Web Hosting Companies
Ever feel like you've wasted a lot of time and money purchasing from an online company?
Us, too! So that's why this site was created— to share our own research and opinions about select web hosting companies. Whether you want to get a new website up and running or already have one and are thinking about switching web hosting companies, we invite you to read these reviews, visit the company websites, and see which best meets your business needs and budget.
It would be impossible to review all hosting companies, but we do know quite a bit about the following three and we have to honestly say that all three — FatCow.com and JustHost.com and HostGator.com — are true winners. All three web hosting companies provide:
Us, too! So that's why this site was created— to share our own research and opinions about select web hosting companies. Whether you want to get a new website up and running or already have one and are thinking about switching web hosting companies, we invite you to read these reviews, visit the company websites, and see which best meets your business needs and budget.
It would be impossible to review all hosting companies, but we do know quite a bit about the following three and we have to honestly say that all three — FatCow.com and JustHost.com and HostGator.com — are true winners. All three web hosting companies provide:
- Unlimited disk space and transfers
- Free domain name
- Easy-to-use site building tools
- E-mail accounts
- Instant set-up
- Lots of extra freebies are included
- Money back and up-time guarantees
- 24/7 customer service support
Not all companies make it really easy to understand exactly what they provide and what it costs, but FatCow.com does an udderly outstanding job! All the information you need to make a decision is right on their home page, or within one click. FatCow.com provides a single all-in-one hosting plan that includes lots of freebies, making this web hosting service very simple to understand and to use. Beginners rejoice!
The 5-star extras that sets FatCow.com apart:
FatCow.com has been providing shared web hosting solutions to small and medium-sized businesses and individuals since 1998. If you need an easy, affordable web hosting option that's been around for over 10 years, you can't go wrong with FatCow.com. They also do an excellent job of "branding" their cow theme (no pun intended!).
The 5-star extras that sets FatCow.com apart:
- At review time, the Original Fat Cow plan is $66 per year, down from $88. But by clicking here, you can reduce it even more to just $3.67 per month!
- If you aren't quite ready to build your site, you can choose a MiniMoo page for $5/year which just establishes your domain name and e-mail address.
- Offices and data centers are all 100% powered by wind energy, so you can be proud that the machines hosting your website and email are fully eco-friendly! If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, then you'll want to host your site on servers powered 100% by "green" energy.
FatCow.com has been providing shared web hosting solutions to small and medium-sized businesses and individuals since 1998. If you need an easy, affordable web hosting option that's been around for over 10 years, you can't go wrong with FatCow.com. They also do an excellent job of "branding" their cow theme (no pun intended!).
Are you thinking of switching hosting companies? Or maybe you don't have a website at all yet? Either way, JustHost.com divides their services into two easy-to-understand categories— based on whether you're transferring or starting from scratch. Further, JustHost.com continues to keep things simple by offering only two hosting plans—the major difference being the number of free life-time domains that are included in each plan's monthly price. At review time, the JustPlan is $3.95 per month; the JustPlan Premium is $8.95 per month.
The 4.5-star extras that sets JustHost.com apart:
The 4.5-star extras that sets JustHost.com apart:
- Free domain name for LIFE
- Provides a Secret Link to a 20% discount if you read the fine print
- Real People, Real Quick Guarantee. You will be able to reach real English-speaking humans 24/7 through phone and e-mail. E-mail response times generally are under 20 minutes; average hold time on the phone is under 3 minutes.
- Provides many video tutorials (Wordpress, Dreamweaver, Frontpage, and many more) plus lots of articles on popular website topics
HostGator.com provides shared, reseller, and dedicated web hosting solutions that are designed for both beginners and professionals. As one of the world's top 10 largest web hosting companies, HostGator.com
has over 200 employs and hosts more than 2,200,000 domains. HostGator.com offers multiple pricing plans for each of the 3 types of solutions it offers, ranging at review time from $4.95-$12.95 per month for shared web hosting; $24.95-$99.95 per month for resellers; and $174-$374 per month for dedicated servers. HostGator.com definitely offers a lot of choices and services, which can be a bit overwhelming to beginners or those who don't need a lot of options.
The 3.5-star extras that sets HostGator.com apart:
has over 200 employs and hosts more than 2,200,000 domains. HostGator.com offers multiple pricing plans for each of the 3 types of solutions it offers, ranging at review time from $4.95-$12.95 per month for shared web hosting; $24.95-$99.95 per month for resellers; and $174-$374 per month for dedicated servers. HostGator.com definitely offers a lot of choices and services, which can be a bit overwhelming to beginners or those who don't need a lot of options.
The 3.5-star extras that sets HostGator.com apart:
- Choose from 4,500 website templates, including Flash templates, that you can try before you buy
- Has been in business 5 years and received numerous awards for providing exceptional web hosting
- All shared and reseller servers are 130% wind powered. Host Gator is not just neutralizing environmental impact, they are reversing it by purchasing certified Renewable Energy Credits representing 130% of the electricity used to both power and cool all their shared and reseller servers.
