There is nothing I can think of more overwhelming than choosing a hosting company where to host your site. There are literally thousands of companies competing for your business and they all claim to be the best. So where do you start? You could begin by reading reviews, comparing on sites or plain googling your way around. All these will be time consuming and the results will most likely be inconclusive and overwhelming. So what now? Let an expert do the testing and follow his advice!!

Over the past decade, I’ve had to deal with hundreds of hosting companies for my clients and could tell you a load of horror stories including inept helpdesk, hours on hold, DNS screw-ups, lost files, etc. When the service was good, clients where usually overpaying. Many just went with their ISP, who had sold them on an “all included” package that really did not suit their needs. I myself once had to email the president of the company that hosted my site directly because I could not get past his helpdesk staff while my site was down!

One day, my boss gave me a task I was familiar with: re-design the company website and moving it a new hosting company: Hostmonster. Half an hour after I stared working, I stormed into his office and shouted: “Where did you find these guys? They are awesome!!” He just laughed and replied: “I guess that’s why I’m the boss…”. That night I was moving my site over.

A couple of years later, I have migrated my more than a dozen working sites to Hostmonster and I continue to migrate my client’s sites every time I have the chance. I even promote them on my Website, because I want only the best for my clients (and all those who are not, but visit my site or Blog).

So what made me such a radical adept to this company?

1)    Price: for $5.95 a month I am hosting over 12 production sites and over 2 dozen development sites!!! This is less than $72 year! I was paying $14.95 for just one site before, so I will let you do the math…. One of my clients would pay his ISP over $300 a year for his “all included” package. You can imagine how happy he is now. Add to this unlimited everything and it is just incredible!

2)    Services offered: This was definitely what made me rush into my boss’ office that day. Their control panel had every single service I ever wished for as a developer. Most users will never use a tenth of this, but it is always good to know that if your web designer asks you if your hosting company supports this or that, the answer will always be: YES!

3)    Reliability: Never seen it go down. Never been unable to access the control panel or my site. Emails are always in my inbox in seconds. Do I need to say more?

4)    Control: As a developer and manager of so many sites, I need control over every step of the process. I found all aspects of my domains, databases, DNS and sites are manageable from their control panel, thus avoiding unnecessary calls to support help lines or email requests.

5)    Flexibility: I get what I need for all of my sites, but some clients need more horsepower, SSL, Shell access, etc. In these cases, their service has been easily expanded to suit their needs. Also, with the use of SimpleScripts, my clients can easily (and for free!)  have access to such varied applications as Blogs, CRM, CMS, E-commerce and even E-learning portals.

6)    Support: I can maintain sites hosted on Hostmonster for a fraction of the cost of the clients who host their sites elsewhere. But even us “experts” sometimes need help from an even greater expert. The times I have had to contact them, I have been quickly greeted by a professional, excellently trained individual, who is NOT outsourced and has been able to help me in minutes (thus saving the client money once again).

Migrating your hosting is not always an easy process, so I recommend letting a professional handle the process. If I have succeeded in convincing you on saving money and moving towards a better service, then hopefully you can also start taking advantage of my experience and excellent track record. Contact me for a free assessment of your current Internet presence and I will be happy to guide you on the right path for you.