Managed Web Servers | Managed Website Hosting Services

Web Hosting Differences?

Overview : Finding a low cost web hosting provider is easy. Finding one which doesn't have some sort of a 'catch' is not. When a web hosting company offers web hosting services at low cost and has 200,000 customers being supported by 20 employees or less, What kind of technical support can you expect? How fast can you expect your webpage's to be served? Will you receive personalized service? When your website goes up and down daily how will you be affected? Do you think name brand hosting is any different? In most cases technical support can not be reached via telephone. All technical support is handled via email, with an approximate turnaround time of 96 hours.

Keep in mind when you are shopping for low cost web hosting, these are businesses like any other business. Their goal is to make a profit. When someone gives something away for low cost, there is usually the so called 'catch'. With that in mind here are a couple of popular tactics to look out for when spending precious time searching for free or low cost web hosting.

Banners and Pop-ups
What is a banner? What is a pop-up? By now, if you haven't seen these annoying advertisements scattered across web pages, odds are you do not have much experience surfing the internet. With many free or low cost web hosting providers, this is their way of protecting their bottom line. By agreeing to their terms when you sign up, you are essentially giving them permission to put advertisements on all of your pages and give up any right to control. You also give them full permission to sell your email address or offer a limited amount of space and speed. You can not control the advertisements frequency or its contents. These advertisements are what actually pay for your free or low cost web hosting service. Therefore, if you do not mind your visitors having to see unsolicited advertisements, ( which may contain anything ), this type of hosting is for you.

Mandatory Domain Registration
Some free web hosts will give you a year free web hosting, just as long as you register a domain name with them ($55+), or transfer a domain name to them ($85+). In some cases they offer the 1st year at a deep discount and increase the price substantially on subsequent years. The money they make from you registering a domain name helps pay for the "free web hosting". Again, the terms of agreement state they determine speed, size, advertisements, email sales and web site availability.

Limited Functionality and Bandwidth
Free or low cost web hosting providers will give you a web page, but only offer you limited functionality or bandwidth. For example, some will only give you 1000 MB of data transfer a month, or perhaps they will limit the functionality of your web page to straight html pages only. They are hoping and betting that you will need to purchase additional functionality or bandwidth at some point and that is where they make their money. Yes it starts out cheap, but be prepared to eventually spend more and deal with more hassles.

Selling your email address
Some web hosts will sell your email address in order to produce a profit when offering low cost web hosting. You now make yourself vulnerable to spam, viruses and pop-ups.
Did you ever receive an email and wonder, how did I get this if I have never given this email address out?

Technical Support
What type of technical support can you expect from a free or low cost web host or major marketing giant? In some cases the hosting company states it on their web site. " no technical support". Other web hosting companies offer the capability of sending an email 24/7. That is their version of 24/7 technical support. When a web hosting company offers web hosting services at $7.00 per month and has 200,000 customers with 20 employees, does that mean this is the best choice? What kind of support do you expect? Will you receive personalized service? Also, Beware of individuals posing as companies that do not post their company telephone number or their company address. These are most likely people running a pc as a server from their home as a side job. You may wake up to no website and no website company and no backup. All those hours you invested
in setting up your website is gone.

In Summary
Eventually, one way or another if you are seeking a free or low cost web hosting provider, you will probably end up paying more than you intended in one way or another. Whether it be to register a domain name, to purchase additional bandwidth, or just to get the extra features that professional hosting companies provide without any additional fees. Where do you turn if your web site is down because the server running in someone's house?

At Compufix Professionals, you receive professional web hosting at a reasonable cost. There are no hidden fees, charges. We do not sell our clients email addresses. We are dedicated to our clients and protect their privacy and services. We offer our clients full control via control panel to select their password, virus control, spam control levels and much more.

We offer 24/7 support, admin / user control panels and redundant backup servers.