Oftentimes, website owners get caught unawares on some terrible things hosting companies do after they sign up with them. If you have seen these 7 things to consider during your name search, the next thing you will need to complete your domain acquisition process is a hosting package.
There are a thousand and one hosting companies operating in the marketplace but how do you know which ones are reliable? Some of these companies focus on delivering quality service to their customers while others choose making profits over long term customer satisfaction.
In our opinion, no one should be a victim of unreliable web hosting companies. The only way to escape being a victim is to learn beforehand what their tricks and gimmicks are.
In this article we’re going to talk about 7 terrible things some hosting companies do to short change you after you’ve signed up with them.
7 Terrible Things Hosting Companies Do
- Mouth-watering cheap prices at first
- Great customer service at first
- Security features spamming
- Operating under different names to confuse you
- Overloaded services
- Taking forever to resolve issues
- Biased reviews by affiliates
1. Mouth-watering cheap prices at first
They lure you in with cheap prices but use CPU usage as a means to force you to upgrade. These mouth-watering cheap prices at first trick can come in different forms.
In some cases, some hosting companies offer initial cheaper than normal prices for their hosting packages but subsequent renewal prices will cost you an arm. It’s just like waiting for one year until your next renewal to take their sweet revenge on you! Do not fall for this trick. When a hosting company offers cheaper than normal prices for their packages, try to find out what their subsequent renewal rates are like.
A second trick of web hosting companies is to use mouth-watering cheap prices to lure you in at first then use CPU usage to force you to upgrade. Imagine receiving a warning after a few months of signing up with a hosting company that you are running low on disk space. You either upgrade to a higher plan or risk being plagued by a 503 error.
2. Great customer service at first
Excellent customer support is one of the strongest selling points advertised by web hosting companies. But how many of them live up to that claim? In reality, only a handful web hosting companies are swift with their response to customer issues and complaints.
Great customer service at first that deteriorates badly after sometime is one of the terrible things hosting companies do. If you’re running an internet business and encounter any unexplained problems, you should be able to get prompt help from your hosting company.
So, your research of your potential hosting company should factor in what their online support is like before signing up with them.
3. Security features spamming
This is the point where they spam you with security features that you have to pay for. We’re now in 2020 and cyber crime has been on a consistent increase over the years. That being said, security is a major concern for website owners and also should not be overlooked by new website owners.
Almost all hosting companies offer different levels of security as part of their hosting package. However, when your hosting company begins to ask that you pay for basic security features which you should be getting as part of your package in the first place, that tells you a lot about their service.
Extrabytes identified some basic security features which web hosting companies should offer completely free or as part of your hosting plan. They include:
- Backup and Restore
- Secure Server Capabilities
- Malware Scanning
- DDoS Prevention and CDN Support
- Manual Reboots
- Operating System
4. Operating under different names to confuse you
A number of web hosting companies operate under different names but are actually owned by the same brand. Not that there’s anything wrong with such business models but it becomes a problem for customers if they all consistently deliver poor service.
When the only thing consistent about your hosting company is terrible service, wouldn’t the logical thing left to do be to switch to a different company? Now imagine a scenario where you think you’re switching companies but in reality you only re-signed with the same company under a different name.
Many Hosting Companies are owned by one brand so you might think you’re switching, but you’re actually stuck! Take for example, the EIG hosting brand has over 60 hosting companies operating under its umbrella. Popular web hosting companies like Bluehost, Hostgator, Hostmonster, eHost among others belong under the Endurance International Group (EIG).
Nevertheless, if you do your homework, you should be able to spot such business models when you see them. A common way to identify such companies is that most of their websites often look very similar. In some cases, the only thing that changes in their website template is either their business name or logo.
So basically, they run the same business on separate domains. Virtually every other thing remains the same. So when you encounter different hosting companies with similar website templates and general outlook operating with different names or domains, you should be able to recognize them. At the end of the day, if you decide to ditch a particular web hosting company, the key thing is to be sure that you have actually left for good.
5. Overloaded services
The effect of such terrible service ranges from slow loading speeds to distorted websites on the user side. Overloaded service is common with shared hosting.
Shared hosting might serve for small businesses just starting out but could become a burden when the web resources of the business begin to grow. Some hosting companies also take advantage of this possibility to hedge you into upgrading to a higher hosting plan even when you have barely maxed out your allotted disk space on the shared server.
A good hosting company should be able to apportion their shared resource effectively to avoid the problems of overloaded services.
6. Taking forever to resolve issues
There are a variety of issues and non-issues a hosting company could face. These can range from server downtimes to disk overload, cPanel email issues or other cPanel errors. What makes some of the best hosting companies reliable is their ability to resolve any issues from their end very swiftly.
If you’re unlucky to sign with a disreputable company who runs their hosting companies like they do their basement, which is attending to it once in a long while; you might experience downtimes and other problems more frequently than you would go grocery shopping.
7. Biased reviews by affiliates
Affiliate marketing is not uncommon around web hosting circles. Sometimes when you read reviews of web hosting companies on review sites, there’s a tendency that such reviews were written by their affiliates.
A majority of these reviews are affiliates looking to make money. Although this isn’t bad or illegal, when the goal is to make money; some people become economical with the truth.
As a website owner, don’t let such affiliate reviews trick you into choosing a wrong hosting company. There are a number of independent sources from which you can verify the veracity of any company’s claim. One of such independent sources is to inquire from already existing customers of the web hosting company you wish to sign up with. Another great source of factual information is FORUMS!
Go on forums like Reddit or Quora to find out what complaints or reservations actual customers have.
Conclusion
Having seen some terrible things web hosting companies do; you really should weigh all options before subscribing with any company. The shared hosting trick where you get threatened to upgrade or risk being shut down is the oldest trick in the book for some hosting companies.
Although shared hosting is cheap, it would not offer so much since other people are sharing the same server. You really should be one step ahead of this old trick by choosing your hosting plan thoughtfully according to your business needs.
What is your experience so far with your current hosting company? Please share with us in the comment section below.