Archive for the ‘Business’ Category

In our age of digital opportunities there are a wide array of choices when it comes to not only information, but businesses we can work with. Due to the ease of setting up an online business, the doors have been swung open not only for entrepreneurs with good intentions who really do want to provide the best products and services that they can, but those who are out to score a quick buck with little regard for their customers. It is crucial that you be able to determine the difference between fly by night companies and those that have been established to provide the best quality hosting they can.

Here are five quick signs you can check for when you want to find a web host solution that’s worth your time, effort and the money you have put into your website:

5) Sluggish Communications – This can be one of the most frustrating aspects of a poor web host. The fact is, when you run a website, you need quality customer interaction in a short amount of time. Waiting a few hours or even a day for a response from a particularly large web hosting firm might make sense during certain parts of the year, but if you find that all of your emails end up coming back to only after several days of waiting? Then it is time to move on. As a webmaster, you deserve tech support, customer care and billing help that is rapid. There is no excuse for hosts that need to take up days of your life waiting for solutions. An automated receipt of your email is not real help so don’t be fooled into thinking that the “We have received your email and are looking into your problem” replies are anything other than a machine generated response.

4) Offering Discounts Only for First Time Customers – Any business worth its salt knows that long term, loyal customers are the heart of their business enterprise. This is especially true in the website hosting industry. The true professionals realize that their competition is only a click away and that when you want to leave them, all you have to do is sign up for one of their many competitors. If your web host only offers discounts to get people to sign up and then never rewards them with financial incentives to stay on board? Once again, it is time to take your business elsewhere. After being with any host for a year or more, you should receive at least a nominal discount that is proof the company appreciates your business. If you can’t find information on their site, why not send them an email asking if they offer discounts for long time customers? It never hurts to ask!

3) A Lack of Easy to Follow Online Help – Many webmasters prefer to at least try things on their own before they engage technical support. If you want to be able to set up your site with new software packages, particularly those that are industry standards, then you ought to be able to get custom help documents online in the form of guides or FAQs. Your web host wants your business, normally, so they should provide you with the help you need to get the most from the service they provide. They know that when you succeed with your website, you will be pleased with their performance. If they don’t offer you plenty of self help opportunities then you definitely need to find a host that is willing to put in the work to get these created for its user base.

2) Careless Billing Practices – Mistakes are bound to happen from time to time in any business. A small overcharge is not generally something nefarious and even double billing errors happen from time to time. However, if you continually get billing mistakes or wind up being charged huge amounts of money in bandwidth fees after having no warning from your web host? You guessed it! This is a sign your web host wants to gather the gold at all cost and isn’t concerned about driving you into debt through their efforts to maximize their own profits. You definitely need to jump ship and find a new host – quickly.

1) An Online Reputation in Shambles – This is the number one sign that your web hosting service doesn’t care about your business and it’s also the easiest thing to check before you ever sign up with a company. Do a quick search over the most popular search engines for the company’s name. If you find forum post after forum post, blogs posts and even tweets about the company doing bad business then stay away! A company that doesn’t research its own reputation online or does nothing to satisfy infuriated customers who take the time to complain about it in forums across the web is definitely a company you want to run from just as quickly as you can. Don’t be lured into thinking that you will be the exception to the rule because chances are good you’ll be joining those folks in outrage if you sign up for a company that cultivates an image of apathy.

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