Facebook , Instagram and its entire network of services, including WhatsApp , and even the internal communication tools themselves fell on September 4 for almost six hours. Although a month later saying 6 hours seems not to be so bad, in the influencer world it was lived like almost an eternity.
Although the directors of the giant founded by Mark Zuckerberg rushed to try to resolve the situation through messages ... on Twitter , in which they acknowledged the fall,
The several hours that elapsed between the interruption of the service, its reactivation and the explanation of Facebook led its users to other platforms and also to the proliferation of memes (many of them super ingenious). Well, taking it with humor wasn't bad.
Joking aside, the impact was powerful and very serious. Facebook is a key platform for its messaging, live streaming, virtual reality, and many other digital services.
In some countries, like India, Facebook is synonymous with the Internet. More than 3.5 billion people around the world use Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp to communicate with friends and family, distribute messages, and expand their businesses through advertising and content creation.
To find out more: There is already a company called Meta and it is asking for several million to give the name to Mark Zuckerberg
How does it affect influencer marketing?
This fall not only affected millions of users around the world but also content creators who live or supplement their income with their publications and collaborations on social networks.
In those six hours that served for millions of memes and jokes on the internet for others they became a source of concern, because, although taking a break from the world of Facebook was taken by a certain sector with relief, more than one wondered what would happen if Facebook , Instagram and WhatsApp do not return.
This outage delayed collaborations and sponsored content that were very well planned. Not being able to publish means a loss or delay of income for influencers.
Remember that Instagram, mainly, is the platform most used by influencers to make paid campaigns. Already a 2020 study assured that Instagram is the queen of marketing campaigns with influencers, especially with advertisers leaning towards profiles of less than 100,000 followers (89%), that is, by micro and nano influencers.
When they go offline, content creators not only lose contact with their audience, which negatively affects engagement, but they also lose their main source of income.
What should be done for the future?
Among the explanations that Facebook gave for this drop, it mentioned the interruption of internal communication tools, which hampered the platform's ability to respond to the crisis.
This is just a reminder that crisis communication plans must detail the infrastructure and secondary communication systems. If an organization is the target of a cyberattack and loses access to email, how will it be able to contact stakeholders?
What was clear is that even when the most important player in social networks falls, there are still others to take the lead because the dizzying social activity does not stop.
Meta plans physical stores to display its virtual and augmented reality devices
Last month we saw how Twitter , Snapchat and TikTok were perhaps the most benefited from this drop. Many influencers focused on these networks not only to maintain connection with their audiences but to fulfill their commitments to brands.
My advice to content creators is to diversify and always keep in mind that social networks are there to be used, but nothing guarantees that they can fail.
It is necessary that there are contingency plans to mitigate the losses that occur due to this type of situation. Brands and content creators should not only focus on one platform, but also be active on others, those that their followers are on.
Both brands and influencers should create their own emailing system to be in contact with their audiences, without depending only on social platforms.
If social networks have shown something, it is that there are always ways to reinvent, be creative and reach audiences wherever they are.
The term “good business” means different things to different people. Some simply equate it with the numbers on the balance sheet. Others view it more as the fair exchange of value between two parties that are mutually invested in each other’s success.
I’m firmly in the latter camp. The business leaders I’ve always most admired are the ones who act with integrity irrespective of what events or challenges cross their paths. Those who always do the right thing — unthinkingly, unquestioningly, and without exception.
An aspiration of equilibrium
For me, good business is about balancing your passion for serving your clients with retaining a healthy and growing enterprise. If either side of the equation becomes unbalanced, the asymmetry will create problems.
For example, if we’ve agreed to a cost structure and activity timeframe with a client and were to suddenly increase our pricing or alter our commitment to meeting specific deadlines, we’d be doing wrong by our client. That’s simply not acceptable.
Likewise, if our client suddenly pulled a project and we found ourselves with too many resources and not enough time to replace the workload without a gap, that would be unfair to us.
It’s always a delicate balance to manage — as life has a way of tossing you unexpected and unwelcome curveballs at times — but ultimately, good business is making sure all parties get their needs met without compromising the other’s well-being or eroding that all-important mutual trust.
