Pros and Cons of Shared Hosting

Choosing where and how to host your website is a critical decision for any new business or budding enterprise. Getting it wrong can affect the functionality, speed, cost, and performance, and it can be difficult to know which is right for you. To help you decide, we’re going to walk you through pros and cons of shared hosting.

If you want to learn more about shared web hosting, check out our blog post here.

Shared hosting is by far the most popular hosting method adopted by new businesses. It’s cost effective, easy to set up and you can have a site up and running in just a few hours.

• Low cost - Shared hosting is by far the cheapest way to host your website. Most platforms will charge anywhere between $6 - $20 per month which gives you a fully functioning site and eCommerce store

• Simplicity and customization - Every single technical aspect of your site is handled by your data host, meaning any glitches and bug fixes are handled for you. Most platforms even provide intuitive web-builder tools that offer a huge range of customization options

• Easy support - Shared hosting plans usually come with 24/7 support. The solution to your problem is usually only a phone call or a live chat message away

• Scalability - Since you’re not restricted to space on just one server, you can easily scale up your operations as your business grows. Simply get in touch with your host and request an upgrade and changes can be made instantly

• User-friendly applications - You’ll have access to user-friendly tools like cPanel to manage your website. You don’t need extensive web development skills and every task is made simple for you

• You can host multiple domains - Shared hosting allows you to host multiple domains and email addresses and manage them all from one account. This means you can set up flexible businesses and operate multiple niche services

While incredibly popular, shared hosting still comes with the odd drawback. It’s not a great choice for large businesses, or those that get a lot of site traffic. Plus, it’s a little less secure than other options.

• System crashes - If you’re sharing your server space with other resource-hungry websites, this could cause your own website to crash. Make sure you find a reputable data host that sends usage warnings to users and has controls in place to prevent performance issues

• Performance - You can sometimes find performance issues and slow-down when using shared hosting. Again, this relates to the fact that you’re sharing space with others. Or, it may be due to an increasing level of traffic on your site

• Security risks - The nature of a shared server means that if one site on the rack is compromised by a cyberattack, the other sites on there are at risk too. You can mitigate these risks by doing your due diligence on a hosting provider

• Limited installations - In terms of site customization you’re limited to installing approved plug-ins. While there are hundreds of options, it still means you won’t be able to develop your own

• File permission risks - In some cases, if you incorrectly configure the permission settings on your files could allow other users of the server to access your data. Mitigate this by choosing a platform that has controls in place to prevent it

The important thing to remember about shared hosting is that it has its pros and cons just like any alternative. You first need to decide what the goals are for your website before you take the leap.

Shared hosting is particularly useful for small websites, new businesses, freelance entrepreneurs, bloggers and hobby sites. The combination of low prices and ease of use make it a great option for first-time website builders.

However, just be aware that if you’re operating a larger site, or are worried about bandwidth and space issues, you might want to give another service a try.