Web Hosting Comments Whilst looking at customer feedback on web hosts, I have read many web hosting comments. Given the number of customers hosting companies have I think it is safe to say that most people are happy with their web hosts. However, that are still many negative web hosting comments and I think that many of these are caused by unrealistic expectations and failing to read the terms and conditions. If you go for free hosting you have to take the service as delivered. If you buy from a reseller you may get a good deal but be aware that support may be an issue (a small reseller cannot practically provide 24/7 support). I would recommend going for one of the top hosting companies but even here there is a limit to what you can expect for $5 per month. You should certainly expect your site to load quickly and to see little downtime whilst support is available 24/7 in case of problems. However web hosting comments indicate that the following are areas which generate complaints: Backups Generally hosting contracts make you responsible for your own backups. Whilst hosting companies do usually take backups of their shared servers (they may only be done weekly or even monthly) this is done as a favour for users and they have no liability if the backups fail for any reason. Hardware failures can affect anyone, so if you are unlucky and some of your data is lost, writing web hosting comments saying how poor your host is may make you feel better but it will not help people looking for help in choosing a host. Domain Names Some hosting companies include a free domain name in the package. What they often fail to make clear is that there is a charge for the domain registration if you cancel. Even if there is a money back guarantee you will still be charged for this (although you do get to keep the domain name). I have seen web hosting comments from people who have not understood this calling their hosting company “crooks�. Promotional Offers Another area that generates web hosting comments is promotional offers and renewals. Promotional offers (and coupons) generally reduce the amount you pay when you sign-up with a host, which will tempt you to sign-up and pay for a number of years. On renewal you are charged at the company’s standard rate. Sometimes this is not made clear resulting in negative web hosting comments. Site Builder Software Another issue raised in web hosting comments is site builder software which most hosts provide as part of their service. This is great as long as you are happy with your hosting service. But if you decide you want to
change hosts you may well find that, because your site is generated by this bespoke software, you cannot easily move it to another host. Understanding the above points should mean that you will avoid these problems and be able to make positive web hosting comments about your website hosting provider.