Web Hosting Services: the good, the bad, and the ugly
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Iâve been offering web hosting services to my clients for several years. Although itâs an additional revenue stream, I do it mainly to save my clients the trouble of finding their own service, and because it allows me to use a system I know well.
Don’t trust just any hosting service with your valuable website!
Originally, I worked with HostGator, but after experiencing slow load times and other problems, I switched to Site5 in 2013. I found their performance and customer service to be far superior – until late last summer.
Almost overnight, issues requiring tech support became a weekly occurrence. If that wasnât bad enough, they were taking days to respond to my support tickets. Using their online chat was a frustrating experience, with long wait times and representatives who copied and pasted canned phrases from a manual without even taking the time to read what I was actually asking.
A few months earlier, Iâd learned that Site5 had been purchased by Endurance International Group (EIG), one of the worldâs largest hosting companies, notorious for buying up smaller companies and running them into the ground. If Iâd only had one website, Iâd have jumped ship fairly quickly, but migrating approximately 30 client sites wasnât a job I was eager to undertake!
The straw that broke the camelâs back was when they migrated my reseller account to a new server without warning, taking my clientsâ websites and emails offline. It took days, and in some cases weeks, to get everything up and running properly again. It was a nightmare, and knowing I wasnât the only one affected didnât make me feel any better.
Once the dust settled, it was tempting to leave things as they were, but I just couldnât risk Site5 screwing up again, so I began my search for a new hosting company not owned by EIG.
My absolute favorite hosting company is WP Engine, but since their service costs quite a bit more, I knew that most of my clients wouldnât want to make the switch. It might seem expensive, but it includes enhanced security, daily backups, WordPress updates, Letâs Encrypt SSL certificates, and many other features you would normally pay extra for.
I ended up choosing InMotion because of their extensive documentation and the professional manner in which they responded to my initial inquiry. For one thing, they are employee-owned, so the likelihood of them being bought out by EIG is slim to none. The migration process wasnât quite as seamless as theyâd led me to believe, but there were no major glitches, and I think Iâve made a good choice.
Which web hosting services have you used? What do you like and dislike about them?
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I may add chemicloud.com to the list. They are a small company taking good care of their customers. I am using them for some time, and I’m very happy with their Support team and services. Just like S5 used to be before EIG bought them out. In case you want to give them a try, use the free trial.
Hopefully I won’t need to move again any time soon, but thanks for the recommendation. It may be of interest to some of my readers!
I have always used BlueHost. This was interesting to read. I feel like running a website and blog has so many moving parts that it is hard to keep up. Definitely something I should give more thought to!
I know a few people who have had problems with BlueHost, especially around email. Have you been lucky? (They are also owned by EIG, by the way.)
Great article and I totally hear you about hosting. I have used Dreamhost for the last 9 years and love them. Very rarely do I have to communicate with them. They are small and steady yet quick to respond should I ever have a question.
Good to hear about another good one – thanks, Angee!
I have a love-hate relationship with my host company. I prefer not to say who it is, though. I’ve been with them for a while now. I love their customer service most of the time. And, now that I am buying a VPS, it has gotten a bit better. I seem to get more experienced people which are great. I never heard of InMotion though. Something to check out in the future. Thanks for sharing.
Dealing with experienced people makes a big difference, doesn’t it?
The tech end is great when all is working, but when things go wonky, it’s so frustrating. Having great customer support is key.
My sites are hosted on a Squarespace platform. The few times I’ve had some tech issues, I’ve enlisted help from my web designer to help me navigate or negotiate the kinks through with Squarespace. I’m pretty good on the backend with certain things, but when it comes to code or migration, I know it’s essential to get expert help.
Your clients are so lucky to have you as their expert, Janet.
One of the advantages of services like Squarespace is the integration of hosting with your website platform. Of course, the downside is that you don’t have the option of moving it to another platform or web host easily.
Thanks so much for your kind words, Linda – they mean a lot to me!