i often resell some hosting and help buy hosting for my friends.

there are so many hosting company in the world ,and everyone says they are high quality hosting.but i know some arebot so good as they say.
i know some websites such as www.findyourhosting.com,webhostingguide.com
and so on,but they only list very little part of the hosting companies in the world ,and some are really good even though thay are not listed in any webhosting review sites.
but i really want to know A good method about how to verify a
good hosting company?
thank you very much

Bottom line is you should have a good feeling about your potential host. After doing some research here, from a variety of sources, take a few minutes, e-mail your potential host - see how fast they respond. If they have forums, check to see if the users are satisfied. If their forums require you to be a member, or client before accessing, I'd move to the next choice.

You'll get a lot of suggestions here ... you'll also get a few comments from unsolicited companies probably, offering their services (it's really against the rules). Go with the general concensus - these guys really know what they're talking about. But the bottom line is YOU have to feel comfortable with them - you're entrusting your business, or your clients to that company.

Joe

All I can say is browse around and make up your mind.

do some researches, take a look at some real good grading/review webistes which grade webhosting companies, ask for comments by fellow WHT members if they have experience.

Tech support is one of the fundamentals. Make sure they have this good.

I have been on WHT.com for quite a few months now (I think 5 or 6) and I would not recommend basing your decisions soley on peoples opionons in this forum.

So many good providers are bashed for reasons that are typically the clients ignorance or something to that nature. People like to cry wolf here versus talking to the provider themselves.

If my cable tv goes out I don't goto cabletvtalk.com and say "Charter Communications sucks!" I call them and ask why I only get snow.

It's sad but that's the ignorance of most people. I would say that there's a lot of good to come from researching here but I would not recommend soley on peoples reviews here.

hostpc.com is right. Email them and see how they reply. Pre-Sales is important! Also, check their forum ... every provider should have one .. if they don't I'd assume they have something to hide. Check for testimonials, however, be alert as most hosting providers make them up. Very rarely do people provide anything other than a name (no url to whois, visit, or verify) so don't always believe marketting gimmics.

Check if they have a third party uptime monitoring system publically avialbale (not all do, I don't, but I'm getting one soon from alertra.com).

eHostSpace makes a good point too. Support is the most important thing about it.

Also, browse around here and definitly consider anyone selling you something like 300+ mbs an 10+ gigs for $4 a month or $25 a year is scamming you. Price should not be the factor on your decision because a lot of things are cheap and really suck. Also, a lot of things high priced suck... but think of it like this. Can the provider really pay his bills and live off your $2 a month (that's about 6cents a day ... no one can live on that even with 100 clients (wow, $6 for 24hrs of work!) So really think about that.

Good luck with your searches!

Make a short list of potential host.

Do a search first on the company here on WHT, see what kind of feedback they have here then do one on the owner or representatives name or handle. Read a few of their post and get a feel for the person you will be dealing with. Then go do a google search on both the company and the owners name if you have it. Check what others in the world have to say about them read other board postings etc. that google may reveal.

Remember WHT is not the end all be all of hosting and even some host that have been the hot host of the month here have turned out to be scams or bad host in the end. Pay more attention to the bad or lack of bad post about a host than the praise a few may heap on one.

Then after all that go with your gut feeling for them.

Originally posted by greathope
. . . . . . . . i really want to know A good method about how to verify a
good hosting company?
thank you very much I don't believe there is a 'best' method to verify a good hosting company.

Even "good" hosting companies can have negative feedback from persons that did not fit their needs.

Finding the host that is best for you is a trial and error type of thing. As others have mentioned; do some research, trust your instincts, and see how it fits.

No news on a host at WHT is likely a 'good' thing; depending on how long the host has been in business.

Good luck.

Greetings:

1. Do make a list out of your expectations. Do include no technology elements such as ability to access live support, service level agreements, and the like.

2. DO call the hosting provider, and go over your questions with their business development or sales department.

The telephone call will provide you more feedback -- how quick the phone is answered?, did you get a human being or did you go through an automated system?, how did they treat you?, where they able to answer your questions?, if they didn't know the answer did they fake it or tell you they will get back to you, etc.

3. Ask them to fax you customer testimonials. Do use the telephone to contact a number of the customers. Don't accept testimonials that do not include full contact information including a telephone number.

Thank you.

I think providing telephone numbers in testimonials violates privacy!

I think the domain is sufficent as you can surely check the nameservers on that domain, when it was registerd, if it's online, and things to that nature

I don't know that there really is a best way.

You could read the testimonials on their site...but the unscrupulous could easily fake those.

You could check into their support forums...if they're open for public viewing / posting. But they could have a business based around businesses whose owners are too busy to post in support forums unless there's a problem - and then they often want the problem to be fixed, they don't have time to fix it themselves.

Looking at the site design can work, if you're familiar with what might have come from a hosting template versus what has been designed by in-house people. There's also the old joke about "two barbers in town, which one do you go to? The one whose hair is sloppily cut and whose shop is messy - he's so busy helping clients that he doesn't have time to keep his shop display-neat." This analogy kind of fumbles when faced with the Internet, though (for one thing, there are far more than two barbers in the shop ;-> )

Don't take opinions from only one forum, or only one group of people. If you're relying on a cross-section of opinions, you need a diverse pool of people responding.

You could try the "they're not in any of the host directories but they've been around for two years, they must be doing something right" measuring stick.

When evaluating any hosting plan, do you feel that you know enough about web hosting to know whether you're getting a good deal, or being drastically overcharged or undercharged?

Bottom line, you have to decide if it feels right to you. You may find later on that you should have learned more about this or that factor to make an informed decision - but life is a series of learning lessons.

