The Best Host

FatCow Hosting Review

maggs — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 07:14:08 +0000

In order to build a website there needs to be web hosting. There are literally thousands of different options on the Internet, so finding the right one can be a little overwhelming at times. One of the most respected companies is FatCow. We’ve spent a few days speaking with customer service reps and digging into the site. Here is what we found in our research:

FatCow Reliability And Support

It seems as though there are new web hosting sites surfacing every day, but FatCow has been around since 1998. They pride themselves on providing “old-fashioned” service with plenty of value in their overall product. If you have questions regarding the business-side of the company, we highly recommend giving them a call. After all, one of the best ways to find a reputable web hosting plan is by gaining as much knowledge about the company as possible.

Contact FatCow

Phone Number: Toll Free: 866-544-9343

Street Address: 70 Blanchard Rd, Burlington, MA 01803, United States

Another reason to call is finding out what type of support they offer. We understand some individuals don’t want to talk with anyone over the phone. One thing we found with FatCow is there are two ways to contact them; by phone or live chat. We couldn’t find an email setup. However, their support also revolves around other options: Knowledgebase – Tutorials – User Guide – Support Tickets

FatCow Value And Guarantees

Finding value in a company like FatCow really depends on you. Any company that has longevity on the internet and wants to provide “old fashioned” service should be considered to be a valuable company. However, there are other factors as well. Most of it will revolve around your web hosting needs and the price.

We would consider them to have a higher “value” rating. Companies that have been around for over a decade must be doing everything right the majority of the time. However, you will be able to figure it out when you do a little more research on them.

They are currently offering a 30-day money back guarantee for anyone who isn’t satisfied with FatCow. This allows you to utilize the website for a month before deciding whether or not it’s the best web hosting plan. One of the other things we found during our extensive review was a couple other free trials.
If you take advantage of Constant Contact and/or the RatePoint Feedback Service they both cost money after the trials. However, these last for 2 months.

Control Panel

www.fatcow.com

FatCow provides an exceptionally user-friendly control panel. Cpanel is the most commonly used control panel used by the overwhelming majority of web hosting companies. So even if you’re building your first website you will have all the necessary easy-to-use functions at your disposal.

Pros and Cons of FatCow Web Hosting

All the pros will speak for themselves, but the cons are a bit different. Some people might opt for another company due to the upfront cost. Out of all the reviews we’ve done, FatCow is quite inexpensive, but you have to pay for a year of web hosting upfront, if you want to capitalize on their exceptionally low price. We understand some people can’t do this, so it might not be for you.

Final Word: Despite all the details we’ve mentioned in our review thus far, there is a wealth of additional information to consider. Checkout the official FatCow website for even more details over their company and service. If we had to rate them from 1 to 10 it would be around a 9. The financial aspect is really the only thing that will get in some people’s way. If you fall into this category then look at some of the other web hosting companies we’ve wrote reviews about here on the website.

Bluehost Review

maggs — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 20:15:16 +0000

One of the most popular web hosting names on the Internet today is Bluehost. When we started to give them an unbiased review we knew they could be extremely beneficial for some, but not worth the time for others. This is due to our own previous knowledge of how their web hosting site works and the benefits they offer to consumers. Here is what we found:

Reliability + Uptime

www.bluehost.com

Bluehost is definitely one of the most reliable web hosting sites on the Internet. Even if you don’t call them they will eventually call you. Their goal is to see how things are working out for you and whether or not you need help in a certain area.

They have been around since 1996, their uptime is over 99%, and their massive headquarters has 50,000 square feet of space. They definitely aren’t considered a “fly-by-night” hosting company and they didn’t just purchase a generic script to create a similar web hosting site like many other companies have done.

Bluehost Support Team (Quality Assistance)

The Bluehost support is immaculate. They offer 8 different categories where you can find help whenever you need it. You will also find a section in their support area that revolves around the most popular areas people need help.

