These days, staying offline is missing out on a ton of business opportunities. Thanks to the internet, the average business now has access to a global market pool. To leverage this global pool of customers, you need a website. Beyond having a great business, you need people to contribute to your business and one of the best ways for such visibility is the internet. In order to have a website on the internet, you’ll need a web hosting solution.
Simply having a website on the internet isn’t enough. You might think a simple landing page or a fancy array of pages should attract customers and rake in sales. But, having a website goes beyond a split decision to careful planning, execution and maintenance. Beyond design, a website must be secure and fully functional. From clicking an ad to conveniently placing an order and making payment, a smooth customer experience is what typically converts curious clicks to actual sales.
Building a fully functional website lies on one key factor, the web hosting server.
What is Web Hosting and Why It’s Important
Web hosting is the foundation of every website on the internet. Basically, it’s building a website on a server connected to the internet, through which internet users can access the website. Usually, a web server hosts multiple websites, and it determines how functional and responsive a website is.
Given that a web hosting server is what every website is built on, it’s a non-negotiable part of website development. The right web hosting server will optimize a website’s uptime, page load time, bandwidth, and security.
5 Things to Look for in Choosing a Cheap Web Hosting Solution
There’s a general belief that paying for a service often guarantees high quality features. But, this cannot take away the fact that there are also free and cheap services with premium features. And when dealing with web hosting solutions, there are lots of cheap offers with great features. Just like Cybernews’ review on the best cheap web hosting solutions prove, it’s not really about the price but the features. In fact, you’d find that there are a lot of cheap web hosting solutions that rival expensive ones. You just need to know how to pick the right one for your website.
Typically, different websites have different web hosting needs. For instance, a process intensive e-commerce website needs more web hosting features compared to a simple landing page. Hence, what may be perfect for one will be inadequate for another website. Here’s what to look for:
Why Your Web Hosting Choice Impacts Conversions
Before diving in, let’s be clear: every millisecond of load time you shave off, every minute of uptime you guarantee, and every security protocol you enforce directly affects your bottom line.
- Speed = Sales
According to Google, a one-second delay in mobile load time can drop conversion rates by up to 20%. - Uptime = Trust
If your site goes down, even for five minutes…potential buyers go elsewhere and may never return. - Security = Reputation
Data breaches erode customer trust and can tank SEO rankings overnight.
To optimize these factors without overspending, focus on the five key hosting criteria below and then pair your host with SegMetrics to measure exactly how those improvements feed into your funnel.
1. Uptime Guarantees: The 99.9% Standard
What is uptime?
Uptime is the percentage of time your site is live and accessible. Anything below 99.9% (which translates to 8.5 hours of downtime per year) can cost you hundreds or thousands in lost revenue.
What to look for:
- 99.9% (or higher) SLA: Many budget hosts promise 99.5%, but you really want 99.9% or better.
- Money-back or credit guarantees: If they miss the SLA, you should get a refund or account credit.
Why it matters for your funnel:
Every second your pages are unavailable, your lead gen forms go unfilled, sales pages go unviewed, and email signups drop off. Those gaps in your funnel aren’t just “downtime”, they’re missed dollars.
Pro tip: Once you’ve chosen a host, connect it to SegMetrics’ Server-Side Tracking to monitor actual revenue impact. That way, you’ll see exactly how improved uptime affects signups, trial starts, and paid conversions in real time.
2. Page Load Time: Keep It Under 2 Seconds
Why speed matters:
Studies show that 53% of mobile visitors abandon sites that take longer than three seconds to load and desktop users expect pages in under two seconds.
Hosting features that drive speed:
- SSD (solid state drives): Faster read/write times than traditional HDDs.
- CDN integration: Delivers content from servers closest to your visitors.
- Auto scaling resources: Spikes in traffic won’t slow you down if you have elastic CPU/RAM allocation.
Checking performance:
Run a free speed test on tools like GTmetrix or Pingdom. Then compare before/after metrics once you switch hosts.