Beyond cold capitalism
My company ”Grow More” operates in the global technological marketing, insights, and wellness for entrepreneurs, helping match the right treatments with the clients who need them. For me, good business means never trying to push people to consider products we know they don’t need or want. Sure, we could probably make our clients more money that way, but we’re inspired and driven by far more than cold capitalism and mindful of long-term benefits and impact.
Carrying yourself with authenticity and integrity in business also nurtures and grows trust. Clients who implicitly just know that you have their best interests at heart will be more accommodating; they’ll be less likely to complain about small human errors here and there. Additionally, they’ll sing your praises enthusiastically to their professional network. Indirectly, you’ve succeeded in creating your strongest brand ambassadors.
By learning how to believe in yourself, you will find the courage to take immediate action on your goals. And this, as you may know, is the key to success!
A fantastic step to take in building your self-confidence and believing in yourself is setting and achieving goals.
I encourage you to never compromise your integrity by trying to be, say, or feel something that is not valuable to you.
And – more importantly – never compromise your potential to grow with self-limiting activities or doubts. Embrace your confidence and believe in yourself because you really can do anything you put your mind to.
After personally experiencing the good that focusing on positive thinking can bring, I can confidently say your ability to believe in yourself can change your life.
The process of thinking and talking about what you want and how to get it actually makes you feel happier and in greater control of your life.
And when you feel in control of your life, you start to believe in yourself more and boost your confidence.
How to Believe in Yourself
Learning how to believe in yourself starts with thinking positively and vocalizing positive statements to yourself to build your self-esteem.
It also includes identifying what your highest values and aspirations in life are and setting expectations so you can be true to yourself — which will let you live your best life.
At the end of the day, believing in yourself doesn’t have to be a complicated process. Try some of these proven methods to help you believe in yourself and even boost self-confidence.
Focusing on positive thoughts and emotions will teach you how to believe in yourself. One way you can learn how to think positively is by adopting an optimistic mindset.
This means that no matter what happens in your life, you can look at it as an experience to learn from and use to make your life even better.
Being optimistic also helps build your self-confidence. Being pessimistic, however, tears down your self-esteem and prevents you from growing due to fear, lack of faith, or unwillingness to take risks. In fact, negative thoughts are the single biggest enemy that any of us have.
The key to eliminating negative thoughts and emotions is to take responsibility for yourself, your reactions, and your situation by having good values.
Your values in life determine your beliefs, about yourself and the world around you. For example, if you have positive values, such as love, compassion, and generosity, you will believe that people in your world are deserving of these values and you will treat them accordingly.
And when you believe in yourself and choose to be a good person, you will find yourself to be more positive and successful in your own life.
Think about this: Who do you know right now that you consider being a confident person?
Take note of the things they say and choose not to say the choices they make and the people they surround themselves with.
Do more confident people come to mind?
The reason this happens is by the law of cause and effect. If you act in the same way other healthy, happy people with positive attitudes act, you will soon feel the same way, see the same results, and enjoy the same experiences.
Perhaps one of the hardest things to do in life is to accept how extraordinary you really are, believe in yourself, and then incorporate this awareness into your attitude and personality.
But there is no one like you. You have unique contributions to share with the world that only you can give.
After all, we all have our own talents, skills, and abilities that make us extraordinary.
So one key to having confidence is by saying it. Tell yourself you have confidence, and then believe it.
Your thoughts become words and your words become your actions. So if you continue to tell yourself that you believe in yourself, eventually you really will believe in yourself.
Start by repeating affirmations such as, “I believe in myself,” every day.
It’s that simple.
Have the courage to accept yourself as you are — not as you might be, or as someone else thinks you should be — and know that considering everything, you are worthy to have the kind of life you want. You are an extraordinary person.
If you have positive values, you will believe yourself to be a good person. And, if you believe in yourself to be a good person, good things will happen to you.
When you expect good things to happen to you, you will be more positive, cheerful, and future-oriented. You will look for the good in other people and situations.
For example, if your value is that this is a good world to live in and you believe that you are going to be very successful in life, you will expect everything that happens to you is helping you in some way.
