Whenever anyone views a website the viewer is downloading data from the web server. The data is comprised of images, text and other code necessary to view a website. The amount of data is called bandwidth and sometimes is referred to as traffic (distinct from the SEO measure for “traffic”).
Bandwidth is typically expressed in gigabytes or megabytes but more often in visitors and pageviews. In Australia bandwidth data it is particularly expensive whereas overseas it can be free. This makes overseas hosting more viable for highly data dependent websites that do not have to be locally hosted for security. For example, images can be stored overseas while the main website is served locally.
Most packages offered by hosting companies include some form of bandwidth restriction. These should be considered when selecting a appropriate plan. Most plans are suitable for businesses that do not sell online, however, these may not be enough for ecommerce, shops, retail, or highly exposed businesses. Beware of unlimited plans offer by discount hosting companies. While the amount of data may be unlimited, the speed and throughput may be limited rendering it useless for demanding websites.
Aggressive marketing intended to drive viewers to website will eventually exhaust the traffic allowance. When a client exceeds the monthly traffic allowance, they are then liable for the costs of the excess traffic. This will be charged separately. Promoters should contact their hosting providers before any product launch or marketing venture to ensure they are charged the lowest rates possible.
Traffic is only one of the limiting resources contained in a website hosting plans. Others include processing power, memory and disk space. Modern hosting plans are abandoning these complex measures for simple restrictions like page numbers, visitors and features.