Have You Chosen the Wrong Web Host?

Before you sign up for a host, we always recommend you check hosting reviews.

These reviews give you a good idea of how real users rate a host.

But what if you skipped checking ratings and used other methods of evaluation?

There are three other tests you might have performed, but they could be less accurate than you expected.

The Ping Test

You can ping your prospective host to see how fast the response it.

Theoretically, the shorter the reply, the faster the network.

But there are a few problems with ping tests.

• The IP your host gives you might not be representative of the servers its customers’ sites are on.
• A ping is a very subjective test: it is affected greatly by the distance between the ping source and the host.
• The ping only tests one particular element that affects site speed: the network. It doesn’t test whether the servers are overloaded, whether the read access is slow or if the software is garbage.

A ping does not test a server nearly as much as visiting a blog or downloading a file.

The Customer Service Test

Everyone hates poor customer service, and the quality of support can initially be hard to gauge.

But most hosts have separate sales and support teams.

Many companies invest very heavily in their sales team while skimping on tech support, so the response time from one time could be quite different to the other.

A better test is to call the support phone number and see what the menu system is like. See if you’re placed on hold. It’s not a perfect test, but it’s better than using email.

The X Hosts There Test

People sometimes fall into the trap of hosting with the same company their favourite site hosts with.

But your needs are likely to be quite different.

A host that does a good job with a dedicated server may not provide good shared or VPS hosting.

A better solution is to find sites with similar needs and traffic figures to yours, then run them through WhoIsHostingThis to see who they are using.

Can You Avoid a Bad Host?

False metrics can lure you into a false sense of security with a bad host, or drive you away from a good one. Reviews and ratings should be your first port of call.

If you’ve chosen the wrong host, you may still be able to cancel under the terms of its money-back guarantee.Keep up with posts like this by subscribing to our RSS feed, or following @WhoIsHosting on Twitter.