Choosing hosting
Why cheap web hosting can cost your business more
Key takeaway
Cheap hosting can suit a simple website, but the advertised monthly price does not describe the whole job. Compare renewal costs, included services and your own time. Thunder includes AWS hosting, CDN, domain registration, SSL and daily website backups for NZ$55 + GST a month. Lightning adds everyday Arc updates for NZ$99 + GST.
In this guide
Start with the price after the promotion
A low hosting price is attractive, particularly when you are starting a business. Before choosing it, check the renewal charge, currency, GST and how much you must pay upfront. Compare the same twelve months of the service you actually need.
Some affordable plans include useful security and backup features. Others leave more work to you or your developer. Read the actual inclusions rather than assuming that every cheap plan is poor, or that a higher price automatically buys a better service.
A small bill can leave a long to-do list
Who keeps the website software current? Who checks a failed enquiry form? How do you recover yesterday’s page? How much effort does it take to replace an old team photo? A hosting account can be inexpensive while those jobs still take your time or a separate service.
Ask what a support request covers before you need one. Help with the hosting server, maintaining a WordPress plugin and changing the words on a page are different jobs. Your comparison should name each responsibility and any separate charge.
Shared capacity needs sensible management
Shared hosting divides server resources between websites. Providers can set limits to keep that arrangement working. GoDaddy’s own explanation identifies processing, memory and other resource limits, which vary by plan.
The useful question is how your website performs when customers need it. Ask about capacity and support, then test important pages. A crowded or poorly matched setup can cause problems, but a large picture or a complicated page can also make a website slow.
Shared hosting and website speed explained
Sources: GoDaddy: shared hosting resources and their limits (opens in a new tab)
Put a value on the time you spend
For an illustration, compare a hypothetical NZ$10 + GST monthly plan with Thunder at NZ$55 + GST. The difference is NZ$45 a month. If your business values an hour of your administration time at NZ$60, 45 minutes has the same value.
That is a way to think about the decision, not a forecast of time saved. Your existing provider may already include the help you need. Work out what you would pay and do under each option, then decide which arrangement makes sense for your business.
What the Lightning price buys
Thunder is NZ$55 + GST per website a month. Both Thunder and Lightning include AWS hosting, Amazon CloudFront CDN, free domain registration and DNS, SSL, platform security and daily AWS backups of website files and published content. You get the security essentials from the start.
Lightning is NZ$99 + GST and adds unlimited everyday Arc updates, subject to fair use. Text changes, your uploaded images and simple layout moves follow a private preview and approval. Complex separate work is assessed and quoted before it starts.
Choose a website service you will use
The investment makes sense when the service helps you keep the website working and current, with clear responsibility for the jobs you need. A useful website needs attention after launch. Choose a plan that makes that attention practical.
Start with your website address. We assess the move or rebuild and agree any one-off work first. Your website stays yours, and hosting billing starts when it is live with us. A free account lets you save your details while you decide.