Whenever you’re not sure about something, no matter how big or small the issue, we recommend giving them a call, but also make sure you utilize the video tutorials available. These step-by-step guides have proven to be exceptionally helpful for beginners.

Contact Bluehost

Phone Number: Toll Free: (888) 401-4678

Street Address: 1958 South 950 East, Provo, UT 84606

Bluehost Overall Value

When you have a big company like Bluehost there can be tons of value, especially when it comes to their exceptionally low hosting prices. However, there can be just as many issues if they’re overloaded with clients, like we see with so many other hosting companies nowadays. With that being said, we would consider Bluehost a valuable web hosting company to deal with, but you might think differently. It all comes down to what you need from them.

Before you commit, weigh the information you discover in our review and then checkout the Bluehost official website before making a decision to purchase their hosting service.

Bluehost Guarantee

www.bluehost.com

When researching the website you won’t find any information on money back guarantees (unless we missed it). So we decided to give them a call and get all the details. We were told that no matter what the problem is, if you’re not satisfied with their services they will provide a refund.

However, the representative did tell us to look over all the policies on the site to see about getting a refund. We found this somewhat odd, but she did say it only takes a few minutes to read over. She even directed us to the proper location (Help Center or Terms).

Control Panel (Preferred cPanel)

Bluehost uses cPanel like most other companies. It’s a very user-friendly option and is considered the preferred choice among webmasters. Before you get started it’s recommended you watch the demo if this is your first time using cPanel.

Bluehost Pros and Cons

When we were doing our review, there were plenty of pros to see. They provided you with tons of unlimited benefits as well as many other features. The con really comes down to the overall price. If you’re on a budget and can’t pay for at least a year worth of web hosting upfront, there isn’t a monthly payment plan. A lot of individuals are turned off by this, especially if they’re just getting started.

Aside from this minor con, we strongly believe that Bluehost is one of the best hosting companies around today. And with their top-notch support team they are the perfect choice for a beginner who needs assistance with getting everything running smoothly.

Final Word: When it comes to rating Bluehost we have to do it in two different sections. When it comes to the value they provide we give them 5 stars. While it’s well worth the price, we understand that not having a monthly payment option could create issues. It probably costs them business, so we give them 4 stars in this area. In the end, your decision will be the most important.

InMotion Review

maggs — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 08:12:41 +0000

In 2001, Inmotion Hosting started its journey to providing consumers with the best web hosting possible. Over the years they have been recognized as a company that is reliable and one that offers top quality service. They provide top-notch web hosting service to individuals around the globe and are now a CNET Certified Service. This accredited business has grown tremendously over the last decade and offers numerous secure benefits for any individual or business.

Reliability + Support

www.inmotion.com

One of the most important parts to a hosting company is having as much uptime as possible. Inmotion Hosting provides users with 99.9% uptime. However, they also provide you with an equally important benefit; speed. This is through their “maximum speed zone.” The end result is a faster loading website for optimal user and visitor performance and satisfaction.

And if for any reason you need help with your website or Inmotion hosting, waiting 48 hours is not the type of support a website owner should be stuck using. Inmotion provides around the clock help, 365 days a year. There are several different ways to get a hold of a representative.

You can call by phone, use email, or take advantage of their live chat feature. No matter how you contact them, they will always have the answer.

InMotion Value And Guarantees

When someone measures the value of a web hosting business it is based on needs. The best thing to do is write down everything you need out of a web hosting service and make sure a company like Inmotion can give you all the necessities. It will take some research on your part, but the work will be well worth it.

During our research we found that Inmotion offers several guarantees with their hosting service. One of the biggest is providing you with 100% customer satisfaction. Whatever the reason might be for you to terminate their services, you will receive a refund within 3 months.

Contact InMotion

Phone Number: Toll Free: 888-321-4678

Street Address: 4553 Glencoe Ave Suite 325 Marina del Rey, California 90292

InMotion Control Panel

Website owners need a control panel that offers easy navigation so they can be more efficient with their work. In our review we found that Inmotion provides users with Cpanel, which is the most preferred control panel around the Internet.

