Posted on April 15th, 2011Finding a suitable hosting plan is challenging enough, especially considering all of the gimmicks and guarantees used by modern hosting providers to solicit and appeal to new clients. Even after choosing a hosting plan/type, you have to be continually vigilant and aware of the service provided by your web host in order to avoid paying for services that are not worth the monthly costs. Unfortunately, the majority of webmasters have had to change hosting providers due to unforeseen complications like site downtime, slow loading pages, server errors, security issues, and other problems that could’ve been avoided by dealing with a reliable hosting provider. However, even some of the most popular hosting providers that have built a significant reputation online offer services that are questionable from time to time. So is your hosting company simply having a bad day, or is it time to change hosting providers? The following three paragraphs list three features of a hosting provider that warrant changing hosts.
Repetitive Site Downtime
Even with a 99% uptime guarantee, it is important to realize that this guarantee is based on a yearly time schedule, and 1% of a year is 3.65 days. This means that the hosting provider could feasibly get away with having your site down for a total of 3.65 days out of the year without violating the 99% uptime guarantee. However, some hosting providers exceed this uptime guarantee, and are therefore not worthy of ongoing business. As soon as you realize that your site is down it is imperative to contact your hosting provider and demand an explanation and estimated time of repair. Sometimes the site downtime can be caused by something as simple as a server reset, while other times it can be the result of a serious security lapse. While server resets usually will only leave a site off-line for about 15 minutes, security lapses and other server issues usually cause at least a half an hour to an hour or more in site downtime. In general, if you experience downtime during more than two days out of the week, for two weeks out of the month, then it may be time to change hosting providers.
Poor Customer Support
Chances are if you’ve been experiencing site downtime then you’ve also had to contact customer support. Regardless of the reason for your call, the hosting support staff should be responsive, friendly, and knowledgeable on all subjects related to hosting. Wait times should not exceed 2 minutes, and calls should not be disconnected unexpectedly (there is nothing more frustrating than waiting 10 minutes on hold only to have the call disconnected). Thus, good customer support is defined not only as access to intelligent and helpful human beings that speak English fluently, it is also defined by an efficient phone system that is not easily overloaded by a large volume of calls. If you’ve had more than two bad experiences with your web host’s customer support, it may be time to change hosting providers.
Hidden Fees
Although hidden fees can easily be found within the fine print of the hosting agreement, they are called hidden fees because the majority of webmasters do not notice them until they have been charged. An honest hosting provider will openly disclose all fees before charging them. Hidden fees to look for are customer service fees, plan renewal fees, setup fees, cancellation fees, multiple domain hosting fees, and even domain ownership fees. If you’re noticing that your monthly hosting cost is higher than expected on a regular basis, it may be time to change hosting providers.