I was in the market for a web hosting plan. For bloggers like me, one cannot help but feel overwhelmed when you see the number of options there are to choose from. I chose from over 20. I chose Hostinger after carefully analyzing my requirements.
To tackle this challenge the first thing I did was evaluate my exact need. To do this I asked myself a few questions.
Do I have time to code my websites?
No, hence I need a plan which offers a website builder or comes with 1-Click App installations with WordPress. This brought the options down to below 20.
Will I blog for a the foreseeable future?
Yes, so I looked at providers who offer a minimum of 3 year term. The score now came down to about 10-12.
How much should I spend?
After reading numerous reviews I was able to figure out how much web hosting plans cost. Hence, I figured anything up to $2-2.5 per month, should take care of my current requirement. The score was now down to a handful.
The main challengers being Bluehost and Hostinger.
If I just compared the prices Hostinger trumped Bluehost with its shared hosting plan at $1.39 per month for 4 years vs Bluehost’s $2.75 per month for 3 years. On the other hand Bluehost offers data centers in India. To my surprise though the decision finally boiled down to one question.
Do I need a Domain and a “.com” one at that?
No, because I already had one. While looking for the best deal I noticed that domain names were dynamically priced and I was able to find a domain for as little as $6 per year on GoDaddy.
Hostinger offers shared hosting plans starting for as little as $1.39 per month (for a 4 year term). The renewal rate thereafter is $2.99 per month. You will get support for 1 website, 30 GB SSD, Free SSL, 1 Email account, Managed WordPress, support for approximately 10000 monthly visitors to your website and plenty of other features to tweak your website hosting environment.
Bluehost includes features like a Free CDN and 50 GB SSD but lose out because Hostinger works out more economical for the initial term as well as in the long run.
And the Winner is?
Once I had answered the above questions, the decision was obviously to go with Hostinger.
Have I been pennywise pound foolish? Time will tell.