Five lies web hosting companies will tell you đ§˘
I'm on a mission to get everyone off of WordPress
In my early teens I brought my bike in to McWhinnieâs on Sherbrooke Street for repairs. The mechanic treated me like a clueless ditz, called me âhunnyâ and overcharged me for things I could have fixed myself. Zero transparency, zero respect for women. They lied and changed parts that didnât need to be changed, without asking me first. I dont know maybe they even charged me for premium air in my tires.
We always have a gut feeling when someone is ripping us off. Yet when weâre in a position of submission, we feel pressure to just say âokayâ, to get out of the situation as quickly as possible, without fighting or standing up for ourselves. Itâs a trauma response to feel safer to run than to stay and fight. Especially when the person youâre dealing with treats you like you couldnât possibly have a clue what youâre paying for.
Web hosting companies are giving this vibe. Big time.
Last week not one, not two, but three clients told me they were having issues with their hosting company. These companies treat you like they are offering some tech service that you canât possibly understand and have to pay them for it. Itâs patriarchal and predatory and I donât want anyone giving them money anymore.
I am on a mission to help bring more website literacy to the world so that you donât get taken advantage of. So read on for my best advice on how to deal with them when they try to sell you shit you actually donât need.
Whatâs a hosting company, you ask?
If you have or have had a WordPress website, chances are you have dealt with one. Some examples are: Godaddy, Bluehost, Web Hosting Canada, just to name a few of the big contenders. If you log in to your site with WordPress.com then youâre paying WordPress directly to host your site for you.
WordPress.org is open-source and free software that you can download and install anywhere to run your website for free - however, you probably donât have a server sitting around at home that can be running all day and serving the internet. And when things break down you might not know how to fix them yourself. So instead you need to rent space on a server somewhere, on which you install WordPress, and run your website from there. This is the service a web hosting company provides.
What makes hosting companies âpredatoryâ?
First of all, WordPress is an archaic technology. Without getting too nerdy, itâs running on bygone programming languages (php and mysql). WordPress full of problems and hosting companies know that. Thatâs where they get you. By paying them each month they need to offer you some kind of âserviceâ in return - restoring your site when it breaks down, fixing server-side bugs, keeping all the weird software up to date.
But what if your website never broke down? What if you never had bugs because it was built on a foundation of code that was more reliable and sustainable? It is possible!
Letâs break it down further.
The five lies web hosting companies will tell you
Lie #1 You need to pay to host your website
There is *actually free* hosting out there, and no, not by running your website out of your own home-made data center, and no, not with a huge banner and ads everywhere (*cough* Wix *cough*).
Services like Googleâs Firebase or Netlify are low-code but absolutely free and without ads. The only catch is that they only support âstaticâ websites, and do not run server-side code (which WordPress *technically* requires, because WordPress websites are âdynamicâ â I will add some nuance here in #3)
For example, I designed our static wedding website, exported the code and with some very quick + dirty command-line got it up on Firebase for free!
That being said, if you want to benefit from a bomb website drag-and-drop builder and other features like scheduling apps, e-commerce, blogs, etc. then you should be paying for those services with platforms like Squarespace or Webflow, for example, which happen to also host your website for you stress-free, problem-free.
If you use Squarespace or Webflow you do not need a web hosting company.
Lie #2 You need to use WordPress to benefit from tech support
So now you may get the gist that to use free hosting services out there, you *technically* canât use WordPress. And if you use a drag-and-drop builder like Squarespace, you donât need a hosting company. This is why hosting companies want you to use WordPress - so that you stay their client forever. I have single-handedly witnessed them gaslighting clients into thinking they have no choice but to stay with WordPress. However the support they are offering you is specifically toâŚ.. debug WordPress. See the problem here??
Lie #3 You need a server that runs a database to have a blog or e-commerce website - only web hosting companies provide that
(ie. a âdynamicâ website with a Content Management System (CMS))
It used to be the case that if you wanted a âdynamicâ website with a content management system (like a blog with categories and tags for example), you needed some kind of database that would run code while your users were visiting your website. This kind of technology was built with php and mysql in the 2000s and thus, WordPress was born.
However, over time, web devs got more innovative đĄ, and realized that running code all the time is actually super resource-intensive, slows down websites, not to mention is worse for the environment!! So instead of running code while the users are on your website, we can run it once, generate a static âpictureâ of the dynamic website. Upload the picture đź with only Javascript, CSS and HTML, and voilĂ you have a fast, reliable and efficient website with all of the functionalities WordPress had, without archaic, heavy, sluggish php and mysql server-side code.
Squarespace and Webflow are dynamic websites that run entirely on Javascript, CSS and HTML and have no php or mysql - it is entirely possible to build a dynamic CMS website without running server-side code. Javascript websites are actually faster, more efficient, and more reliable.
Lie #4 You need to pay to secure your website with https://
(ie to get an SSL or TLS certificate)
First of all, I highly recommend securing your website. Especially if you have an e-commerce portion or are processing payments. If your website isnât secure, everytime someone fills out a form on your website or pays for something, their information will be sent unencrypted into the wifi radio-waves and anyone could intercept it and steal your information đŹ. Yikes!
So, why do hosting companies sell this to you when it is available for free?? Because they know you donât know, and can get away with it.
You can quickly set up your domain on Cloudflare to get an SSL certificate for free to secure your website with https. There is also a low-code option with the Letâs Encrypt non-profit initiative to make website security more accessible and available to all.
Lie #5 You need to pay a monthly fee for a professional email address
You do not need your hosting company to have a professional email address (ie. yourname@yourdomain.com). I use Hover to manage all of my domains and my email addresses are 5$/year to forward directly to my gmail.
If you ever do want a more robust email service, you should go with Google Workspace instead (which costs less than the amount my client was quoted last week by her hosting company đ).
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Tell me in the comments if youâve had any shitty experiences with your web hosting company / with WordPress.
I have a lot more to say on the topic. And if you feel like you need help talking to them or negotiating, please give me a call and I can help you out. You know where to find me.
In other newsâŚ
My Intro to SEO workshop was a huge success! The replay is still up for sale on my website if you missed it. Otherwise keep your eyes peeled for a part 2 later this month.
I am going live on Instagram with Asa Angel on Wednesday this week to talk about the joys + challenges of bringing your healing business online. Be sure to tune in!
Thanks to Jaime Moar I got this amazing tshirt and I want to live in it now. Also go follow her for inspiring life + biz coaching content.
I finished reading Song of Achilles and almost had a breakdown. You know the feeling when youâre so sad youâll never be able to read a book for the first time ever again? Now Iâm reading A Court of Thorns and Roses, cause who knew - faerie porn is a genre? Thank you to Naomi Loud for the suggestion and all of their witchy offerings! Go follow them!
Nico and I started a Tiktok account for our cabin in the woods and it is thriving!!
xoxo
your favourite website witch đŽ in a big Scorpio mood âď¸