Whether you want to create a new database, install WordPress, or work with Fantastico, add files, edit files, or anything else; Cpanel will help simplify the task.

Pros + Cons

www.inmotion.com

Any website owner understands they need to stick within a budget. We found that Inmotion has a variety of hosting programs depending on your financial situation. Regardless of price, their company is all about reliability and extremely fast service. Add in the guarantees and support features it could be the perfect option for you.

Possible Cons

In our opinion, the prices you pay at Inmotion are affordable for what you receive. However, when you compare them to other hosting companies on the Internet, you’ll find their prices to be slightly higher.

It really depends on the needs you have as a webmaster and whether or not you’re worried about the old “you get what you pay for” motto.

Another possible area of concern is the domain add-ons available. Most companies will provide you with unlimited or have a high amount based on your package. Inmotion has a limited number of add-on domains depending on the hosting package you select, perhaps requiring you to upgrade your account in the future.

InMotion Hosting Final Word

In the end, if you’re serious about becoming successful online then the right web hosting provider is imperative. Keeping it running at top performance is one of the crucial parts to building new and repeat customers.

If you want to take your business to the next level, then we would definitely recommend Inmotion. This is especially true if you’re new to running a website and need an easy navigation process. It will allow you to be more efficient and productive at the same time.

JustHost Review

maggs — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 06:38:15 +0000

Choosing a web host provider is always tricky. You want to figure out how reliable their service is as well as how cost effective it is to go with them. JustHost.com stands out from other web hosting providers in that they offer unlimited space, bandwidth transfer, domains, email accounts, and MySQL databases all for $4.45 a month.

JustHost Features

www.justhost.com

On top of the huge bargain, you’ll get a site builder, help with setup and full tech support around the clock. The hosting is managed on cPanel which is most people’s preferred control panel program. It is very easy to manage and super simple to customize.

You receive unlimited add-on domains, parked domains, and sub domains, which you sometimes have to pay extra for with other hosting providers.

JustHost.com comes with many standard features such as IMAP email support, CGI-bin, SSI, frontpage extension support, anonymous FTP, log files, custom cronjobs, and spam assassin. They also support, php5, perl 5, python, ruby/ruby on rails, and flash.

You will have access to easy one-click-installs for some of the most popular blogging, forum and content management software, such as WordPress, Joomla, b2evolution and several other useful web applications, which are exceedingly easy to setup and utilize. This feature is essential for new and old webmasters alike.

JustHost Reliability and Support

As for support they have 24/7 phone and email support. However, the one thing that they are missing is ‘live chat’ support, which is helpful when you don’t want to wait for an e-mail response and the problem that you are having isn’t serious enough to ask for phone support.

Other than that, their support staff is responsive and efficient but slightly slower than other providers we’ve worked with in the past. And if you want to learn about getting set up yourself, there is a wonderful knowledge-base that you can browse through and find quick solutions.

There are also tons of video tutorials on everything from FTP, osCommerce, WordPress, to cPanel. I really appreciated the fact that they took the extra work to gather these valuable tutorials, especially for webmasters who require specific tutorials for certain programs.

Contact JustHost

Phone Number: Toll-Free: (888) 755-7585

Street Address: 919 East Jefferson St., Phoenix, Arizona 85034, United States

Server Uptime

The other important thing when choosing a web host is looking at their uptime. The company guarantees 99.9% uptime. Third party statistics show that while it’s not 99.9%, it is very dependable at 98 to over 99%. Most web hosts have similar statistics so this isn’t something to worry about.

Value + Guarantee

www.justhost.com

What you get for the price you pay is an amazing value. Just note that the $4.45 a month cost is for a 4 year subscription. The 1 year subscription cost is fairly cheap too at $6.95 so it is still very affordable. If you are unhappy with their service, they offer a money back guarantee which many web hosts aren’t willing to offer.

Conclusion

JustHost.com is a tremendous value for your money. The company offers solid support, uptime, features, and reliability. This is one of the cheaper web hosts out there and they are very flexible when it comes to the pricing plans.

