Many of our readers here at Hosting Versus have reached out to us about the cost of web hosting for a year.
Initially, we did not think such a piece of information would be worthy of a post or page as we figured out that it could easily be got – if one was serious about it.
However, with the frequency of this request, we immediately understood that we weren’t as right as we had hitherto imagined.
The reason for our miscalculation was that we had wrongly imagined that everyone of our readers has the same experience online as we have (as editors of this online publication).
Boys, were we dead wrong about this!
Realizing our mistake, we have decided to answer, via this short post today the very important question of web hosting cost for a whole year.
Web Hosting Cost For A Year: The Herculean Challenge
Publishing how much you are to have in your purse or wallet before you think of hosting a website online for a whole year is not a challenge.
As a matter of fact, we can easily offer that with the snap of our fingers 🙂
The challenge (and by this, we mean the real herculean challenge) is that, there is simply no single answer to this.
This is because, the hosting costs vary widely from host to host and even within the same hosting companies, the packages chosen ultimately determine the true cost to be paid – at the end of a calendar year (or to put it more correctly, at the beginning of a calendar year).
This reality is made worse by the fact that even amongst hosting plans that are equals (please, permit this coinage) the addons to a plan are what ultimately ensures that the price one pays for hosting per year either shoots right through the skies or remains reasonable on the floor (where anyone can comfortably access it).
This is the grand challenge.
To overcome this challenge, what we are going to be doing is that we’ll be using averages for this entry. Further, we’ll be making use of the most popular hosting plan type in the hosting world: the shared hosting idea.
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The True Cost Of Hosting A Website For A Year
The true cost of hosting a website per annum falls within the range of a few Dollars a year (possibly – in the region of less than 10 bucks, for first year only promotions) to the top tier pricing points, usually, north of 500 bucks.
For the very simple site that is probably a hobby, there is no point shelling out close to $500 a year in hosting costs alone.
This is especially true if you want to host just a simple site and are not particularly keen on large amounts of disk space or the speed and power larger plans ensure simply don’t interest you.
The logic is this: why spend more than a couple Dollars a year for something that is essentially a hobby, especially one with no monetization (or plans to that effect attached to it?)
On the other hand, cost of hosting a website (the shared hosting way) can easily be several hundreds of Dollars a year if you are interested in going professional, taking your blog or website more than just passing fun and are particularly interested in hosting more than just a single website per plan.
This, in effect, is the path you’ll need to tow if you have to go – and think professional.
Such hosting plans, it is clear, is not for everyday hosting. Often, this is an arrangement that those who are committed in the long run make.
Two Popular Examples (Of Two Extreme Price Points)
It will be smart to wrap up this article with two examples of very different price points – both extreme to each other.
HawkHost offers its primary hosting plan for only $3.99 a month. This charge translates to $47.88 for an entire year!
This, in our estimation, makes perfect sense and for a simple website that is hobby inspired, is perfect.
This plan is especially taken dead serious by us because it comes with free SSL for enhanced security on your site and importantly, the company, though small, spots super impressive support for its client base.
You can check out HawkHost’s offer here.
On the other hand, SiteGround offers its Geek hosting plan for about $11.95 a month.
This sum translates to about $143.40 for a calendar year.
With this plan, you get a plethora of offers such as free SSL, daily website backups, fast professional support and importantly, the ability to host more than 1 website on the plan.
For professionals, who are interested in the bigger picture as far as hosting is concerned or those who will simply want to take a look at the options available at this level, this hosting plan, with its ability to support more one website is the bomb!
You can check out what SiteGround has to offer here.
Please Note:
This particular plan of SiteGround’s, though super awesome, renews at $419.40 and not the initial $143.40 paid on signup.
It is an awesome thing to remember that 🙂
Wrap Up
Website hosting is an awesome thing – but it also doubles as dynamic.
This is why, the price points vary from plan to plan and from host to host.
Ultimately, what determines what plan you should opt for remains your needs and importantly, what you plan on using the hosting for, both in the long and short run.