Key Points To Consider When Choosing a Web Hosting Provider for Your Business or Your Hobby
Have you thanked your website tech support representative lately? You may have heard all of the horror stories about frustrated website owners having extremely lackluster experiences with website tech support services that masquerade as American call centers when in fact they are based out of some foreign country such as India or the Philippines.
Whether your website is down, you have a password issue, you've accidentally deleted a whole bunch of files, or you have a question about how to set up or configure some option on your web server, you, as a website owner, have a right to expect exemplary, reliable, responsive, and competent technical support from the hosting provider company.
After all, if something isn't working as expected, you would expect the technical support team to know what you are talking about, and have the ability to address your issue right then and there, over the phone, or within a timely manner.
Downtime is anathema to any website.
If your website is down, nonfunctional, running slowly, or is generating errors, that immediately translates into lost revenue for you and your business.
We as a society cannot accept anything less than first class website tech support services.
needs 14 more words.
So when it comes to choosing a web hosting provider for your business or your hobby, there are a number of factors you need to look at, that should all carry equal weight when coming to a decision about who to award your business today.
There is the ease of access to the tools and resources you need in order to manage your own website.
But then there is also the support aspect of it.
Sometimes you need help from a live human being, no matter how sophisticated the web administration portal is, or no matter how automated the processes are.
Sooner or later, you are going to need human intervention, whether it is by phone, by e-mail, or even by live instant messaging.
Having access to competent and responsive website tech support is every bit as important to your website or business as having access to a live banker at a bank.
Even though we live in an age of online banking and automated teller machines, there will always be times when you are going to need help from a live human being.
Can you imagine if your local bank teller couldn't help you because he or she didn't know what she was doing, couldn't communicate effectively with you, or just put you on hold indefinitely? No, you wouldn't be able to tolerate that now, would you? In the same vein, the Internet has become so mission critical for so many millions of businesses, institutions, and organizations across the world, that website downtime is absolutely intolerable.
So what are some of the things you should look for in terms of website tech support? #1: Competence It doesn't matter where your tech support representatives are based out of, India, The United States, The South Pole, or even The International Space Station, for that matter.
All that matters is that they are able to understand your needs, and respond to your needs in a timely and courteous manner.
You shouldn't have to feel like you know more than your tech support representative does.
"What's a server? Click..
..
" If you do, then there is definitely a problem here.
You should be able to get someone on the phone within a few seconds, engage in a chat session, or receive a reply to your e-mail within an hour or two, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
#2: Promptness Your website has just gone down and you need to get it back up yesterday.
You call your website tech support phone number, only to be put on hold for 20 minutes, or you get put through to a voice mail, or to an operator who misroutes your call.
Or there are way too many automated menu options that are way too many levels deep, that you just get lost, when all you are trying to do is talk to a live person.
Or, you send an e-mail waiting for a response, and it's been a couple of hours since you have received a reply back yet.
Promptness is extremely important when it comes to customer service.
#3: Reliable Self-Help System Of course, website tech support doesn't always have to involve a live human being.
A professional web hosting provider should have a comprehensive knowledge base or FAQ section, or perhaps even a discussion forum, with enough detailed questions and answers (and not just those of a general or generic nature) to help you resolve the most common questions and problems that people have.
A self-service password management system, or a self-service backup and restore request system, or self-service application installation and repair system would also go a long way in providing adequate self-help for customers as well.
Whether your website is down, you have a password issue, you've accidentally deleted a whole bunch of files, or you have a question about how to set up or configure some option on your web server, you, as a website owner, have a right to expect exemplary, reliable, responsive, and competent technical support from the hosting provider company.
After all, if something isn't working as expected, you would expect the technical support team to know what you are talking about, and have the ability to address your issue right then and there, over the phone, or within a timely manner.
Downtime is anathema to any website.
If your website is down, nonfunctional, running slowly, or is generating errors, that immediately translates into lost revenue for you and your business.
We as a society cannot accept anything less than first class website tech support services.
needs 14 more words.
So when it comes to choosing a web hosting provider for your business or your hobby, there are a number of factors you need to look at, that should all carry equal weight when coming to a decision about who to award your business today.
There is the ease of access to the tools and resources you need in order to manage your own website.
But then there is also the support aspect of it.
Sometimes you need help from a live human being, no matter how sophisticated the web administration portal is, or no matter how automated the processes are.
Sooner or later, you are going to need human intervention, whether it is by phone, by e-mail, or even by live instant messaging.
Having access to competent and responsive website tech support is every bit as important to your website or business as having access to a live banker at a bank.
Even though we live in an age of online banking and automated teller machines, there will always be times when you are going to need help from a live human being.
Can you imagine if your local bank teller couldn't help you because he or she didn't know what she was doing, couldn't communicate effectively with you, or just put you on hold indefinitely? No, you wouldn't be able to tolerate that now, would you? In the same vein, the Internet has become so mission critical for so many millions of businesses, institutions, and organizations across the world, that website downtime is absolutely intolerable.
So what are some of the things you should look for in terms of website tech support? #1: Competence It doesn't matter where your tech support representatives are based out of, India, The United States, The South Pole, or even The International Space Station, for that matter.
All that matters is that they are able to understand your needs, and respond to your needs in a timely and courteous manner.
You shouldn't have to feel like you know more than your tech support representative does.
"What's a server? Click..
..
" If you do, then there is definitely a problem here.
You should be able to get someone on the phone within a few seconds, engage in a chat session, or receive a reply to your e-mail within an hour or two, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
#2: Promptness Your website has just gone down and you need to get it back up yesterday.
You call your website tech support phone number, only to be put on hold for 20 minutes, or you get put through to a voice mail, or to an operator who misroutes your call.
Or there are way too many automated menu options that are way too many levels deep, that you just get lost, when all you are trying to do is talk to a live person.
Or, you send an e-mail waiting for a response, and it's been a couple of hours since you have received a reply back yet.
Promptness is extremely important when it comes to customer service.
#3: Reliable Self-Help System Of course, website tech support doesn't always have to involve a live human being.
A professional web hosting provider should have a comprehensive knowledge base or FAQ section, or perhaps even a discussion forum, with enough detailed questions and answers (and not just those of a general or generic nature) to help you resolve the most common questions and problems that people have.
A self-service password management system, or a self-service backup and restore request system, or self-service application installation and repair system would also go a long way in providing adequate self-help for customers as well.
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