In my post, I show you how I went from paying over $100 per year for hosting to paying less than $10.
When I started blogging, hosting was expensive. I had to change hosting companies many times to take advantage of new customer discounts. My blog was not earning money, so I had to find a way to reduce my website hosting costs.
In September 2021, I discovered Google Cloud. Google Cloud offers a free tier option that allows you to host your website for less than a dollar a month.
Since I moved my site to Google Cloud, I have paid a total of about $0.60. The first three months were free because Google offers new customers a $300 credit. The $300 is valid for 90 days.
What Is Google Cloud?
Google Cloud is a cloud computing service you can use to host your website.
Google Cloud does not offer support as you get with regular hosting companies. You configure a virtual machine and update it manually. Set up is technical but not complicated.
You can reduce your website hosting costs by using Google Cloud’s free-tier option. This option has limitations but has enough resources to host small websites.
For websites needing more resources, there are paid options available.
How Much Does Google Cost Per Month?
Cost varies depending on website traffic. If you use the free-tier option, you shouldn’t pay more than $1 per month.
My website currently has 95 published blog posts. I get about 4,800 visitors per month.
My hosting costs for January 2022 were 7.27 Thai baht ($0.22). In February 2022, I paid 7.32 Thai baht ($0.22).
How Do You Sign Up For Google Cloud?
If you have a Gmail email account, you can open a Google Cloud account. Go to cloud.google.com.
Before creating a project, you must have a payment method set up on your Google account. If you don’t have one, Google will prompt you to add one.
Check out my ‘How To Start A WordPress Blog On A Budget‘ post to learn how to use Google Cloud to host your website.
How Do I Move My Website To Google Cloud?
I used the WPvivid backup plugin to move my website from my old hosting company to Google Cloud. This plugin makes transferring your website easy. It is free, too.
To install, go to the WordPress plugin library on your old website, and search for the WPvivid Backup Plugin.
Once installed and activated, run a manual backup of your website.
Completed backups are listed lower down the page. Download the backup to your computer.
Next, install this plugin on your new website.
Select the upload tab.
Select your saved backup files and drop them into the box.
Next, upload backup files.
Monitor upload progress.
Finally, click on ‘Restore’ to start.
Confirm.
Restoration begins. Please do not close this window during this process.
Website restored successfully.
Is Google Cloud Hosting Fast?
I use the Litespeed cache plugin and Cloudflare CDN to get fast page loading times.
The Litespeed cache plugin works best when using a Litespeed server. Google Cloud has this option.
After WordPress installation is complete, I activate and configure the Litespeed cache plugin.
Finally, I use Cloudflare.
My homepage loading speeds.
Desktop score.
Mobile score.
I pass the core web vitals assessment for both mobile and desktop.
Here are my ‘How To Start A Blog From Scratch’ post speed test results.
Mobile score.
Desktop score.
How To Reduce Hosting Costs Video Tutorial
Conclusion
I reduced my website hosting costs by 95% by moving to Google Cloud. I am impressed with the speed of my website and uptime.
I admit setting up a website on Google Cloud was complicated at first. I watched many YouTube videos and read lots of blog posts. The easiest method is to deploy WordPress from the ‘Marketplace’ on your Google Cloud console.
Check out my ‘How To Start A WordPress Blog On A Budget‘ post for a set-up guide. This guide shows you how I use Google Cloud to host my website.
What hosting company do you use to host your website? Have you ever used a cloud service before? How long have you been blogging?
Do you have any questions about my article? Please leave your question below. I check for comments every day. Let me know if you found my blog post helpful.
