A website with hosting included: one price, one person to call

If you've ever gotten a bill for "hosting" and wondered what you were paying for, you're not alone. Many Maine business owners end up with one bill for the design, another for hosting, another for the domain and surprise charges for updates. A website with hosting included rolls most of that into one monthly price. Here's what all those pieces are, in plain English, and how to tell whether a bundled plan is actually a good deal.

Hosting, domains and SSL in plain English

Think of your website like a shop on Main Street:

• Domain name: your street address, like yourbusiness.com. It's how people find you.
• Hosting: the land and building your shop sits on. It's the computer, always on, that stores your website and shows it to visitors.
• SSL certificate: the lock on the front door. It's the padlock in the browser bar that keeps information sent through your site private.
• Backups: a spare set of keys and a copy of everything inside, in case something breaks.
• Software updates: routine maintenance on the building, so nothing rusts or gets broken into.
• Content updates: changing what's in the window, like new photos, hours or services.

How websites are usually sold

A common setup looks like this. Who you pay and how much varies a lot, so treat this as a typical picture, not a quote:

Each bill on its own may be small, but they add up, renew on different dates and come from different companies, often with logins you set up once and forgot. When something breaks, the host says it's the website and the designer says it's the host.

Signs your separate bills aren't working for you

• You're not sure what half of your website charges are for.
• Your SSL certificate expired, and visitors saw a "Not secure" warning.
• You paid for hosting for years but nobody has updated the site.
• Every small change means waiting on someone and getting an hourly bill.
• You don't know who to call when the site goes down.

What "free" or cheap hosting offers often mean

Low intro prices are common, but read the fine print. Hosting deals often renew at a higher price after the first term, may limit storage or traffic, and usually leave updates, backups and security to you. None of that makes them bad, but compare the price you'll pay in year two, and what you'll still have to do yourself.

What a website with hosting included should cover

"Hosting included" can mean very different things. Use this checklist to compare any provider:

What my plans include

• Starter, $65 a month: custom design, up to 5 pages, mobile-friendly, a contact or quote form, hosting, SSL, backups, software updates, basic on-page SEO and up to 30 minutes of content updates a month.
• Business, $89 a month: everything in Starter, plus up to 12 pages, service-area and project-gallery pages, up to 2 hours of content updates a month, monthly analytics, a custom chatbot and priority email support.

There's no setup fee on either plan. The one thing that's separate is your domain name. It's registered in your name and billed by the registrar, usually once a year. I'll help you register one if you don't have it yet. Keeping it in your name means your web address is always yours.

The honest pros and cons of bundled plans

What happens if you cancel? With my plans, give 30 days' notice. The text, photos and logos you provided stay yours, and your domain stays in your name. After 12 monthly payments made in full, you get a copy of your website's files when you cancel. You can also buy your website at any time for a price we agree on. For a closer look at what upkeep costs either way, see what website maintenance costs per month.

Who a bundled plan is best for

A website with hosting included is usually a good fit if you'd rather not think about your website at all, don't have someone on staff who handles technical things, and want your site kept current through the year. If you enjoy tinkering, already have a reliable person for updates or only need a basic page you'll rarely change, separate hosting with occasional help can work fine. Neither is wrong. It comes down to how much of your own time you want to spend on it.

Questions to ask before choosing any hosting-included plan

1. Exactly what's included each month, and how much update time?
2. Whose name is the domain registered in?
3. Is there a setup fee or a long-term contract?
4. What happens to my site and my content if I cancel?
5. Who do I contact when something breaks, and how fast do they respond?
6. What costs extra, and is it quoted before work starts?

Switching to a plan with hosting included

If you already have a website with separate bills, switching is simpler than most people expect:

1. Keep your domain. It stays registered in your name, so your web address doesn't change.
2. See the new design first. Approve it before anything goes live.
3. Point your domain to the new site. Customers keep using the same address.
4. Cancel the old hosting once the new site is live, so you're not paying twice.

Before you cancel old hosting, check its terms for notice periods or prepaid months, and make sure you have any email accounts or files you want to keep from it.

Why a website with hosting included makes sense in Maine

When you're on a roof in July or out plowing at 4 a.m. in January, the last thing you want is to log into a hosting dashboard or figure out whose fault an error is. One bill and one person to call means you send a text and get back to work. In a state where the busy season is short and every call counts, a site that just keeps working is worth a lot.

See my simple monthly plans, read how the free preview works, or see how much a website costs in Maine compared with other options. Running a small crew? My guide to choosing a small business web designer in Maine covers what else to look for.