Be Careful!

Ever since the rise and fall of the dotcom bubble, the get rich quick schemes, and the "How i made $10,000 in 48 hours" phonies, web hosting providers have flourished by the numbers. Many aspiring individuals trying to duplicate the success of an extraordinary few, are now more than ever, registering domain names and signing up for 2-3 years with web hosting providers. For the knowledgable bunch that understands fluff from truth, bare with me. For the rest of you, thinking of finding a good web hosting provider, here are a few things you should know about some of these sneaky little culprits.

Unlimited Bandwidth Does Not Exist

Keep in mind, that the web hosting providers themselves, have limitations on their bandwidth. There's no way they're going to promise you more than they can handle. What they are really trying to say, in hidden language, is that, "we have estimated how much usage, you (the average user) could possibly ever need, assigned some arbitrary number, and presumed you'd never cross that. So, we figure unlimited is more catchy than 2.....GB. Always look for fine print. Here's an example from one web hosting provider:

"If you use more than 20% (or even 10% ) of system resources, you don't qualify for 'unlimited traffic'."

Unlimited Disk Space Is A Physical Impossibility

Another bold and outrageous claim by some web hosting provider. This is simply not possible. Here's the deal, like the unlimited bandwidth scenario, web hosting provider's bank on the fact that the average customer doesn't use above a certain amount of disk space. So, the hope is that he/she would never find out. Best way to know this, is to read the fine print.

Here's a quote from one major web hosting provider

"You can add as much content as you want, but maybe not all at once.The vast majority of our customers' sites grow at rates well within our rules, however, and will not be impacted by this constraint."

Here's what this means. You cannot use all the "unlimited"space in one stretch. But you may use a certain amount in the beginning, and then gradually add more. So, the question becomes, how much exactly can you use each time and at what specific rate? Good Luck finding the answer to that. Web Hosting providers offering the "unlimited space" deal also have restrictions on what you can use the disk space for. They have to, or else, it would cost them a fortune, if every customer actually went about trying to use their "unlimited" disk space.

This usually implies that you can use their space only for your website and not as any sort of offsite backup space. so, rather than unlimited disk space, look for "unrestricted disk space".

Another important thing to understand is that web hosting provider's believe in efficiency and profit. If you don't use all of the web server space you are entitled to, that space gets assigned to someone who uses more that he projected. So, the danger with this is that they have to take web space from customers that use lesser than expected and direct it to customers who cross expectations. That's why many web hosting providers don't allow you to resell or even just give away web space that you don't need. Reportedly, some providers could go as far as deleting your info, if it is not found to be linked to some page in your website. Infact, web hosting providers can limit you to whatever it takes to keep their servers running smoothly. If that means restricting your "unlimited" space, so be it!. Here is a direct quote from a web hosting provider, i found on a website:

"The unlimited traffic and disk storage policy has been established for the ease of use and enjoyment of all our customers. We reserve the right to limit your disk usage and/or traffic if your site is negatively affecting the performance of our other customers."

No Contact Information

This a a huge red flag to me. If the web hosting provider you want, does not have anything more than an email, dump it. Good web hosting providers will have a phone number, full address, email, and 24/7 live chat. Also, test their support by calling them, or emailing, and see how fast they respond, and how well they answer your question over the phone. Its usually a good indicator of how strong their support will be, if later you encounter any problems.

Don't Use Their Web Templates

Friends, don't trap yourself. Web Templates are great. But understand that your web hosting provider wants you to use theirs because 9 out 10 times, you'd be locked into their service for life. In other words, they own the copyright on all the page designs, web forms, images, etc they give you freely upon signing up. So, if you were to transfer to another web hosting provider, you wouldn't be able to take any of that with you. Now this might not always be the case, but make sure you know.

Long-term Contracts are not worth the discounts

Here's why. Most web hosting providers include in their terms of service that they can't be held liable for not holding up to their end on the contract. Plainly speaking, with stiff competition and rising costs, web hosting providers are finding it harder to stay in business. Not all make the cut. Many fail to survive for more than a year. Getting long-term contracts are usually an easy way to keep thriving, because they prorate you for 2-3 years. They don't let you pay month by month. That's also why they pay affiliates so well. In order to succeed, they have to retain their customer base and keep growing. Now the flip side is also true. If your website is a failure, guess what? they're not refunding you the difference on the remainder of your contract. Not all do is, but its always wise to check.

Free Web hosting

With strings attached! That's what you'll find in the fine print. Sure, many web hosting providers will give you 5 or 10 MB without charge BUT with certain restrictions as well. They usually require that you place their ads on your website and only allow web-based uploading and editing of your website. They have strict traffic limits as well, but this goes without saying.

Domain Registration and Free Domain Names

While, there isn't any problem with domain registration in and off itself, there is a huuuuge issue with having a web hosting provider register your domain in their name. Some providers actually do this to lock you into their service.

Should you choose to switch to another provider, that would mean losing your domain name. This isn't a light topic. Domain Names are valuable and over time increase in value. To give you an example, business.com sold for a few million dollars to an interested bidder some time last year. That's JUST the domain name. Having said that, there are also junk domain names worth nothing and these are what some web hosting providers give you for free. Their usually really long, and don't work very well for marketing purposes.

Choose Carefully

So, be smart, and choose carefully! There's no rush to pick one, just because you see a crazy deal. Chances are they will be there tommorow. I have posted some references (links) below that have helped me to write this article and will give you more information on what to watch out for.

Also find out which web hosting provider, many reputable sources say, has the most personal customer support, best server uptime, and unlike any other provider, lets you pay month by month on all their plans with a 45 day money back guarantee. Apparently, the president and CEO Brent Oxley takes time out of his schedule to personally talk to clients.