Bandwidth is the amount of data that can possibly be transferred at one time, whereas data transfer is how much data is actually being transferred. Bandwidth and data transfer are often used by web hosting companies, yet the two terms do in fact have different meanings. Many web hosting companies using the term bandwidth as how much data you can transfer per month.
The various plans offered by web hosting companies will include some measure of the amount of bandwidth that your site will be able to use. This figure is normally given in gigabytes (Gb) per month, for example a plan may offer 5Gb/month. This means that the total amount of data transfer used by your site for any purpose should not exceed 5 GB.
“Unlimited Bandwidth” is a myth used by web hosting companies to encourage to purchase one of their offerings a lure a unwary customer. Understand that there is no such thing as unlimited bandwidth. They may seem to offer it, but in practice, carefully reading their terms and conditions will show all kinds of rules and restrictions that effect bandwidth. One such rule may be that “the offer of unlimited bandwidth is subject to acceptable use”, well what is acceptable use? Exceeding that limit have you paying a surcharge. The hosting company may also restrict the type of site you offer – no graphics - heavy pages, for example – or the number of pages on your site.
So, how much bandwidth will you need? If you already have a site up and running this should be fairly easy to estimate, based on the reports available from your current web host. If this is a new site then you will need to make some estimates. You will need to know the number of visitors you expect per day, the number of pages you expect each visitor to look at and the average page size. Then multiply all three together, to give you a daily total. Then multiply that figure by 30 to get a monthly total. You will also need to allow for email usage, and for any uploads needed to update and maintain the site. If you plan to offer file downloads then you will need to factor that in too.
Remember that the figure you calculated is the bare minimum needed to keep your site running, and it is only an estimate. You will need to add in a margin for error, and also allow for future growth – as your website becomes more popular your bandwidth usage will increase.
What will happen if you exceed your bandwidth. There are a few things that may happen. The host may shut down your site for part of the month, displaying a page stating that "This site has exceeded its bandwidth for the month, please return next month." This is not what you want your customers to see. The other thing that could happen is that you will be charged a surcharge over your normal monthly fee. These fees could be many times larger than you expected. The site is still accessible but it is no longer profitable. Better to pay a little more per month to keep stop from happening, or to choose a web hosting company that will allow you to occasionally exceed your bandwidth allowance for a more reasonable fee.
Build your web site with bandwidth usage in mind. Graphics used should be optimized for viewing on the Web. Also streaming audio or video consume a lot of bandwidth – they may look cool but are they really necessary? Use a single CSS file for all of your pages, instead of embedding the formatting within each page. Don’t use too many META tags, and keeping them relevant will not only reduce your bandwidth usage but actually is easier for search engines to crawl. Clean up all your HTML files, taking out unnecessary comments and spaces.
Once your site is up and running, you will be able to see how good your estimates were. Most web hosting companies will offer detailed traffic reports, showing how many visitors viewed your site, and what pages they viewed. Try to check this regularly – you may find that your estimates were too pessimistic. This will allow you to upgrade before you need to pay any surcharges. Or alternatively you may have been over-optimistic, and your site is only using a fraction of the bandwidth you are paying for. In this case then down-grading your service may save you some money. Don’t cut too much though, remember most web sites become more popular with time, and you may find yourself up against bandwidth limits before you realize.
The various plans offered by web hosting companies will include some measure of the amount of bandwidth that your site will be able to use. This figure is normally given in gigabytes (Gb) per month, for example a plan may offer 5Gb/month. This means that the total amount of data transfer used by your site for any purpose should not exceed 5 GB.
“Unlimited Bandwidth” is a myth used by web hosting companies to encourage to purchase one of their offerings a lure a unwary customer. Understand that there is no such thing as unlimited bandwidth. They may seem to offer it, but in practice, carefully reading their terms and conditions will show all kinds of rules and restrictions that effect bandwidth. One such rule may be that “the offer of unlimited bandwidth is subject to acceptable use”, well what is acceptable use? Exceeding that limit have you paying a surcharge. The hosting company may also restrict the type of site you offer – no graphics - heavy pages, for example – or the number of pages on your site.
So, how much bandwidth will you need? If you already have a site up and running this should be fairly easy to estimate, based on the reports available from your current web host. If this is a new site then you will need to make some estimates. You will need to know the number of visitors you expect per day, the number of pages you expect each visitor to look at and the average page size. Then multiply all three together, to give you a daily total. Then multiply that figure by 30 to get a monthly total. You will also need to allow for email usage, and for any uploads needed to update and maintain the site. If you plan to offer file downloads then you will need to factor that in too.
Remember that the figure you calculated is the bare minimum needed to keep your site running, and it is only an estimate. You will need to add in a margin for error, and also allow for future growth – as your website becomes more popular your bandwidth usage will increase.
What will happen if you exceed your bandwidth. There are a few things that may happen. The host may shut down your site for part of the month, displaying a page stating that "This site has exceeded its bandwidth for the month, please return next month." This is not what you want your customers to see. The other thing that could happen is that you will be charged a surcharge over your normal monthly fee. These fees could be many times larger than you expected. The site is still accessible but it is no longer profitable. Better to pay a little more per month to keep stop from happening, or to choose a web hosting company that will allow you to occasionally exceed your bandwidth allowance for a more reasonable fee.
Build your web site with bandwidth usage in mind. Graphics used should be optimized for viewing on the Web. Also streaming audio or video consume a lot of bandwidth – they may look cool but are they really necessary? Use a single CSS file for all of your pages, instead of embedding the formatting within each page. Don’t use too many META tags, and keeping them relevant will not only reduce your bandwidth usage but actually is easier for search engines to crawl. Clean up all your HTML files, taking out unnecessary comments and spaces.
Once your site is up and running, you will be able to see how good your estimates were. Most web hosting companies will offer detailed traffic reports, showing how many visitors viewed your site, and what pages they viewed. Try to check this regularly – you may find that your estimates were too pessimistic. This will allow you to upgrade before you need to pay any surcharges. Or alternatively you may have been over-optimistic, and your site is only using a fraction of the bandwidth you are paying for. In this case then down-grading your service may save you some money. Don’t cut too much though, remember most web sites become more popular with time, and you may find yourself up against bandwidth limits before you realize.
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