As a result, you will have a positive mental attitude toward other people, and they will respond positively toward you, helping you be a more cheerful and optimistic person that others will want to work with and for, buy from and sell to, and generally help to be more successful.
When you take steps toward building your self-esteem, your confidence grows and the natural outcome is that you start to believe in yourself. Use these six elements of self-esteem building to help you learn how to believe in yourself:
Goals
Setting clear, accomplishable goals gives you purpose and makes you feel good about yourself. Each step you take toward achieving your goals builds your self-esteem.
Standards
People with high self-esteem have high standards, and they make choices that are consistent with their standards. Develop values and ideals that you can be proud of, and make sure your goals are aligned with them.
Success Experiences
When you are setting your goals, write down the smaller milestones it will take for you to reach them. Each positive experience you have with success — large or small — will add to your belief in yourself.
Comparison With Others
Identify people you respect and look up to, whose standards align with the ones you want to have. As you progress, compare yourself to see how you measure up and get clues about how you can improve.
Recognition
Recognition from people who are important to you, such as your family members, boss, or mentor builds your self-esteem. Striving to achieve your goals will attract recognition.
Rewards
Along with recognition are tangible rewards. Your self-esteem grows as you work toward and receive a bonus at work, certification or licensure, an advancement in position or level of trust, or other status markers.
The more positive elements you have in your life, the easier it is to have self-confidence and believe in yourself even more.
Deciding to make small changes in your routine and surroundings can have a big impact on your ability to think, do, and feel positive. Two of the best ways to achieve this are surrounding yourself with positivity and reading self-confidence books.
Surround Yourself With Positivity
Your choice of the people with whom you live, work, and associate has more of an impact on your emotions and your success than any other factor. Decide today to associate with winners, with positive people, and those who are going somewhere with their lives.
Visualize positive things and set positive expectations for yourself, as well. Envision yourself accomplishing your goals, living the life you want to live, and being surrounded by what you want in your life.
Focus on, “what if I succeed,” instead of, “what if I fail.”
It’s also important to develop favorable health habits.
Eating healthy food, staying fit, and getting enough rest give you the energy you need to accomplish your goals and keep your mind clear and active.
When you are healthy, you feel good about yourself.
Read Helpful Self-Confidence Books
When it comes to building self-confidence, there are so many authors who have written about proven methods to help do just that.
Consider reading a few of these works to help you understand how to build self-confidence:
Do you want to skip the read and get right to my top picks? The best cheap web hosting service for most people isDreamHostorHostinger.
There’s no need to pay a fortune for web hosting if you’re launching a new website. Cheap web hosting will work just fine.
But how cheap is too cheap? There are a lot of attractive options out there. Separating the good deals from the scams is important.
If you are looking for a lowest price on hosting, there are really only one or two dozen reputable vendors to consider. That list gets even smaller when it comes to cheap web hosting plans that actually deliver good service.
Ready to get your site online for as little as possible? These are my top picks, followed by a brief guide to help you assess your options.
#1 – DreamHost Review — The Lowest Spend on Day One
Not everyone wants to sign a long contract for hosting, but you usually have to in order to get the lowest price. Typically, you have to pay the whole amount upfront, which can get expensive even when you are looking at cheap plans.
DreamHost offers similar discounts if you want to sign a contract, but if you don’t, DreamHost’s month-to-month pricing is the lowest out there.
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DreamHost Shared Starter is $4.95/month for one site. No contract necessary.
There’s really no way to get a lower price without a commitment. This can be really important for cash-strapped startups betting on growth. Instead of a big upfront spend, they can budget a predictable monthly hosting cost into the equation.
Freedom isn’t free, they say, and it’s especially true with hosting. Many young companies have found themselves locked into a long contract with no way out. Now they’re spending money on a service they don’t like at a time when every dollar counts.
With DreamHost, you can still get cheap hosting, but you don’t have any of the long-term risk that comes with a multi-year contract.
When you look at the month-to-month pricing for other plans on this list, there is no competition. A2 Hosting is $10.99/month, Hostgator is $10.95/month, and Hostinger is $9.99 with a $4.99 set up fee.
