A question often asked by first time website owners is “just how much disk space and data transfer / traffic” do I need for my website? While this really does depend on your site, for most small business owners the answer is probably not all that much. In general, your website’s files will be quite small, so a few megabytes of space should be sufficient. Your web traffic is also initially not likely to be very high, particularly until your site gains popularity and momentum.

Unlimited allowances

Certain web hosting companies offer unlimited disk allowances and traffic. You may be tempted to buy web hosting from them, but, the truth of it is is that this concept does not exist and it is merely a sales gimmick. We have an article about oversold hosting which explains why this is not a good idea, and why we won’t sell in this way. In a nutshell, they sell space you won’t use and tend to overload their servers with many clients, thus placing a massive load on the server.

Pick what you need

When deciding on web hosting, pick what you need. Many clients think that they should pay for a more expensive package to get a better quality of service. This is an absolute misconception. Our recommendation is that you always start with the smallest web hosting package that you can, and increase it as your needs change over time. We have a Web Hosting Picker to help you choose the best option.

Don’t forget about emails

Other web hosting companies offer very small web hosting packages. As we’ve already mentioned, your website is likely to be small, and traffic on your website low, at least initially, BUT, if you are also using emails at your domain name then every email sent and received counts towards your traffic allowance, so going too small here might be a problem. Remember too, that if you have your email set up to leave message on the server rather than deleting them when they’ve been downloaded, then that counts towards the disk space too, and that can grown very quickly (particularly if you’re super popular!).

If you need help choosing web hosting

If you feel lost and you need help, please contact us through our support system or post a comment here…