/ Web design
What is web hosting and what should I pay for it?
Hosting is where your site's files live. £5–£25/month is normal for a small business site. Under £3 usually means shared, slow and oversold.
/ 01
The short version
Hosting is boring right up until your site is down on your busiest day.
/ 02
What actually matters
- • Shared hosting: cheapest, slowest, fine for brochure sites with low traffic.
- • Managed/static hosting: faster, more reliable, usually £10–£30/month.
- • Backups and SSL should be included, not extras.
- • UK or EU data centres reduce latency for UK visitors.
- • Uptime monitoring matters more than the headline price.
/ 03
The bit most people get wrong
A care plan and hosting aren't the same thing. Hosting keeps it online; a care plan keeps it updated, backed up and fixed.
/ 04
What to do next
Ask your provider what your monthly fee actually includes — hosting, updates, backups, or all three.
/ 05
Where RIOT fits in
We're a small Colchester studio helping UK SMBs get hosting right without agency waste or freelancer flake. If you've read this far and you want a second opinion on your specific setup, book a 20-minute call and we'll tell you honestly whether it's worth doing anything at all.
We work with clients across Essex, Suffolk, London and the wider UK — and remotely with brands abroad. No lock-in, no monthly retainer minimums, no pretending your problem is bigger than it is.
/ FAQs
Common questions
Do I need a dedicated server?
Almost certainly not.
Is free hosting ever fine?
For a hobby project. Not for a business.
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Still not sure?
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