Bluehost and iPage don’t even offer plans without at least a year-long commitment.
All of these other plans are great, don’t get me wrong, but if you are looking for a no-contract option, DreamHost is the clear leader. Especially because you get such a solid range of features and free tools to build your site:
Unlimited traffic
50 GB storage
Free SSL certificate
Free WordPress website builder
Free automated WordPress migrations
Automated WordPress updates
24/7 live chat and ticket support
Like Bluehost, DreamHost is officially recommended by WordPress. The integration is deep and all of the updates are handled automatically. This is good for security purposes and saves you the trouble of doing it yourself.
So you can get all the benefits of tight WordPress integration without the commitment and large down payment required by Bluehost.
Now you might think that no contract would mean no money-back guarantee. The truth is DreamHost has a zero-risk 97-day money-back guarantee. That’s the longest time to try a web host that I know of.
If you need more than one site, and you want to pay month-to-month, iPage can’t help you. DreamHost offers a Shared Unlimited plan for $8.95/month that works for an unlimited number of sites:
If you just have one site, Shared Starter is all you need.
Stop worrying about when the honeymoon period of your introductory pricing is going to end.
Get DreamHost and pay a low, predictable rate each month. No more contracts, no more inflexible commitments. Just reliable hosting at a consistent price.
#2 – Hostinger Review — The Best Web Hosting Plan Under $1.50
Hostinger has the absolute cheapest price for hosting at $1.39 per month for the Single Shared Hosting plan. So what’s the catch?
You have to sign up for a 48-month contract, which sounds a little heavy. But, bear with me.
Four years of Single Shared is going to cost less than a single year of hosting through most other providers.
Seriously, other low-budget hosting plans are still twice to four times as expensive. Plus, the introductory rates you get with competitors might skyrocket when you have to renew. Once the honeymoon period is over, you might be looking at $10 or more each month.
With Hostinger on the other hand, your rate for shared hosting goes from $1.39 cents to $2.99/month upon renewal. That’s still a great price.
In other words, the Hostinger full rate is still less than introductory rates from other good cheap hosting options.
Okay, great. But I know you’re thinking the low rate must mean that there are annoying domain limits and few free tools to build your business.
Untrue. Hostinger is loaded to the brim with features and function.
Hostinger’s Single Shared Hosting plan supports one site, and includes:
100 GB bandwidth
30 GB storage
1 email account
Free SSL certificate
99.9% uptime guarantee
24/7/365 customer support
Optimized for WordPress with one-click installation
User-friendly control panel
Cloudflare protected nameservers
There’s no free domain name included, which isn’t a big deal if you already have one. Bluehost and DreamHost come with a free domain name for the first year, but higher per-month rates.
If you need a free domain name, more storage, or unlimited bandwidth, Hostinger lets you upgrade your plan while keeping costs low:
Say you need to move to Premium Shared Hosting to support another site. That will cost $2.59/month to start and $5.99/month when you renew. That’s not going to break the bank, and you can host up to 100 websites.
Hostinger does a lot to ensure that the service is easy to use. Set up takes minutes and absolutely zero technical skill.
If you ever have issues, Hostinger’s customer service is always available and has a phenomenal reputation. The company gets you in the door with budget-friendly prices, and keeps you around with quality support.
Choose Hostinger for the lowest per-month plan on the market. Try it today risk-free, as Hostinger will refund your purchase if you aren’t happy within the first 30 days.
#3 – Bluehost Review — The Best for New Sites (Especially WordPress)
There’s probably no easier way to get your new website off the ground than with Bluehost. And it won’t cost you much at all, as the company offers incredibly feature-rich shared hosting starting at $2.95/month.
For most people with a new site—especially if it is their first site—Bluehost is what they want.
If you are building a WordPress site, I really recommend checking out your options at Bluehost. The company is one of only three hosting providers that is officially recommended by WordPress. The integration is amazing and installation is automatic.
We’ll talk more about why it’s so good for WordPress in a second, but I want to talk about why it’s good for just about anyone with a new site.
