How To Choose A Good Web Host (When They All Look Alike)

By: John Pierce

Choosing a web host is never easy. There are just so many
unknowns when it comes to finding a host. It's hardly ever
possible to walk into a web host's office, look around, meet the
owners, and get a feel for whether or not you'd like to do
business with these people.

It's important, though, that you bend over backwards to
establish whether your prospective web host is a credible
provider - or a fly by night artist.

The webmaster industry is awash with horror stories about
signing up with a web hosting company, onlty to find out later
that this 'business' is run by a 14 year old who lives at home.

For the most part, you'll make your decision using whatever
information you can find online.

Start out with the website of the web host you are considering.

Is it professionally designed and written? Typo's and spelling
errors may signal that this is a company ran by kids or
amateurs.

Is the website easy to use? Is it designed with a view towards
helping people? Are help materials available online? This should
give you a flavor for whether the company is client oriented.

Where is the company located? Is there an address? Can you email
them?

Look at the Terms of Service. Does your prospective web host
clearly spell out what may be expected of them and what is
expected of you? Every deal is different, but both parties
should clearly know what the deal is.

Next, do a search for the company on Google. Are you finding any
negative statements? Try different searching techniques, like
typing the company name followed by the word "scam", or by the
words "poor support".

Now, try emailing their customer support department. Do you get
a fast reply? What about their sales department? Do they answer
enquiries quickly? Let's face it...if they won't pay any
attention to you when they're trying to get your business, how
much more will you be neglected after you sign up?

If you follow these simple suggestions, your chances of signing
up with an excellent web host increase substantially.

About the author:
John Pierce is the webmaster of cheapwebhostinginfo.com -
http://cheapwebhostinginfo.com - and the Customer Service
Manager for Gold Zero Web Hosting - http://goldzero.com