What are the costs associated with owning a website?

Question:  I plan on starting a website and I was wondering what costs might be associated in doing so. I know about how much the domain name will cost me and I’ve already chosen my host. So, aside from this, are there any online related costs to starting a site? I’ve been hearing about this bandwidth thing, but I’m unsure if that’s for people who host their own sites or for everyone, like people that use hosting sites such as JustHost, WebHostingHub, and HostGator? All help is appreciated.

Answer:  A domain name is under $10.  The cheapest place to buy a domain name, including free privacy protection is NameCheap.  There’s a coupon code on that page.  You can also take advantage of the free domain name offer that most web hosting companies have when you buy a hosting plan, but I do NOT recommend that because you will NOT own the name, they will.  Should you ever want to move your site to another hosting company, you’ll have to purchase the name from them.  My advice is to always buy your own domain names.

The “bandwidth thing” you refer to is technically called data transfer.  It’s not just for the web hosting companies.  Shared hosting accounts that you and I buy from them also have bandwidth limits placed on them.  Every time someone visits your site, data transfer takes place when your pages and graphics are loaded from the web server to their browser.  Data transfer also includes ANY requests to and from the web server like email, FTPing files, publishing your site, etc.

Unlimited Bandwidth

Most shared web hosting accounts like those from the providers you mentioned offer unlimited bandwidth as long as your use is not excessive and abusive.  Out of the 3 companies you mentioned, I would select WebHostingHub or HostGator.  I have a Hub account and WordPress runs really well on it, much faster than any of my other hosting accounts.  HostGator is excellent, too, but costs more.  Both companies have A+ ratings with the Better Business Bureau.

Cost of Web Hosting

As you are probably aware that web hosting plans are purchased by the term, usually 12 months to 36 months and paid for in advance.  The longer the term, the cheaper the per month price.  You can easily get hosting for under $5 a month with a longer term.  I prefer to buy my hosting in 12 month increments because when the account renews, it’s going to be for another 12 month term.  If you were to buy 36 months, then in 3 years it will renew again for 36 months.  That can be a huge hit all at once, so I try to keep it more manageable.

2 year term at WebHostingHub is $6.95/month.

2 year term at HostGator is $7.96/month.

Other Costs

Other cost can include website design if you are unable to build your own site.  Purchasing images for your site from a royalty free image site.  Paying for custom programming if needed.  It all depends on what you’re doing with your site and you made no mention of it.  The cheapest way to build a website is to use WordPress.  It’s far more than just a blogging platform.  But WebHostingHub and HostGator have the WordPress software available for 1-click install in the control panel in the Fantastico software installer.