First off, Bluehost has some of the cheapest hosting rates around. And even the most basic plans are loaded with features and value.
You get a free domain name for the first year. Not only do you get to skip that expense, but the convenience of registering your domain through Bluehost cuts down on the time it takes to go live.
If this is your first site ever, you will be grateful at how simple the process is. If you’ve built sites before, you will really appreciate everything that’s done for you.
For example, you get a free SSL certificate for your site,and enabling it takes one click on the dashboard. This is critical for keeping all of the information on your site secure and lets visitors know that the site is safe to visit.
You can get free SSL certificates from other places, but they will not be this easy to install, trust me. And you will have to renew them every couple months.
With Bluehost, it’s completely hands-off and you are always protected.
You also get a free content delivery network (CDN) through Bluehost’s partnership with Cloudflare. This is going to improve site speed and performance with near-zero work on your part.
Okay, so on top of the free domain name, SSL certificate, and CDN, Bluehost gives you:
50 GB storage
Unmetered bandwidth
24/7 customer support via phone and live chat
$100 Google Ads credits
Automatic WordPress installations and updates
Custom WordPress themes
30-day full refund if you aren’t satisfied
All of these features are included with the Bluehost Basic shared hosting, which starts at $2.95 per month. If you have to upgrade, prices stay affordable at the higher tiers.
You can even go for the second-most powerful package, Choice Plus, for the same price as the Plus package. Bot offer unlimited websites and storage, but Choice Plus comes with domain privacy included and one year of free automated backups.
One thing to be aware of is that Bluehost renewal rates are about two to three times higher than the introductory rate. This is why I recommend signing up for a long plan to max out the discount period.
Even at full price, though, Bluehost is really competitively priced compared to the field. This is especially true when you consider the long list of features you get and the ease of getting set up.
It’s as hands-free of a hosting experience as you could ask for and when you want to develop your site, all the tools are right there.
WordPress is automatically installed on Bluehost, for example. This means full integration and automatic WordPress updates.
With Bluehost shared hosting, you can use another content management system (CMS) besides WordPress if you want.
But if you know that you are only going to use WordPress, I highly recommend going with one of Bluehost’s WordPress Shared Hosting plans.
These start at $2.95/month, which is the same price as regular shared hosting. The difference is that the servers that have been optimized exclusively for WordPress. There’s no other type of software on them, so servers can be better configured and more easily protected.
If you have a new site in mind, make Bluehost your one-stop-shop for getting online. Get everything set up in a single place instead of having to go through a domain registrar. Best of all, you’ll get a great deal in the process.
So if you have a new site: Get Bluehost Basic shared hosting.
And if that new site is a WordPress site: Get Bluehost Basic WordPress hosting.
There’s a reason that more than 2 million sites are hosted through Bluehost. Find out why today.
#4 – A2 Hosting Review — The Best Web Hosting Under $3 for Online Stores
If you grow your ecommerce site past a certain point, the cheapest web hosting options won’t work. But, if you are just getting your online store up and running, there is no better budget-friendly option than A2 Hosting.
In fact, you can get everything you need to launch for $2.99/month with the A2 Startup plan. You’ll have to sign a contract to get the lowest rate, but you’ll be ready to go within minutes.
Along with PayPal integration, the cheapest A2 hosting plan comes with one-click installs for five of the top ecommerce platforms, including WooCommerce, OpenCart, and Magneto. There’s hardly any backend IT work to start selling.
A2 Hosting offers some of the best site speed and security for the price, which are really important for online stores.
Shoppers won’t stay if your content is slow to load. A2 takes care of all the technical legwork that goes into maintaining high performance servers. It’s compatible with Cloudflare’s free content delivery network, which can boost your speed as well.
Most shoppers won’t even come if Google says your site’s not safe. That’s going to happen if you don’t have an SSL certificate. A2 includes one for free, and it’s always enabled.
This is a huge perk, because you can get free SSL certificates elsewhere, but it’s on you to configure and renew them, which can be frustrating.
Most of the other security benefits are similarly hands off. The virus scanner, firewall, and brute force defense are on autopilot—you’ll receive notification if there’s something you need to do, but A2 handles a lot on its own.