Marketers will also appreciate the fact that JustHost.com offers $250 in ad credits for advertising channels such as MySpace, Google, Miva, and Facebook. Overall, JustHost.com is a superb web hosting company and a great choice for your websites.

HostGator Review

maggs — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 04:14:33 +0000

Founded in 2002 inside a small dorm room by Brian Oxley, HostGator is today a leading provider of shared, private and dedicated web hosting services. It started then with only 3 servers and today, the company is an industry-recognized hosting service provider with over 12,000 servers under its management and host to over 5 million domains, and has over 400,000 customers.

HostGator Features

www.hostgator.com

HostGator provides unlimited space and unlimited bandwidth to all its customers. This is great news for all website owners interested in uploading large volumes of data and attracting a wealth of visitors without having to worry about shelling out extra cash for utilizing extra space and bandwidth.

Website owners who do not want to hire a web designer can easily utilize HostGator’s website templates and site builder tool. These tools are fairly easy to use and anyone with a little knowledge of point and click tools, and with some aesthetic sense can get a website up and running pretty quick.

HostGator can accommodate just 1 domain in its most basic plan, while more advanced plans can accommodate unlimited domains. This will benefit web design companies who have many clients.

HostGator also provides the flexibility of creating unlimited MySQL databases, which is another plus for web design studios, digital interactive agencies and app makers that host numerous apps, each with a different database.

Along with the above, HostGator also throws in a lot of helpful features including e-commerce-enabling tools like Zen Cart. Its Control Panel is easy to work with and can be mastered with ease.

Contact HostGator

Phone Number: Toll-Free: (866) 964-2867 + International: (713) 574-5287

Street Address: 11251 Northwest Freeway, Houston, Texas 77092, United States

HostGator Plans and Pricing

HostGator offers 3 plans – Hatchling, Baby and Business. The Hatchling Plan starts at $3.96/month if you book it for 36 months and goes up to $7.16 for a month-to-month length booking.

The Baby Plan starts at $6.36/month and goes up to $7.96 for a month-to-month booking. On similar terms, the Business Plan starts at $10.36/month and goes up to $11.96/month.

The key differentiators are: Business Plans are full-featured, plus they have their own dedicated IP address, anonymous FTP and toll-free number. Baby Plans are also full-featured but do not quite have everything that Business Plans do, for example they do not come with a free dedicated IP. The Hatchling Plan, which is ideal for light users, has more limits and accommodates just a single domain.

To sum things up, the Hatchling Plan is ideal for light-middling users, the Baby Plan works well for e-commerce and interactive sites with a fair amount of traffic, while the Business plan is great for professionally managed medium and large size firms.

HostGator Reliability and Customer Support

HostGator offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee and if you read a few online reviews you will quickly note that almost all of their customers are happy with their services. Plus they offer a 45-day money-back guarantee and 24/7/365 online and phone support.

You will also enjoy their handy “Help” section as well, plus users will have access to their well-populated forums.

HostGator’s web hosting services are an absolute value. They equip customers with web traffic software, shopping carts, redirect URL, unlimited POP3 email accounts with SMTP, autoresponders, $100 worth of Google Adwords credit so you can start advertising your business as soon as you get up and running.

It is really difficult to find fault with HostGator’s hardware, services, price and overall reputation, so if you have chosen them for your web hosting needs, or are about to, then you have made a wise decision.

Visit Website > www.hostgator.com

Most Reliable Website Hosting

maggs — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:36:53 +0000

While searching for the best and most reliable website hosting you will come across many hosting sites I’m sure, all of which will make claims of having 99.9% uptime and the quickest responsive tech support.

It can truly be a difficult task choosing the right website host, so let me break it down for you right here.

There are probably around a dozen respected hosting companies who get rave reviews from their clients, and the following three hosting companies are perhaps the most highly regarded of the bunch.

Gold Medal Award

Silver Medal Award

Bronze Medal Award