5 Questions to ask before joining a Hosting Service

Need to change your host? Or are you launching your first website? Every day many new and existing webmasters are launching new sites or transferring them to a new host. To prepare for this important procedure, below are 5 important questions you should ask the host before making your mind.

1. Do you offer a money back guarantee or a trial?

Technically, these are two questions. But the point is, it doesn`t matter how much you researched for your first time or how much research is left before making your decision. There are high chances that things can go south any moment. There`s no doubt that the company can change its policies, management or services anytime they like. In addition, prices can go up and call hold ups can spike at any moment making things worse. Assurance of the trial period and/or money back guarantee can make a lot of difference as it helps you to avoid paying up over again and again for bad calls!

2. Are you a core host or web hosting reseller?

Honestly, you shouldn`t have any problem with purchasing online services from a reseller, but you need to know whether your company contact is capable of solving your problems or not. In addition, if they have to pass all of your intentions and concerns forward to the parent company, what will be the outcome? The point is, even if they are capable of solving your problems. Buying services directly from the source instead of the middlemen is still a better option.

3. How is your technical support and customer service?

Want to know the truth? No one cares how smart you are, how much programming did or your experience. All I care about is, are you going to have call support or not? The problem is there are a number of things which can derail email or even a website. Surprising it maybe, but most reside on the hosting company`s side. In order to figure out what`s going on, you should contact them.  But make sure you understand when support is available and how to reach someone that can actually help you, not make things even worse.

4. Do you have set up charges or will provide with special incentives today?

When it comes to highly competitive business of web hosts, every customer sign up is valuable. Customers often see special offers enlisted on the website homepage or in advertisements. Many people are not aware that the “special offers” often close when a customer is about to buy but are somehow resisting. You need to know that these special offers are made to close the sales. Therefore, you need to ensure that you ask for every special offer you can grab. Remember, you have nothing to lose and you may find a generous offer.

5. Can I see a sample site which is hosted on the same server as my website will be?

The main company website has 100% uptime. This is becoming where website is on a separate server than their customer`s. Seeing an actual customer website potentially marks out many things about the web host and their services. You can check out the page load time and can also send the webmaster asking him about his user experience with the host.