SegMetrics insight: By using the SegMetrics Chrome Extension in your Google Ads and Facebook Ads Manager, you’ll see how page speed improvements translate into lower CPA (cost per acquisition) and higher LTV (lifetime value) over long nurture sequences.
3. Security Features: Never Compromise
Key security protocols to demand:
- Free SSL certificates (Let’s Encrypt): Encrypts data in transit, prevents browser “not secure” warnings.
- DDoS protection: Shields against traffic floods that can take you offline.
- Automated backups: Daily or hourly restores to get you back online fast.
- Web Application Firewall (WAF): Blocks SQL injection, cross site scripting, and other attacks.
Why it protects your funnel:
A hacked website can redirect visitors to malware, expose customer data, and destroy your brand reputation (and your SEO). Each breach is a funnel broken at its foundation.
Advanced tip: Integrate SegMetrics directly with your CRM or membership site. See our HubSpot or MailerLite integration to monitor suspicious referral spikes and immediately spot anomalies.
4. Bandwidth & Storage: Plan for Growth
Bandwidth = Data throughput
Measured in GB/month, this dictates how many visitors you can serve and how quickly you can deliver content.
Storage = Disk space
500 MB to 5 GB suffices for many blogs and small shops; 50-100 GB+ is essential if you host videos, high resolution images, or large databases.
Tips for right sizing:
- Start with a smaller plan (e.g., 5-10 GB bandwidth) and upgrade as traffic climbs.
- Choose hosts with unmetered or burstable bandwidth for sudden campaign spikes.
- Opt for hosts that let you add storage add ons without forcing a full plan upgrade.
Measure ROI: Use SegMetrics’ Stripe integration to tie extra bandwidth costs to real revenue from big launches or ad campaigns.
5. Pricing & Renewal Transparency
Cheap hosting often lures you in with super low introductory rates, sometimes as low as $0.99/month. But when it’s time to renew, prices can jump 3X to 5X!
Questions to ask before you commit:
- What is the renewal rate?
- Are daily backups or staging sites extra?
- Is domain registration included or an add-on?
- Do they charge for migrations off the platform?
Smart negotiation:
If you’re planning multi year commitments, ask for a longer locked in rate. Or negotiate developer packages that include premium features (SSL, backups, staging) for one flat fee.
ROI reminder: Even a $2/month increase is negligible if your improved hosting drives a 5% lift in conversions. Use SegMetrics to track that lift. Pull in conversion events and tie them back to your ad spend and email sends.
Bonus Criterion: Stellar Customer Support
Even the best hosts experience hiccups. What separates great hosts from not so great hosts is support:
- 24/7 live chat & phone
- Average response times under 5 minutes
- Dedicated account managers on higher tier plans
- Extensive knowledge base and tutorials
A friendly, knowledgeable support team turns a crisis into a quick fix, keeping your funnel flowing.
Insider hack: After you sign up, open a support ticket asking how to optimize PHP versions, caching, or cron job setups. Gauge their response quality to predict future support experiences.
Bringing It All Together with SegMetrics
Choosing the right cheap web host is the first step. The next is measuring how that choice impacts your revenue. That’s where SegMetrics comes in:
- Connect your host’s uptime & speed metrics (via Google Analytics or server logs) to track on site engagement.
- Map every ad click, email send, and funnel step back to an actual dollar value with our customizable dashboards.
- Optimize in minutes, not months and see how a 200 ms improvement in load time lowers your cost per acquisition (CPA) and boosts customer lifetime value (LTV).
- Forecast scale: Use SegMetrics’ cohort analysis to project hosting resource needs before your next big launch.
Final Thoughts
A budget web host doesn’t have to mean budget performance. By focusing on uptime, speed, security, bandwidth, pricing transparency, and support, you can secure a low cost plan that keeps your conversion funnel humming. Then, layer in SegMetrics’ revenue attribution to prove the ROI of every hosting dollar spent.
Ready to see exactly how your hosting choice fuels real revenue? Start your free 14-day trial of SegMetrics today.
