You might want to use printf for its formatting options. echo is useful when it comes to printing the value of a variable or a (simple) line, but that's all there is to it. printf can basically do what the C version of it can do.
Example usage and capabilities:
Echo:
echo "
Backup shell script
"
echo
echo "Runtime: $(date) @ $(hostname)"
echo
printf:
vech="bike"
printf "%s\n" "$vech"
