Web Hosting Reviews & Ratings

January 05, 2010

A Web Hosting Plan with Room to Grow

There are lots of things that could stifle your online business. Email issues and merchant account restrictions are just a few of the things that could slow you down. A common but often overlooked growth stifler is an inadequate website hosting plan. Getting stuck in the wrong web hosting plan could make you look like an e-commerce amateur long after you’ve learned the ropes.

When shopping for the perfect web hosting plan, you will come across a great many that seem to offer a plethora of features at a fantastic price. However, once you’re on board, you may run into several of the following growth inhibitors:

The most desirable features are excluded from your plan – On the surface, that $9 per month hosting plan may look appealing.  However when put to the test, you may find that you need $30 per month worth of additional a-la-carte features just to make your website work the way you envisioned. Be sure to sign-up for a trial of the hosting plan you intend to buy to make sure it will meet your needs. When possible, choose a thirty-day trial period. It will definitely reveal much more than the quickie 5-10 day trial offers. If you choose the right web hosting plan, you can make a template based website look like a custom design.

The site is not user-friendly for website visitors – It’s great to find a website hosting plan that makes it easy for you to create and modify your content. It’s also important for your visitors to experience that same ease of use. Your website should use fonts and colors that are easy on the eyes. It should have a logical flow that provides a link to the most popular items directly from the home page. Video, audio or text instructions should accompany items that are not so easy to understand or ones that have summary descriptions. And finally, the checkout process should not require a doctorate degree to understand.

Poor customer service from the hosting provider – Unless you are a veteran or plan to outsource your project to one, you are very likely to need the support of the customer service department. When looking for a hosting plan, make sure that the hours and the type of customer service available will meet your needs. If you prefer talking to a real person, you’re likely to experience frustration with the online chat or “email only” customer service options. Often times, both of these options are geared to provide very generic tips that do little to get you back on track. It’s a bit disappointing to receive the “you’ve outgrown our website hosting service” answer to a very pressing question.

When choosing a website hosting plan consider where you want to be 6-12 months down the road. Then find a provider that offers features you can grow with. Otherwise, once you get hooked into a plan, even one that doesn’t work so well, you may find it hard to cancel. Switching to a different server and experiencing a new learning curve may be more of a headache than what you’re already going through.

Tags: online business,  merchant account,  customer service,  web hosting trial period,  web hosting plan