auto-renew policy while another web host may not.  One web host may charge a monthly maintenance fee while another may not.  Also, you want to sign up with a hosting company knowing exactly what their responsibilities are and what services you are getting. 

Mistake #2: Choosing the wrong type of hosting environment
Currently there are 2 types of operating systems that hosting servers use and that is Linux or Windows.  Now both are designed to host websites but they do it in different ways and require different types of web files which make them incompatible with each other.   About 98% of hosting companies use and offer Linux hosting servers so for the vast majority, this isn’t an issue.  But there are those that either require Windows hosting or somehow just ended up using Windows hosting and never knew it.  So they select a web host and later find out that there website is incompatible with hosting.

Mistake#3: Thinking that hosting is a cheap and safe online backup solution
This is related to what we mentioned before about not reading the terms and policies of the hosting companies.  Every single hosting company I know does not allow their hosting to be used as a storage or online backup solution for their home computer.  So, sorry, but you won’t be able to upload your entire mp3 collection or photo albums thinking it is nice and safe.  Web hosting is not configured or optimized to do this and it wastes valuable space and resources on the servers.

Mistake #4: Believing domain name registration fees or renewal fees are included in the hosting
It is all too common to think that web hosting and domain names are charged together when in actuality they are considered 2 different things.   Let’s say you have a domain name registered at Godaddy.com but your hosting is through Justhost.com.  So your domain fees would be billed and managed through Godaddy and your hosting charges would be done through Justhost.  They don’t work together to send you 1 bill.  Even if you got a domain from the web host it is not included all the time unless specifically stated that they do.  It is not a good idea to just assume.

Mistake #5: Purchasing shared hosting to do dedicated hosting tasks
Shared web hosting has limitations because each shared hosting server has multiple hosting accounts so certain things can’t be done otherwise the integrity and stability of the whole server could be compromised.  In contrast, on a dedicated hosting server there is only 1 occupant that controls and has access to the entire server so is able to do more.  So, for example, you want to run a website like Youtube and have a bunch of videos available for download, upload, and everything in-between, and another person on the server wants to create a an online auction site like Ebay.  Both sites will be fighting for server resources and there just won’t be enough. Both Youtube and Ebay have warehouses of their own servers to provide the resources necessary to host all those videos.

Mistake #6:  Switching from one web host to another means your website transfers over automatically
Unfortunately, this isn’t the case.  That’s like assuming that when you move from one apartment to another, that the new apartment management will automatically move your stuff for you.  So some web hosting companies will transfer your site for you but you have to request it.  Otherwise, all they are doing is providing you the server space and it is your responsibility of managing your website.

Mistake #7:  The low monthly price advertised means you pay month to month
Almost all web hosting companies will advertise their hosting pricing on a monthly basis but the billing is done usually on a annual or multi-annual basis.  Usually the longer the billing term you select, the better the pricing will be.  They only show you the monthly price as a marketing strategy.  Because $3.95 a month sounds better than $94.80 for 2 years.

Mistake #8:  Forgetting to look for a coupon
This is so easy to overlook but most web hosting order forms will have a place where you can enter a coupon code to get a discount or special deal on the hosting.  All you have to do is search for one online.  Just type in the web hosting companies name and ‘coupon’…it’s that easy.

So keep these simple but common mistakes in mind when you start your web hosting search and save yourself a lot of headache as well as money.