How To Avoid Getting Ripped Off For Website Hosting
I’m an Australian, I was born here, I live here & I love Australia…
However, when it comes to purchasing a lot of necessary online services you need to run a website, the VAST majority of Australian businesses purchase locally, but would be horrified to learn that online services like website hosting, autoresponder/email marketing software and domain names cost HEAPS more when purchased locally, rather than in the USA.
For example, if you purchase a .com.au domain name from Australia’s main domain supplier, they will charge you $140 for a standard 2 year registration, which is an ABSOLUTE rip off! A little searching on Google will find several Australian domain name sellers who can provide the same .com.au domain name for $30-$40 per 2 years’ registration! Trust me when I tell you that a domain name from 1 supplier is no different than a domain name from another…
Even worse, this same company will charge you $75 for a 1 year registration for a .com domain name. Go across to the States, and you can find plenty of domain sellers who will charge less than US$10 per year for the same registration.
That’s just outright robbery if you ask me. They’re ripping people off and taking advantage of them, and worst of all, most people have NO IDEA it’s happening.
When it comes to website hosting, it’s just as bad, if not worse…
The above mentioned company has a basic hosting package for $25.94/month.
Or, if you jump over to our national phone company and look at their business hosting plans, they start at $39.95/month + a $64 setup fee!
One of their competitors has plans starting at $16/month, but their equivalent plan to my hosting provider in the USA costs you $299/month, whereas I pay US$9.95/month for more functionality, performance and support.
I have been running online businesses in 1 form or another since 1996 and I can GUARANTEE you that there is no reason to use local suppliers who rip you off when there are International suppliers who offer better service at much lower prices.
Living in Australia, we are at the mercy of companies like this who can almost charge what they want, simply because the buying public believes they have no choice. It’s much the same as mobile phone charges & ISP accounts – we get ripped off simply because Australia is a small “captive” market (like it or not, our 20 M population is miniscle compared to the major population centres of the world) and companies charge us (on average) higher rates than they do to our cousins in the UK, USA, Canada, etc.
So, to cut a long story short, if you’re in the market for low cost website hosting for your business, I recommend you consider the shared hosting plans provided by the company I have used (happily) for nearly 4 years now (I have a “Baby” unix web hosting package at US$9.95/month).
By the way, these folks have hosting plans that start as low as US$4.95/month BUT that’s if you prepay for 3 years. If you pay monthly (like I do), it’s US$8.95/month (this is their “hatchling” plan), and for only $1 more a month (ie US$9.95) you get the better plan which includes the ability to host unlimited domains on the one account, whereas the Hatchling plan only allows 1 domain.
You may only want to setup and host 1 website for the moment, but trust me when I tell you that $12/year extra is a miniscule price to pay for unlimited domains. You’ll be surprised at how EASY it is to have multiple websites using their service so there will come a time when you want that extra capability, so why not save yourself the hassle and just order the Baby plan straight up.
By the way, just to clarify something, these folks sell 2 different types of hosting – Web Hosting & Reseller Hosting. Do NOT bother with the Reseller Hosting option unless you’re actually planning to set up your own web hosting service. It’s not worth the extra cost AND higher learning curve!
