Whenever you need something new for your business it’s a battle between quality and cost. You have to consider the budget, but you also want to make sure you get the best choice for your specific business needs.

This is a battle many small businesses face when searching for the right business hosting for their website. Sometimes, the cheapest business hosting isn’t the right choice. Here’s a quick look at some of the things you must consider when looking into low-cost hosting for your business.

First, Let’s Define Cheap

Before we look at what you really need in a business hosting company, it’s important to define what cheap is in the hosting world.

A decade ago, $8.95 per month was considered cheap. However, hosting prices have dropped significantly and now you can find hosting as low as $1.95 per month. Keep in mind, the cheapest business hosting may not give you everything you need.

What do you Need with Business Hosting?

When it comes to your business hosting, you don’t want to settle on a bad hosting company just to save a few dollars every month. When you start searching for the cheapest business website hosting, make sure you have the following included:

• Plenty of Resources – Most of the cheap hosting packages offered will give you unlimited bandwidth and domains. Some will give you unlimited web space, which isn’t necessary and not exactly accurate. Just make sure you get at least 50 GB of space. You can always upgrade if you need more space later.
• The Right Features – Without the features you really need, such as WordPress, cPanel or other features, the hosting is worthless. Make sure you get the features you need for your website plan.
• Excellent Customer Service – If the hosting company you choose doesn’t offer great customer service, they are probably not worth your time.
• Fast and Reliable Servers – The servers will make a difference and a hosting company with a reputation for fast and reliable servers is necessary for your business website.
• Great Technical Support – Don’t choose a hosting package without making sure you get 24/7 live technical support. This should be standard with any hosting company worth using.

If a hosting package is super cheap, but doesn’t offer you all of these things, you need to find a better choice for your hosting.

Be Aware of the Bait and Switch

As you search for the best hosting for your business, you should be aware of the bait and switch. It’s common for hosting companies to run a promotion and offer you a great price for the first year or even the first few years. However, you need to be aware of how the price may change after the promotional deal.

Some hosting companies will only charge $1.95 or even $0.99 per month for the first year. Then, when your hosting automatically renews, it the price will jump to as much as $9.95 per month. They know how difficult it is to leave one hosting company for another, so they just hope you will renew with them for the higher price.

When you start searching for the cheapest business hosting, there are many factors to consider. Make sure you get all the resources, features, service and support you need without overpaying. Most of the top shared hosting packages for businesses will still fall between the $7 and $10 range per month.