And if you have an issue you can’t solve, A2 will help. Go read reviews. The company has some of the happiest web hosting customers on the planet. If you need to move your old site to A2’s servers, they have a team that will do it for free.
Some of the other excellent benefits of A2 Startup include:
100 GB storage
Unlimited bandwidth
Unlimited email addresses
24/7/365 customer support via phone, live chat, email, and ticketing
99.9% uptime commitment
Optimized WordPress hosting
DNS management tools
Website staging
Website staging is really useful for online stores. You can test new features and buttons on a page in a development area before pushing it live. This way you can see if anything breaks before it impacts your customers.
The A2 Startup plan is aptly named—it won’t be enough once your site matures. But by the time you’ve hit that milestone, your site will be bringing in more than enough money to justify the cost of upgrading.
I like A2 Hosting for online stores because of the speed, security, and generous limits on storage. 100 GB is twice as much as you get with Bluehost.
And if you aren’t happy with your service, A2 Hosting will refund your account within 30 days of purchase. It’s a true hassle-free money-back guarantee.
Your online reputation matters, so it’s a huge peace of mind to know that customer service is always there. A2 Hosting representatives are extremely knowledgeable. They will help you resolve issues quickly, before your online store takes a hit.
#5 – HostGator Review — The Best Way to Host Your Existing Site for Cheaper
When your current host jacks up the rates or takes a customer service nose-dive, you need to switch. Whatever the cause, there is no reason to pay for substandard hosting.
Hostgator will help you migrate your old site for free. This includes the cPanel, email accounts, files, databases, scripts, etc. They also include one free domain registration transfer, which saves a few bucks, too.
All you have to do is fill out a transfer form within 30 days of signing up. Hostgator will do the rest.
You get the free migration with any of Hostgator’s shared hosting plans, including Hatchling, which starts at $2.75/month with a contract.
With Hostgator, you can lock in a really low rate and get great uptime for less than you paid before. After the zero-stress migration, you get high quality customer support available any time of day by phone and live chat.
It’s cheaper web hosting, better service, and very few limits on what you can do. Some of the highlights include:
Unlimited storage
Unlimited bandwidth
Free SSL certificate
Free email
Free domain (or registration transfer)
One-click WordPress install
Free website builder
Free Google Ads and Bing Ads credits
The good news is that Hostgator provides tons of tools to help you optimize the content on your site and keep things running at top speed. The interface is very easy to use, which gives you complete control over your site and databases.
It’s comparable to Bluehost in a lot of ways, which I like better if you have a brand new site. But if you already have a website, Bluehost won’t move it over for free. Hostgator will. If you have more than one site to migrate, Hostgator will give you a quote for the cost, but the first one is free.
This makes your transition to cheaper hosting a lot easier. Plus, Hostgator offers a 45-day money-back guarantee. If you don’t like what you see, you have more than a month to jump ship without paying a cent.
#6 – iPage Go Review — The Best If You Have Multiple Sites
iPage Go lets you create unlimited websites for under $2/month. Every other plan on my list requires you to purchase an upgraded plan to support more than one site.
I really like iPage Go because there is one plan. Without tiered pricing, you don’t have to worry about upgrading your plan until you need something more substantial than shared hosting.
In other words, you can build as many websites as you want without having to stress about paying more to do more.
With iPage Go it’s unlimited sites, domains, and storage. Like similar “unlimited” offerings, your service has no hard and fast limits, but there are restrictions on how much your site can demand from the shared server.
So, when iPage says they offer scalable bandwidth, it means they aren’t metering the traffic to your site. You could still hit restrictions, but there is no set cap for the number site visitors.
Most people looking for cheap hosting for their websites won’t have to worry too much about these limits. iPage is able to support 99.5% of customers without any issues at all. In fact, the company will work with you to make sure you’ve optimized your site if you start to approach restricted usage limits.
In addition to providing the cheapest multi-site hosting option, iPage gives customers access to a ton of free tools to build and nurture their site.
