To continue our series on choosing the right web hosting provider, the easiest and least technical way to decide on a web host is to look to their level experience in the industry.
Look to how long they have been in business, the feedback/reviews (this can be found easily by Googling) and so forth.
Feedback and reviews
Search for unbiased reviews and comparisons to other web hosts, comments about customer service and response times. The more detailed the comments are, the more likely it came from a genuine customer.
Often you can find people discussing web hosting providers on tech forums, the experiences they had and whether they were satisfied overall with the service. The great thing about forums is that it encourages discussion between users so you’ll be able to get multiple viewpoints before making a decision.
One thing to be wary of is third-party websites who promote articles about “Top X Web Hosting Providers” – these are usually affiliate links that pay out commissions to people who refer customers, so these are more than likely biased. Look for posts or reviews on forums or Google/Facebook page reviews that come from genuine individuals.
You should also consider whether web hosting is a core part of their business. If it is something they do “on the side,” they may not provide the level of quality or reliability as another web host who primarily provides web hosting.
Industry Experience
Having plenty of industry experience is another key factor to consider when choosing a web host. Technical issues are bound to arise due to the layers of complexity related to web hosting and servers, and how they deal with these problems will be determined by their experience.
Naturally web hosts with more experience are likely to have come across similar issues in the past and fix the problem efficiently and in a timely manner.
You can usually find how long a web host has been in business on their “About” page, or you can look up their ABN and get more information here: https://abr.business.gov.au/
In Conclusion
To summarise, the three main aspects to check before deciding on a web hosting provider are:
- Genuine feedback / reviews
- Whether web hosting is a core part of their business (or if it is a “side” service)
- How long they have been in business
For more information, we’ve published a free eBook providing a concise overview of the “Top 8 things to consider when choosing a web hosting provider.”