Note: Although our company is a web hosting company tailored around WordPress hosting, I will do my best to make sure this article remains unbiased (minus a few frustrations that mislead people) and will inform potentially new WordPress bloggers what to look for when searching for a web host to start a blog with.
Web Hosting Advertising Hooks, Claims & Sites You Should Beware Of
1. Ignore the word, *Unlimited*
This is the most common word you will see thrown out there in the hosting industry which will entice you to “buy from us.” Of course nothing in this world is infinite, except maybe our imaginations. However, don’t let this form of marketing scare you away and make you think web hosts are lying. They may indeed offer you unlimited, however what you don’t fully understand as a new user online is that other aspects of your hosting will probably cause your site issues before you ever actually reach the so called unlimited bounds (your CPU usage, for example).
If you’re new and just starting a blog, make sure to have at least 5 GB disk space and a couple hundred GB of monthly bandwidth or transfer. You won’t really need that much – by a long shot, however it gives you room to grow over the years.
2. False claims of monthly payment plans
Again, this one boils down to a marketing strategy, but I have to say, of all of them – this one really irritates me the most because it’s misleading to new bloggers and hosting customers. Being clear is great and to be honest, is what you really want; however, being clear isn’t always the best marketing strategy for business.
For example, there is a well known hosting company out there I know many bloggers host with. They advertise in large font “$6.95/mo. with Free Setup and No Hidden Fees.”
Come to find out, they don’t actually offer a monthly hosting payment plans – you have to pay for a number of months in advance at a time. That just makes my blood boil!
Ok, moving on . . .
3. So called “Hosting Review” Sites
As someone who is an experienced online entrepreneur and know a thing or two about making money online, this is another one that upsets me. You’ll recognize these sites as they are a dime a dozen. They’ll have headlines like:
- Top 10 Best Hosting Sites
- Best Hosting Reviews
- …etc.
They will also likely feature a column or row of banners like you see to the right.
Realize This: 99.9% of these sites are only designed to make the website owner money, plain and simple. They don’t truly care about your well being and making sure you get what you really need; they just want you to click on one of the banners so they can earn some affiliate sales. It is more likely that the top host they rate as #1 is the one that pays out the highest affiliate commission sales rather than the one this person truly feels is the best hosting out there.
What you’ll also see on these “hosting review” sites are a lack of personal experience in working with the different listed web hosts. The site owners simply copy and paste from the hosting company’s website a list of features.
And if that’s not enough to make you scratch your head, consider this as well – how in the heck does some guy who lives who knows where and knows who knows what about WordPress knows what YOUR hosting needs are? What your passion is in? What you need help with?
They don’t. So don’t listen to them.
Ok, my heart is starting to pump just thinking about these guys making money off of you, so I better move on.
4. Cheap looking hosting sites
If the web host’s site looks like it was built by a teenager next door and/or on an extreme budget, they may be here in a year, and they may not be.
5. No phone technical support
6. Don’t get suckered in by specials
Special promotions are great and hey, we offer them from time to time, too. But don’t let that be the deciding factor on whether to buy or not. Special prices are usually only for a limited time. Don’t squabble over saving 5 or 10 bucks to host with a company who might not be the best fit for you.
What To Look For In A Web Host For WordPress
If you are new to the web hosting industry and product line, realize that just about every web host out there offers the same basic features. In choosing a web host to host your WordPress blog, much of what you will want to rely on are feedback from friends and other users, the list above of “what to be aware of”, and the overall feeling the web host’s words speak in understanding if they can help you ultimately achieve success in what it is you’re trying to do.
1. Do they know anything about WordPress or do they just provide web hosting?
This is one that most people miss. Think about it for a moment, would you hire a web designer who knows nothing about WordPress to build you a WordPress designed site?
Of course not. You’d hire a designer familiar with WordPress.
So why in the world then would you want to host your WordPress blog with a web host that knows very little about WordPress? Remember, a product for everyone is a product for no one. The best products out there alienate lots of people but highly focus in on helping a select crowd.
Basically, look for high value while getting a good price.
2. Monthly payment options
Watch out with this one, many companies advertise $$/mo. in big font but in reality don’t offer monthly pricing. That was just a breakdown of the price if it were paid monthly.
3. Services that allow your blog to grow over time
As time goes on, your blog may begin to grow and gain tons of traffic. It would be nice if you had a web host who could provide multiple hosting and domain options for you when that time comes (e.g. virtual and dedicated hosting, domain forwarding, etc.).
4. Hosting allows for .htaccess files
Most hosting companies these days allow your website to have a .htaccess file. If, however, after signing up with them you find out they do not, jump ship! You need this file as a WordPress blogger.
5. Testimonials are always a good thing
6. Do they offer WordPress related services?
Blog design? Security enhancements? Ability to fix your broken blog for you?
No, these aren’t typical web hosting tools, but it would be nice if you could get everything you need from one convenient place.
7. Easy installs of WordPress
8. Help tutorials for using WordPress with their hosting
WordPress is a great community and you can find a lot of help online, but it sure is nice if the help you can find shows you step by step what you need to do and where to click using your hosting company’s exact control panel and services. If you’re new to WordPress and hosting, this will help immensely.
9. Linux web hosting
WordPress can be used with both Windows and Linux web hosting; however, you’ll soon find there’s a lot more help out there for those of you on Linux servers as that is the most common kind of hosting. If you have the option to choose and you have no specific reason to go with Windows hosting, we suggest Linux.
Your turn to share. What suggestions might you have for new WordPress bloggers looking for web hosting?
March 26th, 2009 at 6:34 am
Hi John – before I switched to your hosting company I fell for many of these. There’s so many phoney reviews by people making affiliate commissions through recommending companies like Bluehost and Hostgator.
And you’re right about the unlimited scam. Bluehost pulled the plug on me without warning, as soon as I started using too much bandwidth. Since I moved to your WPHosting, my blog has never been down.
I also fell for the monthly thing with other hosts. They give you a monthly price then they charge a year to your card. Plus, some of them don’t even bother to refund you the remaining months, when they pull the plug on your account.
With your hosting, I’m just paying one month at a time. This is good for me because I plan to switch to one of your virtual managed servers (think that’s the right name) over the next few months and it’s far more manageable for me to be paying monthly.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..Getting & Giving Up: Silva Life System Review Part 5
March 26th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Hi Cath. Yeah so much of the marketing out there is phony and to be honest, it really upsets me; especially when they advertise monthly pricing but don’t actually offer it.
Moving your site up to a Virtual Server might be the thing to do if your traffic keeps climbing. There’s only so much shared hosting can do before your site starts crawling along. The idea is, when our sites become more popular, hopefully we’re able to draw in a few extra bucks from it which in turn pays for the increase in hosting costs. Luckily, like you said – we can charge monthly, which makes it much more manageable.
And like you said about those reviews, yeah those get to me too.
To everyone out there, if you’re looking for a web hosting company to host your site, keep in mind most all the “hosting review sites” are designed to make people money and not help you get what you need.