You get a free domain name for the first year, along with a free SSL certificate. On top of that, you get free email with autoresponders. You can use the email provided, or manage your website accounts with Microsoft Outlook and other third-party apps.
iPage hosting includes a free website builder, which can help you customize the look and feel of all your sites. WordPress is a one click installation as are other popular content management systems like Joomla and Drupal.
For less than $2 per month, all of this is yours. Other benefits include:
24/7 customer service
Unlimited databases
One-click installs for OpenCart, Magneto, and PrestaShop
There is no month-to-month pricing for iPage Go. You can sign up for one, two, or three years. The longer the contract you sign, the lower the introductory pricing and renewal rate you get:
I’m not aware of another hosting provider who gives you a discount on your renewal rate for signing a long contract, so that is a unique perk.
As I mentioned, you’ll never have to upgrade to a different shared hosting plan. You get everything they offer with iPage Go. There are hardly any limits on your resources, and if your site gets too popular to be supported by shared hosting, iPage has some more powerful hosting solutions at competitive prices.
#7 – GreenGeeks Review — The Best Price for Managed WooCommerce Hosting
If you’re starting with a WordPress site (as many people do) and you’re looking to transform it into a potent online store, you ought to deploy WooCommerce. Sure, the plugin is free, but you’ll still need hosting and to manage your newly WooCommerce-enhanced site.
But, if you go with GreenGeeks, you can take care of all that in one fell swoop.
Much like A2 Hosting, you can get an affordable hosting plan that allows for an easy, one-click install of WooCommerce on your site. But, unlike A2, you get managed features like daily backups and automatic updates even at the lowest pricing tier.
Speaking of pricing, GreenGeeks offers three levels of managed WooCommerce Hosting:
Lite: starting at $2.95/month
Pro: starting at $5.95/month
Premium: starting at $10.95/month
The only drawback of that pricing structure is that the starting price is for a three-year commitment.
That could be a bit too much of a commitment for someone just trying GreenGeeks on for size or worried about massive, rapid scaling over that time. But GreenGeeks’ prices don’t jump up wildly for shorter terms, unlike some other providers.
For example, with the Lite package, a two-year commitment only raises the monthly cost $1 to $3.95/month. For a one-year term, it’s $4.95/month. Of course, month-to-month is the most expensive, but that rate of $10.95/month is right on par with A2’s base plan rate.
I mentioned above that even the Lite plan has daily backups and automatic plugin updates, but it also includes a free Wildcard SSL, unmetered data, a free domain name for the first year, and 50 GB of space for one website.
And, if you’re worried about scalability over the long haul, GreenGeeks’ Premium plan can put those fears to bed. With it, you get everything mentioned above, plus LSCache, LiteMage shop accelerator, a free dedicated IP, capacity for unlimited websites, and more.
All of this comes backed by some of the best customer support in the category. You can browse the GreenGeeks knowledge base or reach out to a rep via live chat, phone call, or email. Their phone center is available Monday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to midnight Eastern and GreenGeeks has a great track record of responding to any email request within 20 minutes.
What I Looked at to Find the Best Cheap Web Hosting
You’re looking for the cheapest plan out there, but you still need a dependable host.
There’s no shortage of budget-friendly web hosting options available. Each one promises great uptime, site performance, and customer support.
It seems like anyone can get their site up for less than the cost of a cup of coffee.
What’s the catch?
If you understand your options and pick the right one, there is no catch.
I’m going to guide you through saving every dollar possible without getting scammed or locked into a plan that you’ll regret later.
Use these four criteria to cut through the advertising gimmicks, rule out plans that are “too good to be true,” and hone in on the best deal for lowest price.
Price
When looking for web hosting in general, price is pretty important. But in looking at cheap web hosting, I’ve made pricing the most important criteria by far.
In other words, I asked myself: How can I get dependable hosting at the absolute lowest price?
Since you have to pay for hosting each month, even a few dollars’ difference between plans will add up over time.
I focused on web hosts with a rock solid reputation because their cheap hosting options don’t cut corners. These plans are no-frills hosting, for sure, but I made sure they cover all the essentials.
With some of the less reputable hosts out there, you can get a rock-bottom price and a rock-bottom experience.
