In this article, I will help you to learn about the advantages and disadvantages of web hosting in Nigeria.
There is no denying the fact that there are so many benefits of hosting your blog or website with a web hosting provider based in Nigeria.
However, there are also some disadvantages you need to be acquainted with so you don’t fall into the wrong hands of any web hosting provider in Nigeria that is not consistent.
So in this article, as I said earlier, I will show you the advantages and disadvantages of web hosting in Nigeria.
Advantages of web hosting in Nigeria.
Below are some of the advantages of web hosting in Nigeria:
- Pay for your web hosting through a Naira Bank transfer or deposit.
- Free .ng domain names
- Low entry cost
1. Pay for your web hosting through a Naira Bank transfer or deposit.
All the web hosting providers in Nigeria will allow you to make your payments using Naira, which is the Nigerian currency.
This will make things very easy, especially for those who do not have a MasterCard or Visa Card to make online payments as they can make a bank transfers using a USSD code or internet banking app.
All you have to do is go to a designated bank and make your bank deposit, fill in your payment details online at the web hosting site, and within a few hours, your web hosting account will be ready.
In conclusion on this point, accepting Naira payment is a huge selling point for Nigeria-based hosting companies.
2. Free .ng domain names
Most of the web hosting companies in Nigeria offer free .ng domain name registration when you buy a web hosting plan for the first time.
You can also get .com, .org, or .net domain names free with your web hosting plan.
You also need to understand that, it is not all the web hosting companies in Nigeria that offer free .ng domains, so if you want to get one, make sure your intended web hosting provider has one to offer.
However, I will advise you to always buy your domain name separately from your hosting, but it is good to know that if you don’t mind, you can get it free from your hosting company
3. Low entry cost
You can get web hosting in Nigeria for as low as 175 Naira per month from web hosting companies in Nigeria. However, you need to pay a lot more than that to get a decent web hosting service.
Disadvantages of web hosting in Nigeria.
Below are some of the disadvantages of web hosting in Nigeria:
- Limited Storage and Bandwidth
- No Monthly payments
1. Limited Storage and Bandwidth
While nearly all the leading global web hosting companies now offer reasonably unlimited storage and bandwidth, even for the most basic hosting plan, web hosting companies in Nigeria still have limited storage and bandwidth to offer their customers.
This means that if your website or blog suddenly becomes popular, you will exceed the limits of your hosting plan and will be penalized.
The bandwidth limit offered by web hosting companies in Nigeria may be okay for personal sites, blogs, and small business sites.
But if you are planning to host the next big website to compete with top Nigerian websites like Nairaland, GTbank, Jumia, or websites with 50,000 unique visits or more per day, Nigeria web hosting will not be the right option for you.
In fact, you need to go for a dedicated web hosting plan or for a very flexible and versatile web hosting.
2. No Monthly payments
Most Nigerian web hosting companies only accept yearly payments. This process will therefore give you no time to test the service before making a long-term commitment.
Whereas leading global web hosting companies usually accept as little as one month’s subscriptions, or even a trial one; with discounts available, if you pay for more than one month of web hosting.
I, therefore, recommend that you register your domain name separately from a different registrar. This ensures that if you do not like the quality of service your web hosting company in Nigeria is offering, you can move to another hosting company without many hitches.
Web hosting in Nigeria.
Although web hosting companies in Nigeria are making lots of improvements in their quality of service and reliability, still they are not there yet when it comes to customer service.
This may be largely due to poor infrastructure and poor human capital. As we mentioned earlier, Bandwidth availability is still limited in Nigeria (Though it has to be said that most web hosting companies in Nigeria are just resellers for global players or have their infrastructure outside the country).
So, therefore, if you are planning to host a very large website, a Nigeria-based web hosting company may not be a better choice because they are still struggling to deliver the required quality of service, so you may be better off with top hosting services in the US, UK, or Germany.
Because of the poor service offered by web hosting companies in Nigeria and the general lack of infrastructure, most of the top Nigerian websites are hosted abroad. For example, of all the top 10 websites owned and managed by Nigerians, only one is hosted in Nigeria.
Most of the top websites in Nigeria are not hosted by web hosting companies in Nigeria. So, if you are planning to compete with any of these websites, you better host your website in the US or UK.
However, if your target is a website for a few thousand visits per day, a web hosting provider in Nigeria will be able to handle it. So, your small business sites, personal sites, blogs, etc can be handled by web hosting companies in Nigeria.
Five important factors to consider in web hosting are uptime, Bandwidth, server speed, available storage, and technology support. No matter the hosting company of choice make sure they deliver high on these factors. They should also offer decent customer support.