If you thought all those billions of web pages are hosted on expensive and full service web hosting companies, you need to cross check your information sources again. Of course, there are free or cheap web hosting companies that provide basic features good enough for simple html pages. You can take the example of some blog sites for these. But cheap (as cheap as $1.99 a month) web hosting service is different as they claim to provide more than the basic features which require huge infrastructures and funds to maintain and remain in the business. How do cheap web hosting companies attract business and what are their tricks?

Trick Number 1: The 24/7 toll-free number that a cheap web hosting company will advertise on their website. Most of these rarely work and those that do work seem to work only Monday to Friday. They are there mainly to create a false impression. What will you do on the weekend or after hours? You need a web hosting company that provides real support.

Trick Number 2: E-mail contacts given, which give you a very nicely worded (auto responder) response, requesting you to be patient while promising that an appropriate web hosting executive is handling your query. Don't you want to talk to a real person at some point? Email messages could go on forever with no resolution in sight. Your time, in short supply, is valuable.

Trick Number 3: Unlimited emails in POP3 and SMTP which hardly give any value to a small webmaster but can have a big impact on your decision making. Cheap web hosting companies cannot provide good email service. Yet, you need good email service so that you can stay in contact with your customers. (better service=more customers=more sales)

Trick Number 4: Cheap web hosting companies often make promises of free downloads worth thousands of dollars. You can check this offer only after you subscribe to their service. You should be able to check out all aspects of an offer before making a commitment, thus saving you valuable time and money.

Trick Number 5: The lure of freebies like all platform database support, preinstalled server side scripts, site builders, templates and SSL & ecommerce tools. In actuality, if these products are provided by cheap web hosting companies, they are very limited. Why limit your business from the start? You need a web hosting company that will give you the tools you need to be successful right out of the gate!

Trick Number 6: Domain registrars and sister companies of cheap web hosting companies don't allow editing DNS zone files and MX records. Registrars talk about "name server management" when they actually mean the exact opposite resulting in forced hosting with them. You should be able to choose the services that you want for your business. After all, who knows your business better than you? Locking yourself in with a cheap web hosting company forces you to do business their way. Don't do it!

Trick Number 7: Artificially populating user forums is another way of promoting their cheap web hosting business. Cheap web hosting companies do this so you will think they have tons of satisfied users. Really, you should rely on referrals to check out a web hosting company's services. This is the only real way to be sure you'll get the service you deserve. Trick Number 8: Display of an unknown or little known award and trying to impress you that they provide award winning service. Do awards mean anything anymore these days? Better to rely on actual comments from real customers.

Trick Number 9: Offering free integration of shopping carts and payment gateways. Cheap web hosting companies do this because they know that for many online businesses having access to an online payment tool is a must. What you actually get is PayPal, which is well known, and is not their product at all. Why would you trust a web hosting company that would do this?

Trick Number 10: Free Marketing support. Of course they do it but what they market vigorously is their site where your name might be mentioned. Cheap web hosting companies will not do more than this. In fact, they cannot. Are you paying for marketing your business? Or theirs?

Being on the lookout for tricks such as these will keep you from falling into the trap of thinking that cheap web hosting is good. You can make a better choice for your business. You need a web hosting company that provides real, complete services that help improve your business. Do you want your business to be just a number?

Remember the old adage, "you get what you pay for".