Distinguishing Reliability & Support
Hosting of web sites has essentially become a commodity. There is very little distinguishing one hosting company from the next. Core plans and features are the same and price is no longer a true determining feature. In fact, choosing a host based on the cheapest price can be more expensive in the long term with respect to reliability issues and possible loss of sales as a result of website downtime.
Selecting a host from the hundreds of providers can be a very daunting task, which may result in a hit and miss approach. But although hosting may have become a commodity, one distinguishing feature that you must always look out for is reliability.
Making contact with a prospective hosting provider can be a long winded affair some are quite happy just to put up an enquiry form with the idea that you will send them a request or an order and be done with it but from a potential customers point of view is that really an effective way to communicate?, the "I don't want to be found" approach what does it tell you .... three things 1. when the pot boils over your on your own, you have no way of communicating apart from an enquiry form which gives no indication of the response times, 2. the business is not really that interested in customer support and 3. if I can't be found I won't be bothered and hopefully the problem will resolve it's self.
If you must e-mail an enquiry keep your question/s short and straight to the point picking up the phone still proves to be the most effective way to short list service providers, for one the fact that someone actually answered the phone is a good indication that your prospective hosting provider is actually on this planet, albeit if it is an answering machine leave a message if your call is returned that's another good indication that your prospective hosting provider is reliable, another good option is look for an address if the company is located locally in your town or city ask to come in and discuss your requirements if your successful with that request your elimination process just got easier (however don't expect a grand tour of the server room there's every chance the hosting servers are housed elsewhere or strictly out of bounds).
Don't be put off that your prospective hosting provider works from the basement of their home or in their lounge, small or home businesses can be just effective as larger businesses, the key thing is their willingness to provide you with a service that reflects on your business and your requirements.
Finally, What Happens when your hosting services go down?, Rule number 1 stay calm and be patient it’s very likely your hosting provider is already aware of the issue and is working on it. Your call is not going to resolve things any quicker most hosting providers will specify in their terms that from time to time downtime issues will happen these could be reasons beyond their control or it could be general maintenance whatever the reason give it time for your hosting provider to resolve things.
