A cheap domain and hosting bundle is worth buying when the low price survives renewal, the domain is registered in your business's name, and the hosting includes the things your site actually needs. A free first-year domain can save a little. It cannot make up for weak support, tiny resource limits or a renewal bill you did not budget for.
For a South African small business, compare the total cost over at least two years. Include the hosting term, domain registration and renewal, email, SSL, backups, migrations and any fee to restore or move the service later.
Key takeaways
- A domain and web hosting are separate services, even when one provider sells them together.
- Compare the first invoice and the renewal invoice. The cheapest headline price is often conditional on a longer billing term.
- Make sure your business is the domain registrant and controls the account, recovery email and DNS.
- Check the number of websites, storage, email accounts, databases, backups, SSL and migration support before comparing prices.
- One provider is simpler for many first-time buyers. Separate providers make sense when the domain needs tighter ownership control or the website changes hands often.
