Affordable Web Hosting Must Also Be Reliable
Being reliable is the single key factor that you should look for in a web host. Webmasters and online entrepreneurs rank reliability as number one in importance when surveyed.
The concept of reliability is complicated. One can suppose that the majority of web hosting firms meet a minimal level of technical competence, have regularly invested in upgrades to their computers, and offer decent pricing plans. Based on these assumptions, a major component of web hosting reliability is delivering traditional, high-quality customer service.
The important question becomes, “How can I get a quick, direct resolution for problems with my website?” Unfortunately, fast and simple solutions can be hard to come by.
A web hosting company is likely to have thousands of clients. Problems often come in waves. This floods their technical support call system. You may have noticed that technical support customer service representatives often handle multiple calls at one time. Unfortunately, this can make technical support conversations very frustrating.
Often, technical support staff will believe from the beginning that you are to blame for the problem. They will generally give you their normal response, “You’ve tried this? You’ve done that?” to suggest that you are at fault for your difficulty.
In a lot of cases this is the best approach, because the problem is occurring on the user’s end of things. Unfortunately, a lot of cases does not equal all the cases. When the problem is not on the user’s end, and the user has spent a lot of time only to find the problem was on the server’s end, it can be frustrating.
The sad fact is that many web hosting tech people do not understand the meaning of customer service. Many suffer from superiority complexes. This is how they manage to get away with giving shoddy, and unfriendly service because changing hosts is too inconvenient for their clients.
This is thankfully changing for the better. There’s enough information out there now to change hosts without much trouble and some will even assist transferring your domain to their systems.
There will always be some risk involved; there is no absolute predictor of whether you are likely to get dependable, helpful customer service.
It is hard to find honest reviews or comparisons on the various web hosts. Most of the comparison sites are not reliable because they are trying to promote their own site and may even doctor “reviews” to be favorable to them. Public opinions that are posted may also be may be fictitious and praise the site they are posted on and criticize their competitors.
Additional information may also be available through web scan hosting forums. Although such sites may also be vulnerable to the types of manipulation mentioned above, they are usually pretty trustworthy. Remember to check web site dates, however, since some postings are not current and thus are perhaps not too helpful.
It is a good idea to look at the host’s website. A very complicated site full of technical descriptions shows a lack of communication between the host and clients. This can be a bad sign. The technical support may be difficult to access, and the support staff may not answer your question in a way you can understand.
You can tell if a company is customer focused by their website. You are looking for a simple layout and products designed for the customer, combined with a support system that is easy to work with. Contact customer service before you have a problem, and see if they are willing to work with you.
A quick but thorough check of recommendations by actual web hosting clients would prove helpful if they include their names and website addresses. To be more proactive, try writing or calling these users yourself.
Considering how competitive the business of web-hosting is, finding an easy to follow, customer driven host is definitely what you should be looking for. But of course, none of this will be fool-proof.
