TL;DR: Website & Email Setup
Recently, I had to migrate a website from A Small Orange to SiteGround after they increased my renewal fee by over 1200% without warning—blaming "inflation." This was beyond ridiculous, forcing me to quickly learn about hosting transfers, email routing, and SSL certificates to avoid overpaying. If you own a website or email tied to a domain, here’s what you need to know to avoid getting held hostage in a bad hosting deal.
1. Hosting & Servers: Where Your Website Lives
A website needs a host (a company providing server space), and the price varies based on storage, bandwidth, and performance needs.
Shared Hosting ($3–$10/month) – Great for small sites and personal blogs. Example: Bluehost, Hostinger, SiteGround
Pricing varies based on memory needs (see nextz section)
VPS (Virtual Private Server) ($20–$100/month) – Offers dedicated resources and more control. Example: Linode, DigitalOcean, InMotion
Dedicated Server ($100–$500+/month) – You get an entire physical server, ideal for high-traffic sites. Example: Liquid Web, OVHCloud, Kinsta
📌 tl;dr: If you’re reading this, you probably need shared hosting. This blog is on a shared host (SquareSpace).
How Much Memory Do You Actually Need?
Your hosting plan cost depends largely on storage:
Small Website (~1GB, no email hosting) → Shared hosting is fine ($3–$10/month)
Medium Website (~10GB, light email usage) → $15–$25/month
Large Website (50GB+, high traffic & email storage) → VPS or cloud hosting at $50+/month
📌 Tip: If emails are eating up storage, delete old ones or migrate to a third-party email service to reduce hosting costs.
📌 Tip: Store videos on YouTube, the most popular site on the internet, to save storage and get more views.
2. DNS Records: The Internet’s Address Book
Your domain name (e.g., yourwebsite.com) needs to be linked to your host through DNS records (Domain Name System).
Common DNS Records (Simplified)
A Record → Points your domain to your website’s server.
CNAME Record → Creates aliases (ex: www.palestinequiz.com pointing to paliquiz.com).
MX Record → Tells email services where to route messages for your domain.
Updating these records correctly ensures your site and emails function properly when switching hosts.
3. Email Routing: How Domain Emails Work
If you use custom emails (e.g., support@kingchill.com), your host or a third-party provider (like Google Workspace or Zoho Mail) routes emails based on MX records.
📌 Tip: You can have unlimited domain email addresses, but storage is a limitation. Many hosts will charge per email to cover storage costs.
📌 Tip: If your host limits storage, consider moving emails to an external provider.
Free/Included Email Hosting: Many web hosts provide limited email storage (e.g., SiteGround offers 10GB per inbox).
Third-Party Email (Recommended): Google Workspace ($6/user/month) or Zoho Mail (free for basic use) removes email storage from your web host.
4. SSL Certificates: What They Actually Do
An SSL certificate encrypts data between users and your website, securing login details, payments, and form submissions.
Free SSL (Let’s Encrypt, Cloudflare) → Good for most sites, protects basic security needs.
Paid SSL ($50–$200/year) → Required for banks, e-commerce, or compliance with specific regulations (e.g., PCI for credit card transactions).
📌 Tip: For 90% of websites, a free SSL certificate is enough—don’t waste money unless handling highly sensitive data.
5. Final Advice: Don’t Get Stuck With a Bad Host
Beyond cost, consider renewal pricing and customer service before choosing a host—A Small Orange failed on both.
Before committing to a host, ask:
✅ How much does renewal cost? Many hosts lure you in with cheap first-year pricing but raise rates later.
✅ What’s their customer support like? Good support saves time and headaches when problems arise.
✅ Is storage flexible? If you expect to grow, pick a host that scales with you.
✅ Is email storage included or limited? If emails take up too much space, consider a third-party email provider.
If your host pulls a sudden, ridiculous price hike like A Small Orange, move to a better one before overpaying. It’s easier than you think, and you’ll thank yourself later.
