Internet Newbie Diary

This is a follow-up to my posts on How to choose a hosting service, Hosts to consider - Part One, and Hosts to Consider - Part Two.

Two final notes on hosting

One:

I was going to include a company I dealt with in the beginning that offered everything, including the kitchen sink, in their web hosting package. It was at a premium price, but adding all the tools and services together, it seemed like a good deal.

The reason I did not is because I found the support lacking and in the end, you will have more flexibility and access to better tools if you get all your services by the piece vs. bundled.

(By the way, it was because of the experience above — signing up with the wrong web host first time around — that I ended up doing so much research and coming up with the two companies mentioned in my previous posts.)

Two:

Call them up. Call each company you are considering doing business with and ask them questions. See how quickly they respond to your call. How do you find their customer service? Are they friendly, knowledgeable? Do they take the time they need to answer your questions? Aside from the regular questions, you might want to choose one item in their ‘services’ list that you don’t understand and see if they can explain it to you.

Remember, this is a ‘sales’ call, you are trying to make a buying decision and if they are not helpful and friendly with you now, it can only go downhill once you’re a customer.

Does this sound like overkill? Maybe, but choosing the right host is important. Choosing the wrong host can mean having to move your website, paying more than you really need to, possibly losing your files if there’s a crash, and just losing time doing things a second-time when you already have enough to do.

This follows up on Part One and is the second one of the lot I researched that rose to the top.

IX Web Hosting

This company offers email/ticket support 24/7 but their live chat and toll-free telephone support is not available 24/7. They have a control panel demo, so you can see how things will work and a promo video that provides a quick synopsis of their service.

Pro: They have a 30 day guarantee (see the ‘Our Promise to You’ link in the upper left hand side of the hosting page. The live chat is very helpful and the tech I spoke to was knowledgeable and pleasant (and you can ‘save’ the live chat dialogue to refer to later). They have a web hosting user manual that provides a good overview.

Con: They do not offer shorter sign-up times. If you do sign-up with them, and don’t like their service you can ask for a refund within their 30 day guarantee period. Live chat and telephone access not available 24/7.

I have a couple of more things to say about hosting. Watch for that in an upcoming post.

As promised in my earlier post ‘How to choose a hosting service’, this is Part-One of my reviews.

I researched several hosting companies and will give you a quick snapshot of the two I recommend along with what I consider to be the pros and cons of each.

1 and 1

This is a huge company, but their help is always accessible. They have a toll-free number that is available 24/7 and my wait time has never been more than a couple of minutes.

I have had them help me with things that were related but not really their problem. For instance, the ftp client I was using stopped working and they walked me through downloading a better one and getting my files moved.

Pro: You can host a number of domains with one account and that will save you some money. You can buy an account for 90 days and it automatically renews — as far as I’m concerned it’s the best of both worlds. They offer a 90 day guarantee and 24/7 toll-free support. They have great FAQ and Help files.

Con: If you have a domain registered somewhere else you will have to pay more to host that domain with 1and1 or transfer the domain name to their registrar.

I use 1and1. I’ve had only good experiences with this service and support staff. They have a lot of services, so I can stay with this company as I need to expand and upgrade my accounts.

1and1 is my first pick. (Note: An added advantage with 1and 1 is having both domain registration and hosting in one account.)

In Part Two, I’ll tell you about another company I considered.