Created by:GenOneStudios on October 15 2009. Found in -

Today on one of the boards that I read a member posted this about a hosting company. He was replying to a newer member who was having issues with her hosting company and their Sitebuilder application. the company was not responsive to her needs nor was the application intuitive and easy to use. Simple tasks were hard to complete.

All those complaints are pretty much "par for the course" when a "wannabe web designer" takes on building a site. They get cheap, sub par hosting, use low value templates. Well you get what you pay for.

What really struck me was the comment itself:

XYZHosting is really hot right now. All of the "hip" techie people are using it. Seems easy to use too.

Specifically "really hot right now" and "'hip' techie people".

These buzzwords set off alarm bells for me. That a service provider is "really hot" right now is not a good indicator of longevity, professionalism and reliability. It only indicates they are either a fad due to their marketing or a fad due to hype word of mouth testimonials like "really hot" and "'hip' techie' " by a few users who are newbies to the service or service industry.

As a veteran Webmaster, developer and designer, I can tell you that what is a fabulous host today can quickly go to being a nightmare experience. Resellers are notorious for going out of business. If you don't know you are dealing with a reseller, you may have a hard time accessing your account, getting your files, having your accounts over billed. A hosting company, reseller or otherwise may face legal difficulty, financial crises, or employee revolts that cripple their operations. Not to mention the possibility of equipment failure or catastrophic events like fire or earthquake.

Though any scenario is a possibility most are not likely. Still you should be prepared for a disruptive event. You need to be able and ready to move to a new host.

Things I always tell anyone who asks me about hosting is
1) try to avoid the "sitebuilder programs". These are often bloated, proprietary systems that lock you to the host OR is so difficult to use for anything that begins to be complex. AND web design IS complex.

2) Have backups of every single file you place on your hosting account. Make sure all your files are copyright dated with restriction of use.

3)Read the fine print on your hosting account. Especially if you are buying your domain name through your hosting company. sometimes, a hosting company will tie your domain name to continued use of their hosting service. Pretty much locking you into always using them or losing your name.

4)When you look for hosting, do not buy a reseller. Deal directly with the hosting company. Now this is my personal opinion. I know plenty of people who are resellers and are really decent folks. But in general, a reseller will offer you a discount for the first X time period, but then be more expensive than the main company. But my biggest concern with resellers, if you haven't already guessed it, is that they can up and dissappear, leaving you in limbo.

For hosting I recommend and use:
Liquid Web
Hostgator
12Pointdesign (a reseller that I actually use!)

I hope this was instructive.