When you start an ecommerce business, you often face a slew of expenses all at once—costs for inventory, marketing, licensing, operations, shipping, and fulfillment, among others. One such expense necessary for building a robust, sustainable ecommerce operation is web hosting.
You can save money on website hosting by opting for a shared hosting service. With shared hosting, you share resources like server bandwidth and hosting capacity with other businesses. This can make a lot of sense if your site doesn’t currently experience massive amounts of user traffic.
A lot of the small businesses you shop with may use shared hosting services. Read on to see if this option could also be right for you.
What is shared hosting?
Shared hosting is a type of web hosting arrangement where multiple websites share the same web serverresources like storage, bandwidth, and processing power. Shared web hosting is a cost-effective solution for small businesses, bloggers, or individuals starting online stores—especially if you don’t expect to have a lot of initial web traffic. If you run an ecommerce startup, shared hosting services allow you to operate your online store without needing to manage server infrastructure. Popular providers of shared hosting include DreamHost, Bluehost (for WordPress), and GoDaddy.
How does shared hosting work?
In a shared hosting environment, a web hosting company partitions a single physical server to support multiple sites. The number of sites sharing a server varies and depends on the amount of traffic the sites receive. The shared hosting service grants each website a designated amount of resources, pooled from the same system, meaning the performance of one website can impact others on the same server.
The web hosting provider handles the maintenance, updates, and technical support related to its shared hosting servers. This makes shared hosting plans appealing to those without technical expertise. On top of this, shared hosting is almost always more affordable and easier to use than operating a dedicated server that serves only your own business.
Despite this, shared hosting services aren’t for everyone. Because all the websites must share the same resources, these arrangements are best suited for sites with moderate traffic and relatively simple resource needs.
Advantages of shared hosting for ecommerce
Sharing a hosting provider can make a lot of sense for an ecommerce entrepreneur who doesn’t initially need a lot of server bandwidth or disk space. Here are three key benefits of going with a shared hosting package instead of opting for dedicated hosting:
Cost-effectiveness
A shared web hosting service will almost always be more affordable than running and maintaining an entire server by yourself. Shared hosting costs start at around $5 per month and can go up to $20 per month, depending on the level of service you require. Even though you’re paying far less than you would for a dedicated web host, a shared hosting plan still gives you access to essential features like storage for website files, free SSL certificates, and basic security tools.
Ease of use
Shared hosting typically comes with a user-friendly control panel like Plesk or cPanel, which allows you to manage your hosting account and simplify your website management operations. These tools enable you to easily manage common attributes of ecommerce websites—such as product catalogs, payment gateways, and blog content—without requiring advanced technical knowledge. Plus, the best shared hosting services handle server maintenance, freeing you to focus on other components of your business.
Scalable to a point
While shared web hosting plans do have their limits, they also allow you to scale up as your business grows. Most web hosting companies offer different tiers with greater bandwidth and storage space. In some cases, you can switch to a virtual private server (VPS) or dedicated servers from the same hosting company that sold you shared space. When your website traffic increases, you can migrate to a dedicated hosting account without losing access to your website’s files or your cPanel login details.
Disadvantages of shared hosting for ecommerce
A shared hosting account can make sense for small businesses or individuals starting a personal website. However, it comes with limitations and drawbacks for large or rapidly scaling businesses. Here are some disadvantages you may experience when hosting your website on a shared server:
Limited resources
As the name “shared hosting” would suggest, you must share the server’s resources (e.g., CPU, memory, and bandwidth) with other websites. If you share a server with high-traffic or resource-intensive sites, you could see a detrimental effect on your site speed and overall performance. Your ecommerce customers could experience slower load times during peak shopping periods, which can negatively affect your customer experience and reduce sales.
Security vulnerabilities
Shared hosting environments increase the risk of security issues because one single server hosts multiple websites. If one site is compromised by malware or hackers, other sites on the server could also be affected. This poses a risk to sensitive customer data such as payment details. Think carefully before storing credit card numbers or other sensitive information on shared web servers. If your website will be handling sensitive customer data, shared hosting may not be the right option for you.
Potential scaling conflicts
Shared web hosting works great when your business stays small. But when you scale up, you can run into issues. Specifically, you may face restrictions on server configurations and software installations, and this will limit you if you require features like advanced caching or custom payment processing tools. What’s more, even the best shared hosting service may struggle to accommodate increased traffic and transactions, forcing you to upgrade to pricier hosting types sooner than you had planned.
What to consider when choosing shared hosting providers
- Included services
- Scalability options
- Ease of use
- Customer support and guarantees
- Industry reputation
Whether you’re building ecommerce or personal sites, you have a lot of choices among shared hosting providers. This means you can afford to be picky and demand a service that makes hosting work for your needs. When scouring the marketplace for a shared website host, prioritize these factors:
Included services
Shop around for features such as a free domain name, free domain registration, free website migration, and multiple websites allowed on the same account. Some providers also include tools like a website builder, email accounts, and support for many different content management systems (CMS).
Website owners with a programming background might want even more functionality. For instance, if you’re a fan of structured query language (SQL) databases (a particular type of system for data storage and retrieval), you can look for shared hosting providers that support MySQL databases. If you have a preferred CMS, look for providers that support it. For instance, if you know you want a WordPress website, choose a WordPress hosting service. Some providers may allow root access if you want to go under the hood of your web pages and implement custom changes, such as security measures, software modifications, and server settings.
Scalability options
Assess your hosting provider’s ability to handle traffic spikes during peak periods. Also, see if it offers higher tier plans that can accommodate a growing number of website visitors. You’ll find that many web hosts offer easy upgrades to VPS hosting or dedicated servers for heavily trafficked sites. Such plans may come with features like unlimited websites, unlimited databases, and robust server configurations to accommodate growth.
Ease of use
You’re an entrepreneur, not a systems administrator. Choose a hosting provider with a user-friendly interface like a cPanel account. This will ease your management of domains, databases, and email accounts and allow seamless integrations with third-party tools.
Customer support and guarantees
Reliable, 24/7 customer support will help you address technical issues the minute you spot them. Choose a provider with a responsive customer service team so you can repair your site with minimal downtime. These customer support agents should also be versed in your CMS of choice (e.g., WordPress experts for your WordPress site). You can also seek out providers that offer a free trial period or a money-back guarantee if you decide not to continue.
Industry reputation
Research how the provider compares to other shared hosting providers in terms of reliability, uptime, and customer satisfaction. You can do this by reading online reviews and testimonials. You can also ask fellow ecommerce entrepreneurs what services they use and whether they’d recommend them. Take advantage of trial periods so you can test out platforms risk-free.
Shared hosting FAQ
What are the different hosting options to consider?
Different web hosting options include shared hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, cloud hosting, and serverless hosting. Each option offers varying levels of control, performance, and cost.
What is the difference between shared hosting and VPS?
Shared hosting involves sharing server resources with other websites, while VPS hosting provides a dedicated virtual server with exclusive resources, offering better performance and security.
What is shared hosting vs. cloud hosting?
With shared hosting, multiple websites share the resources of a single server. Cloud hosting uses a network of connected servers to provide more scalable, flexible hosting solutions for multiple websites. Cloud hosting tends to cost far more than shared hosting services.
