Spotting a Bad Host
March 22, 2006
This is the most important section of the entire article - spotting a bad host.
With your short-list of hosts that you’ve compiled in the previous two sections you now need to research each one to make sure they’re not a bad host, or to distinguish the good from the average. In this section you will find all the tell-tale signs of a dogey-dealer.
Website
It’s important that their website is clean and tidy, easy to navigate and all the important details are made clear. If they haven’t put much thought or care into their website, it’s likely they won’t care about you either.
Are they real?
Unfortunately the internet is prone to scams and there are examples where people’s money has been taken and they’ve never received any service. You should only deal with companies that provide a real postal address on their website so that you can contact them if all else fails - this can be said for any company on the internet. If the only address provided is a PO Box then be careful because a scammer could easily set one up.
Outsourced support
A new trend seems to be outsourcing telephone support to places like India. Most of us have been unfortunate enough to have experienced one when contacting our banks, but it’s not just limited to the big companies - small hosts have started doing it too! Fortunately it’s easy so spot. If you are asked to quote a reference number to the operator when calling, you know it’s outsourced.
Too good to be true
The old saying is never wrong; if it looks too good to be true, it probably is!
How long in the business?
Why do companies advertise how long they’ve been established? Because a company that’s been around for a long time must be doing something right in order for it to stay in business, thus they will provide the service you require.
Since the internet as we know it today has only been around since 1993, a company that has been trading for 5 years is very respectable - indeed Amazon was only created in 1995!
Tip: Web hosting is an industry in which new companies appear and disappear on a daily basis, so it’s vital that you choose one that won’t.
It is possible that despite a host’s best intentions they are just unable to offer the great service you deserve. So none of the tell-tale signs will be visible on the website, but there are other places you can look to make sure you don’t choose a bad host.
Google is your friend
Type the names of your prospective hosts into Google to find out if there are any disgruntled customers, or conversely any customers heaping praise on their host.
Forums
If a host has Community Forums check them out and see what the general consensus is, you can also judge the helpfulness of the responses. A useful exercise is to ask existing customers what they think of the host in question.
Tip: A host’s forum is primarily a place for support, so you may find a disproportionate amount of negative comments. Keep this in mind when you visit.
Reviews
There are numerous websites that collect customer’s comments on their host, so it’s worth checking a few out to see if people have anything to say about yours:
Web Hosting Talk
Web Hosting Talk is a discussion forum where many people post about their hosts (most of the time they’re complaining). It’s worth doing a search on your host to see if there are any negative reports.
Tip: Be sure to look at the dates on reviews and comments you find on the internet; if it’s more than a year old it might not be relevant.
Next: The Tricks of the Trade