Hosting Companies: Are You Happy With Yours?

[David Jackson]

We all would like to find the perfect hosting company. Unfortunately, it doesn't exist. Like it or not, no hosting company is perfect. They all have warts. It's just that some have more warts than others.

In that regard, tell us who your hosting company is and if you're happy with it.

I'll go first. My hosting company is Midphase. I've used them on several of my sites, and for the most part I'm satisfied with their service.

Okay, your turn.

David Jackson

[ktaylor310]

Hmmmm. I really don't want to give my webhost's name. I've used them for many years and loved them until their NOC sold to a new company last year (causing 5 days of downtime) and they have now subbed out their tech support - which is terrible! Servers were changed without warning causing several stores to break or the SSL to stop functioning properly. I will not use them on a go forward basis, but have too many accounts to move all of them right now. In most cases it is still better to stay put. Uptime is ok, so as long as I don't need tech support it's not a huge issue. So.... I don't want to kick them while their down, but I will be VERY interested in the recommendations that come in.

I heard recently that Hostgator is good. The same day I noticed that they have a rep on twitter who answers inquiries almost immediately. That's cool and very customer-focused!

[David Jackson]

Originally Posted by ktaylor310

I really don't want to give my webhost's name. I don't want to kick them while their down, but I will be VERY interested in the recommendations that come in.

Kim, that's okay. I understand.

I have a special list of top hosting companies that I've compiled based primarily on customer reviews. And as popular as GoDaddy is, it doesn't make the cut. I'll be releasing the list this summer, when I launch my new forum.

And in case you're wondering, yes, HostGator made the cut!

David Jackson

[ktaylor310]

I look forward to your list I tried review sites when I made the decision to change hosts, but it is really hard to tell which sites are sponsored by one of the winners. An honest list would be awesome!

So... what about BlueHost or Inmotion? You don't have to tell if you are building suspense

[David Jackson]

Originally Posted by ktaylor310

I look forward to your list I tried review sites when I made the decision to change hosts, but it is really hard to tell which sites are sponsored by one of the winners. An honest list would be awesome!

So... what about BlueHost or Inmotion? You don't have to tell if you are building suspense

Kim, that's exactly why I didn't use review sites. You really can't trust their motives.

Instead, I relied solely on real and verified customer reviews. Why? Because they're the one's who use the service every day. They know the strengths and weaknesses of the service - the good points and the bad points. Therefore, they're the only one's whose opinion matter.

And yes, BlueHost and Inmotion both made the cut. And that's all you're going to get from me - a little tease!

David Jackson

[ChristineG]

Hi David,

I use A Small Orange for hosting. Their customer service is excellent and super-fast. Lately with my newest blog I have been experiencing intermittent downtime. They did respond by switching servers and it seems a bit better but it is still down on and off.

This has not become such an issue that I would switch as of now...what I will say is that they always handle things quickly and professionally. We'll see what happens going forward in terms of downtime.

Additionally, I have always heard good things about Hostgator.

[David Jackson]

Originally Posted by ChristineG

Hi David,

I use A Small Orange for hosting. Their customer service is excellent and super-fast.

Additionally, I have always heard good things about Hostgator.

Hello Christine:

Yeah, my own research has shown HostGator to be pretty remarkable. I can't find anyone who has anything bad to say about them. But I'm still looking.

David Jackson

[Mark Asacker]

What's Up David.

I have to give another "thumbs up" to Bluehost. I've Been with them for years with absolutely zero issues. Hostmonster, which is the sister company, is who I refer all my clients to. They tend to be the easiest for clients to use (Cpanel). Plus they have all the super cool plug-ins within Fantastico as well as some helpful web stats my clients like to keep an eye on. Anyway, that's my 2 cents...I'll look for your list. Good luck with everything!

[ktaylor310]

David, just following up. My webhost moved a bunch of my clients to new servers mid-April without any notice or communication. They did such a poor job they broke everything - websites, stores, email! They upgraded everyone to a Plesk control panel as well & changed the way they handle spam. Not a little change either... instead of sending spam to the spam folder on the server the new system tags spam and sends it to your email. Suddenly customers were getting hundreds of spam emails without knowing why. With all the issues happening at the same time, I found Tech support to be non-existent, unknowledgeable and unhelpful. I don't want to give the name of the host, but their tech support was sold to Jumpline and they are TERRIBLE.

I have already moved 7 clients to Hostgator since the end of the month, many running osCommerce stores, forums, etc. I cannot say enough about the tech support at Hostgator! They go way, way beyond the call of duty and are extremely nice (yipeee), professional and helpful. They have helped import databases for me (different platforms and all) and when we've run into problems, instead of dropping it in my lap or saying "we don't support third-party software" they simply write back "this was the problem, we fixed it". My clients are thrilled because their sites are loading and their emails moving much quicker and their spam problem has been solved.

I'll probably be moving several more clients over the next month, but for now I am completely happy with their services. for hostgator!

[viper_one]

my thought: I am not please with the idea of paying for a service while trying to develop something new.

The hosting company I use is FREE! until you need big resouces.

Most hosting co's tell you to buy into mega or giga service for pennies on the dollars.

However, why don't they just give it away upfront since most site never get much bigger than 150kb!

Then, have you expand with additional resouces when you are big-hit.