(Bleah...call me Polonius...)

usually i think a good hosting company have a cool design homepages ,i often judge with this,if a hosting company have a decent sites i will consider it.

>greathope: usually i think a good hosting company have a cool design homepages ,i often judge with this,if a hosting company have a decent sites i will consider it.

This is the first thing you do but never the last. Sites with bad design are not even qualified for competing at all. But then you'll have to do way much more research before sending them your money.

I usually go for companies which stay long enough (at least 18 months or better still 3-4 years) and have a steady client base.

Originally posted by greathope
usually i think a good hosting company have a cool design homepages ,i often judge with this,if a hosting company have a decent sites i will consider it.

Not a very good measuring stick..

I know one host that was all the rave here a few months back and has one of the best site designs on the net, it gets high marks from everyone. But do a search on hostpacket.net and see the level of service and the way the owner treatd his customers when faced with a problem.

Then come back and tell me site design is a good way to pick a host.

Originally posted by dynamicnet
Greetings:

3. Ask them to fax you customer testimonials. Do use the telephone to contact a number of the customers. Don't accept testimonials that do not include full contact information including a telephone number.

Thank you.

Do you really think a good host will give his clients phone numbers out to strangers?

Would you want to be hosted by a company that would give yours out to anyone that ask for it?

The best way to find a good host:
- Find if they meet your technical requirements
- Check Usenet and this site of any negative feedback about the company
- Send some technical questions even some really technical ones to their support and check their speed and level of technical knowledge

Then try them out yourself. You can always move to another host with no downtime if you're not satisfied.

Originally posted by SoftWareRevue
Even "good" hosting companies can have negative feedback from persons that did not fit their needs.

Finding the host that is best for you is a trial and error type of thing. As others have mentioned; do some research, trust your instincts, and see how it fits.
Keep this in mind. The key is to find a host will live up to your expectations. Although all hosts provide the basics (space and transfer), the little things will determine whether you are satisfied or not. Try to make a list of your needs (as close as possible), and see if you can find someone with simialr needs who is using a provider.

Aside from attmepting to make sure that things like uptime are decent (and also match your expectations), things like support and support methods need to be considered. If you find that 10 people say that they usually get their support requests answered within 30 minutes, and that is extremely important to you, then you should consider signing up (assuming that everything else matches).

There's no one best host, and it is hit and miss. I can tell you that I've had much better luck finding providers since finding forums like this one. Before I chose based on mostly price and without feedback and was disappointed. At least you have an edge, and are being given advice. More than I had...

I would suggest to browse around a hosting companies website. Look at their company info, if they don't give much information I wouldn't really feel secure going with them.

Search around on the internet for this host, try to find information about them.

Email them and ask if you could speak to several of their clients and get their testimonials.

Test them, email their sales, their info, their support, see how fast they respond.

Make sure they have a 30 day money back guarantee, thats something I always check on.

These are just somethings I do when I browse for a web host.

Google is your friend

Any time I am considering spending money for a company's service or product I do a google search.

That's how you find out that paypalsucks.com exists, and 5 other sites like it.

That's how you find out that there are 50 usenet posts where different people say that xyz company makes good product but takes longer to deliver than what they promise.

That's how you find out that the company that is so "well respected" on wht practically doesn't exist as far as the rest of the world is concerned.

After checking google I do a whois and a bbb search

As many people have suggested, a good source of feedback is boards such as this, but I would like to extend this a little further and suggest that you read posts on this board (and any others you see) with a certain "judgement filter" if you will. Look for people who post opinions about hosts who 1) post frequently (don't look for people who post for the first few times giving nothing but opinions) and 2) look for people who give opinions about specific aspects of the service (this establishes some degree of thought). If the poster mentions a website, do a domain lookup on it (www.domainsearch.com is hideously ugly but it does do a good job of this) to see that the site is indeed hosted on the server (note: in some cases, the name server will have a different domain name than the host e.g. sectorlink.com owns servdns.com as well for anonymous DNS. If this is the case, check to see that the name server is owned by the same company).

Another thing I always look for is a money-back guarantee with clearly defined terms. If a host is willing to put its money where its mouth is, then I'm willing to give the company up to 30 days to prove itself. During the 30 day trial, I'll make a point of testing support with a question here and there even if I don't have a problem with the site just to see how quickly they respond.

I would personally never do the next thing (I think it's a bit obnoxious) but a friend and colleague of mine does this; he will call a host up as a pre-sales call and lay out his long term plans for the site in phases and see if the host will be able to handle its growth. He says that if the salesperson gets impatient, he hangs up and doesn't bother, but if the salesperson continues to talk and shows that the host can grow along with the site, then he usually signs on for at least a trial basis.

Last but not least, look for the date the domain name of the host was initially purchased. This is not completely accurate (domain names are bought, sold and transferred all the time) but if a domain name was registered less than six months ago, it means the company hasn't been around long enough to establish long-term respectability.

It's not easy to pick out a good host (hence the formation of boards such as this) but by the same token, it doesn't have to be a struggle as long as a little common sense and judgement is employed.

Ask your friends who they host with.
If the offer is too good to be true, than it probably is.

Originally posted by SoftWareRevue

Even "good" hosting companies can have negative feedback from persons that did not fit their needs.
Good luck.

You have to look at the type of negative feedback. If someone gripes about their site not being available frequently, that's a major concern.

However if someone complains about their ASP page is giving errors when it's their fault, the host should not be blamed.

Originally posted by sbloyd
. . . . . . if someone complains about their ASP page is giving errors when it's their fault, the host should not be blamed. But, that customer (or ex-customer) is still blaming the host. He is only going to report that his site did not work. And, since his site did not work, his host is not good.