Web host reviews
Reviews of web hosting providers can be very useful when choosing a web host. However, not all web host reviews are reliable. Consider possible reasons for reviews, who posted them, where and when they were published, the details in the reviews, and all the reviews of a particular web host together.
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Why people write reviews of web hosts
People write web hosting company reviews for a variety of reasons:
Positive web host reviews
- They're pleased with the service from their web hosting provider and want to help other people choose a good web host.
- Their web hosting provider offered them an incentive to post a positive review of them.
- They are the web host or are connected with the web host somehow. In other words, they're shills.
Negative web host reviews
- They're unhappy with their web hosting provider and want to warn other people about the web host. (Some see themselves as on a mission and post their negative reviews and comments on the web host every chance they get.)
- They want to get a refund (or get something else) from their web hosting provider and are using a poor review to try to get the web host to give them what they want.
- They're a competitor of the web host being reviewed and want to make the web host look bad.
Who posted the review
The people who write reviews are included in the above section. How can you know which of the above describes them? Consider these factors:
- How long had the web host been in business before the review was posted? Look up the whois record for the web host's domain. If the web hosting company is very new, reviews should be regarded with suspicion. It isn't uncommon for new web hosts to post "reviews" of their own companies shortly after they start up.
- If the review is at a forum, what is the member's post history? Reviews that are the member's first post may be valid, but they tend to be regarded with more suspicion, especially if they're very positive. If the member has a longer post history, read some of the member's posts to decide if you find the person to be credible.
- Are some of the reviews you're reading by the same person? Each one might provide more information, but together, they represent only one person's opinion or experience.
- If comments are allowed where the review is posted, how do other people react to the review? Do they view it as credible, or do they express skepticism? Consider the reasons people give for both reactions.
Where the web hosting review was published
At some sites that have web hosting reviews, reviews must be verified that they're by customers of the web host being reviewed, but at other sites, no verification process takes place. Keep in mind the why and the who in the above sections.
Consider also these factors:
- Does the website accept paid listings? At some web host review sites, the "best" or the "top" web hosting providers are at the top of the list because they paid to be listed there.
- Is the website owner affiliated with any of the web hosts reviewed? Such an affiliation, especially an unpublished one, is something to remember when reading reviews of both the web host(s) that the site owner is affiliated with and reviews of competing web hosts at that site.
It can be helpful to search for reviews and other comments about the website with the web hosting reviews. Do people in the industry consider the site credible?
When the review was published
Times change, and owners change. A web hosting company might have gone through growing pains or other difficult times and be doing well now. The company may have changed ownership since reviews were written, and the service may have become better or worse since then. Look for recent reviews, and if you can find only older ones, consider that the situation being reviewed may not be the same any more.
How to read web hosting provider reviews
- Consider the above why, who, where, and when contexts.
- Look at the details in a review. Does the review just have "this host is the best" or "stay away from this host" types of comments, or does it include details to support the reviewer's opinion? Read past the title, which might be inaccurate.
- Look at the reasons for the reviewer's satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The reasons may or may not be relevant to your needs. To quote a well-known saying on the Web Hosting Talk forum, "There is no best host. There is only the host that is best for you."
- Keep in mind that people are more likely to post reviews when they're unhappy with a service than when they're happy with it.
- Read more than one review on each web hosting provider, and consider the reviews together.
Web hosting reviews at Web Hosting Talk
When members post reviews of web hosts in the Web Hosting Talk forum, they're requested to provide their domains or other information to verify that they are a current or past customer of the web host that they're reviewing. To read or post reviews of web hosts at the Web Hosting Talk forum, please go to the forum section for the type of web hosting you're looking for, for example:
See also
Web Hosting Wiki article text shared under a Creative Commons License.