What to Consider When Choosing Your Web Host
If you have a web site, it’s being hosting by someone, somewhere. In the simplest terms, your web site is a combination of code and images that resides on a computer sever. That server is connected to the Internet and provides people from across the globe the ability to view your site. When choosing a website hosting company, keep these key points in mind:
E-mail Accounts: Some hosting packages limit the number of emails that you can run on your site. This may not be a concern for individuals and small businesses, but if you have many employees or need many different e-mail accounts, be careful that your web hosting company is not charging for additional email addresses unless you fully understand that cost and agree to it.
Web Traffic Statistics: A good statistics/analytics package at the very minimum will include the number of visitors that are coming to your site along with the number of pages that are being viewed. A good statistics package will also tell you where the visitors come from (which link they followed to get to your site or if they used Google or some other search engine to find you). It's important to know the amount of traffic you get so you can better market your website.
Tools and Add-ons: The hosting company you choose should also include a library of optional add-ons and tools that you can integrate into your site such as mailing lists, web calendars, blogs, shopping carts, photo galleries, and others. Most good web hosting companies offer these extra tools for free.
Customer Service: When it comes to web hosting services, if you cannot get someone to help you with set-up or to solve a problem, you'll end up frustrated and not be able to get the most out of your site. Good customer service is imperative! Many low cost hosting services only offer email support and no phone support at all. What good does that do if your e-mail is not working and you have no way to contact the web hosting company? Some might offer phone support but the hold times are long, or you are constantly transferred to someone supposedly higher up the chain of command, yet no one seems knowledgeable enough to help you. If for some reason your site goes down (yes, this does happen with just about everyone at one time or another), the last thing you want to do is to have to wait for someone to respond to an email. When your site is down, you need to get it up ASAP! A great web hosting company will get your site back up quickly. When choosing a hosting company, place a test call to their support number and see how quickly the phone is answered. Ask a few questions and see if the person you are speaking with is friendly and helpful.
Security: Security is more important that ever these days. Sites and servers are constantly battling this ever-growing problem. Make sure that your hosting company keeps backups of everything in case your site or server gets hacked. More importantly, your hosting company should have safeguards to prevent most attacks in the first place. Bandwidth is also important. Without enough bandwidth your site will be slow. Your web host should not charge you excessive prices for increased bandwidth.
There are indeed some very cheap hosting companies out there, but in most cases they are not always the best choice. For peace of mind and a few dollars per month you should get full phone support, all the tools and add-ons you need, plenty of free bells and whistles, good customer service... and that will lead to a goodnights sleep!
E-mail Accounts: Some hosting packages limit the number of emails that you can run on your site. This may not be a concern for individuals and small businesses, but if you have many employees or need many different e-mail accounts, be careful that your web hosting company is not charging for additional email addresses unless you fully understand that cost and agree to it.
Web Traffic Statistics: A good statistics/analytics package at the very minimum will include the number of visitors that are coming to your site along with the number of pages that are being viewed. A good statistics package will also tell you where the visitors come from (which link they followed to get to your site or if they used Google or some other search engine to find you). It's important to know the amount of traffic you get so you can better market your website.
Tools and Add-ons: The hosting company you choose should also include a library of optional add-ons and tools that you can integrate into your site such as mailing lists, web calendars, blogs, shopping carts, photo galleries, and others. Most good web hosting companies offer these extra tools for free.
Customer Service: When it comes to web hosting services, if you cannot get someone to help you with set-up or to solve a problem, you'll end up frustrated and not be able to get the most out of your site. Good customer service is imperative! Many low cost hosting services only offer email support and no phone support at all. What good does that do if your e-mail is not working and you have no way to contact the web hosting company? Some might offer phone support but the hold times are long, or you are constantly transferred to someone supposedly higher up the chain of command, yet no one seems knowledgeable enough to help you. If for some reason your site goes down (yes, this does happen with just about everyone at one time or another), the last thing you want to do is to have to wait for someone to respond to an email. When your site is down, you need to get it up ASAP! A great web hosting company will get your site back up quickly. When choosing a hosting company, place a test call to their support number and see how quickly the phone is answered. Ask a few questions and see if the person you are speaking with is friendly and helpful.
Security: Security is more important that ever these days. Sites and servers are constantly battling this ever-growing problem. Make sure that your hosting company keeps backups of everything in case your site or server gets hacked. More importantly, your hosting company should have safeguards to prevent most attacks in the first place. Bandwidth is also important. Without enough bandwidth your site will be slow. Your web host should not charge you excessive prices for increased bandwidth.
There are indeed some very cheap hosting companies out there, but in most cases they are not always the best choice. For peace of mind and a few dollars per month you should get full phone support, all the tools and add-ons you need, plenty of free bells and whistles, good customer service... and that will lead to a goodnights sleep!
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