What Differentiates Standard Hosting Plans From More Feature-rich Packages

In this article, we'll explore and understand what differentiates standard hosting plans from more feature-rich packages

By Claudio Pires
Updated on November 6, 2024
What Differentiates Standard Hosting Plans From More Feature-rich Packages

A hosting plan should include a file manager, FTP accounts, backup tools, and disk usage monitoring at its most basic. These plans normally come with MySQL databases and phpMyAdmin. They also feature add-on domains, subdomains, email accounts, email forwarders, autoresponders, and spam filters. In terms of security, one should expect SSL/TLS management, an IP blocker, SSH access, and hotlink protection. In this article, we’ll explore and understand what differentiates standard hosting plans from more feature-rich packages.

The essence of standard hosting plans

Standard hosting plans provide the physical or cloud-based space to store website databases, files, and other content. They frequently include email accounts linked with the client’s domain. 362.4 million names were registered across top-level domains in the first quarter of 2024, up by 2.5 million (0.7%) compared to the final quarter of 2023. Domain name registrations have increased by 2.1% or 7.5 million since 2023.  

Standard hosting includes domain name registration services and a certain bandwidth: the volume of data that can be transferred to and from a website. This is essential because it determines the number of visitors a site can handle simultaneously. For shared hosting, the bandwidth normally ranges from unmetered to 100 GB per month. This increases to 1 TB to 10 TB for VPS hosting and 5 TB to 20 TB for dedicated hosting plans. Bandwidth varies for cloud hosting. Depending on the package, it can go up to 5 TB or more per month.

To establish how much bandwidth you will need, you must multiply the average size of your web pages in MB by the expected number of unique visitors per month, how many pages each visitor views during their session, and the buffer. You should add a buffer of 1.5 to 2 for unexpected traffic spikes. To find out the average size of a page on your website, use a tool like GTmetrix or Pingdom.

Standard plans come with customer support via phone, chat, or email. In addition, they may include firewalls, SSL certificates, regular backups, and DDoS protection to secure a website and data.

Many hosts offer platforms or tools to help users build their websites, often on the drag-and-drop principle. Some provide one-click installations for WordPress, Joomla, and other popular CMS platforms. Users have access to cPanel or Plesk to manage their accounts, files, domains, and databases. If their website grows, they need to upgrade their hosting plan. 

A comparison with customized, feature-rich hosting 

A premium WordPress hosting plan will give you full control over the resources required. You can adjust and customize email accounts, SSD disk space, FTP accounts, and MySQL (or Maria DB) as needed. You don’t have to change your plan if you need more resources; simply scale up as your project or website grows. Adding SSD space or an email account is possible without interruption or complications.

The intuitive control panel makes modifying resources, monitoring usage. So, managing hosting easy. You don’t need advanced technical knowledge. Continue reading to discover what differentiates standard hosting plans from more feature-rich packages.

With custom hosting, you only pay for the resources you use. So, you can optimize costs and adjust your budget as needed. 

A feature-rich package may reasonably include smart hosting technology. Finally, automatically speeding up your website and improving its search engine ranking. 

FAQ

What services related to web hosting can attract more customers? 

WordPress is one of the most popular CMS platforms. You can offer specialized WordPress hosting with pre-installed plugins, optimized databases. So, automatic updates to attract bloggers, businesses, and small e-commerce stores. As a result, it differentiates standard hosting plans.

When a customer registers a domain, domain privacy services keep their information confidential. Many customers appreciate these value-added services for security and privacy reasons. In addition, gartner predicts that 75% of the world’s population’s personal data will be covered under privacy laws by the end of 2024.

How can feature-rich hosting packages be profitable? 

Customized hosting packages have several elements in common: a value proposition, a target group, and a smart pricing strategy. Moreover, the value proposition is what makes a package unique and attractive. It solves a specific problem for customers. So, It might involve more cores, memory, a high uptime guarantee, a lot of bundled features at a low price, fast website loading, etc. 

Claudio Pires

Claudio Pires is the co-founder of Visualmodo, a renowned company in web development and design. With over 15 years of experience, Claudio has honed his skills in content creation, web development support, and senior web designer. A trilingual expert fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, he brings a global perspective to his work. Beyond his professional endeavors, Claudio is an active YouTuber, sharing his insights and expertise with a broader audience. Based in Brazil, Claudio continues to push the boundaries of web design and digital content, making him a pivotal figure in the industry.