Over the past 6 years we’ve built 700+ websites for ourselves, in addition to also building websites for clients. Every single one of those websites had to be hosted somewhere. Our experience tells us that not all hosting companies are created equal.
We’ll briefly cover three common problems with hosting. Theses are general and not applicable to every situation, obviously. We do actually have a few sites hosted with one company that has two of these issues, but, because for our situation, it works just fine. But, many (think most) small businesses here in Bend would be best served to heed this advice.
1. Unbelievable “Bargains”
When offered an almost unbelievably cheap rate for hosting, many people are drawn into signing up. However, cheap rates gives you cheap service. If you’ve invested in a great website for your business, don’t think cheap when it comes to hosting.
2. Big Badder “Better”
The big guys used to have some pretty good customer service. But now, with management changes and the desire to squeeze every bit of profit out of a penny, their customer service is going downhill…big time. If you like to spend hours with support being sent around in circles and going nowhere, big companies are likely to be best at giving you that thrill.
3. Tiny Dogs
One thing you may not realize is that the big guys sell hosting to tiny guys at really cheap rates. The tiny guys then set up a website and resell that hosting to unsuspecting web site owners–sometimes at pretty great sounding rates. When this happens, you end up with all three of these problems combined into one–cheap hosting, from a big company, sold by a tiny company that doesn’t have the resources (and possibly even knowhow) to support you when you need it most.
Thankfully, there are still some really great hosting companies out there. We have several that we recommend to our Central Oregon web design clients (and to our other clients worldwide as well)!