The providers I chose have super-affordable plans that won’t cause trouble now, trap you into upgrading, or wind up costing a fortune down the road.
Contract Terms
Lots of web hosts might seem cheap at first glance, but you need to review the contract terms to truly get a sense of the actual cost.
To lock in the lowest possible rate, you’ll likely have to commit to a two, three, or even a four-year plan.
Importantly, these contracts are typically paid up-front and in-full.
That means that web hosting advertised at $3 per month could actually cost you upwards of $100 today.
Along with the length of the contract, you need to check the renewal rates. It’s common practice in the web hosting industry for hosting plans to skyrocket upon renewal.
Promotional pricing might cost $3 per month, but then automatically renew at something like $10 per month.
That would more than triple your rate upon renewal. Suddenly it’s not so cheap anymore.
Domain Limits
How many sites do you want?
If you add a site or two, you could accidentally get forced to upgrade and pay a lot more.
iPage, for example, lets people create as many websites as they want with their cheapest hosting plan.
With Hostinger, on the other hand, you’ll have to upgrade to host more than one site. That said, Hostinger’s next plan up is still less than $3 per month and you can build up to 100 websites.
Another important limit to consider is bandwidth. This is the maximum amount of data your site can transfer to users during a set amount of time.
Now there’s no such thing as unlimited bandwidth, but you are definitely going to see that advertised with a lot of the cheapest web hosting plans out there.
Why can they say this?
Because these are shared hosting plans where your site is on a server with a bunch of other sites. On a typical day, these sites are not going to use all of the server’s resources, so they say it’s unlimited.
The truth is that you will definitely still have limits on how much of the server’s central processing unit (CPU) your site can use.
Getting too many visitors to your site may exceed your CPU limits, and the provider may ask you to upgrade.
Shared hosting plans with unlimited bandwidth are perfect for cheap web hosting, just don’t equate it with unlimited visitors.
Free Tools to Build and Grow Your Site
You’d be surprised, but even some of the least expensive web hosting plans are packed with free tools and capabilities. Getting these freebies as part of a bundle can help you save in other areas.
Some of the features to look out for include:
Ad credits: free Google or Bing advertising credits to target your audience
Domain name: your site’s online address at www.your-domain-name.com
Email account: an address @your-domain-name.com
SSL Certificates: protects online privacy and lets visitors know your site is secure
Visual website builder: an application that lets even total newbies design beautiful pages
Everything that’s included with your hosting plan is something you don’t have to spend more money on.
It’s not hard to register your domain name, but if your hosting plan includes it, that’s going to save you $10-15 in the first year.
Getting a free professional email is another $30 in your pocket. The freebies add up.
Even Hostinger, which can be purchased for less than $1/month, comes with an email account, SSL certificate, and a website builder that requires zero coding knowledge to use.
Conclusion
You don’t have to spend very much to get your site online, but if you aren’t careful, web hosting can wind up costing a lot more than you think.
Choosing a reputable provider is the first step, but you don’t have to worry about that if you stick to my list of best cheap web hosts. These are all really well-known companies with a long history of dependable service.
GreenGeeks — Best price for managed WooCommerce hosting
To get the lowest per-month price, go with Hostinger. At less than a buck fifty per month, there is nothing else even close.
Of course, if you don’t want to lock into a long contract to get low rates with Hostinger, I recommend DreamHost. You can get high-quality hosting for less than $5/month without any commitment.
If you have a new site in mind and you want to get it off the ground quickly, Bluehost is the choice for you. It’s a little pricier than Hostinger, but still under $3/month. Plus Bluehost includes a free domain name for the first year (you’re going to need that for a new site), which saves another $10-15 right there.
If you have multiple sites to host, iPage should be your first and last stop. Unlimited websites for less than $2/month. Say no more.
Shortlist A2 Hosting for online stores. It’s well set up to handle the extra security and performance demands of ecommerce. If you’re running a web store on WooCommerce, think about GreenGeeksfor a little extra savings for comparable performance.
And if you are tired of your current hosting situation, let Hostgator help. They will migrate your site to their servers for free. Then you can start saving money and enjoying quality customer service again.
