Have you ever felt that you lacked complete control of your company’s Web site? Conversely, have you ever thought that your webmaster had too much control over it? There are so many factors involved in having a Web site developed that most companies just leave everything to the so-called experts. In the Information Age, this situation could pose a real security threat to your company.
Basically, there are three considerations when having a Web site developed: the domain name; design and programming; and, the hosting service. Domain names are fairly straightforward — just make sure that you or your company is the declared owner! As for design and programming, that’s very subjective, and not what I’d like to talk about today.
Since it’s in the background of everything, many companies overlook this very important aspect of Web site development and maintenance: the hosting service. All Web masters have their own choice of hosting service, but I believe that you, the client, should have your say in your Web hosting. And now you will, via a service called WebHostingInformation.net.
WHI offers Web site owners the power to make sound decisions regarding their hosting service. There are so many out there that it’s really not easy to make a choice. Plus, there are so many considerations involved that it’s difficult to stay on top of things, unless you’re well informed. And that’s what WHI is there for: to keep you in control of your Web site hosting.
Through the WebHostingInformation.net site — which is actually makes use of the blog platform — you get up-to-date industry news, reviews of hosting clients, and a wealth of information that will be invaluable to your hosting service decision-making. I especially appreciate their Resources section, where WHI presents how-to’s and answers to common questions, and even in-depth discussions: all to help you, the decision-maker, to keep informed on hosting solutions.
Since it’s a blog, you can rest assured that information in the WHI site is always fresh. What’s more, you get to see a different perspective on the whole hosting services industry, because it’s like the experts have laid down all their cards here.
An added bonus is the search facility. Using WHI, you can search for the hosting service that is most suited to your needs. You can search by price, storage space allocation, platform (Windows NT, Unix, etc.), and rating. WHI has a system of rating all the hosting providers, from 1 to 10. For example, you can search for a hosting provider that is less than $25 per month, for a hosting package with less than 50GB of space running on a Mac server, and is rated 10 by WHI.
What I’m looking forward to finding out more is WHI’s dispute resolution service. If you click on the “In Your Corner” link at http://www.webhostinginformation.net, you’ll read that they offer this service for free. This is good news! I just wonder how they do this, and how effective they can be.
