Search Engine Optimization ... Beware The Host From Hell

This is the minefield of all Internet minefields as far as I am concerned. This is the world of gobbledygook to most of us. Some time ago when I was looking through the minefield of hosting providers trying desperately to sort the good from the bad in this complex mumbo jumbo world of hostspeak I came across a site that invited comments from users of various host services. I will always remember one of the comments warning future potential users to avoid at all cost The Host From Hell.

I do not remember the name of the host and I did not use it. The warning was sufficient along with my limited knowledge to by-pass that host goes to show how easily any reputation can be destroyed by poor service on the Internet.

This statement in a way describes the host providing industry. It is very difficult to decide who to use and why. There are so many hosts, so many programs offered by each host, so many systems in use, so many options within each program that it is inevitable that many users will get burned.

The VERY best way to select a host?

Simple take a recommendation from someone you trust who has experience with numerous different hosts.

Warning story

Let me tell you of my one big problem which I was able to resolve within 2 days of discovering the problem but only because I had separated my domain registration from the hosting account. From checking my logs later I actually caught the problem on the day it happened but if I had not checked that day then I could have lost all my listing at the search engines apart from the traffic from other sources until I did a routine log check (done monthly under normal circumstances).

Sometime in November 2002 I visited one of my most important web pages to see the message Service suspended please contact the billing department.

There was no sign of any of my web pages. Once the panic had subsided I tried to find contact details (ie telephone number) of the host and could not find it anywhere.

This should have been a warning very early on as I now know of course. I was left with having to e-mail support and sales at the host (the name was mermweb.com) and to this day I am still waiting for a reply.

I presume this host had decided to close down, skip the country or do whatever else failed hosts do.

Now if I had allowed this host to register my domain and if I had not kept full back ups of my web sites then I think I would have been faced with a minor disaster.

Luckily (no it was not luck, I had read somewhere that this kind of thing did happen) I was able to contact my registrar and with the help of a new host transfer name server details within hours and get my site back onto the web after only 48 hours.

The only other problems I have had with any of my hosts and I use 10 different ones is the very first one I ever had and on which I shared ip addresses (another bad thing) because I did not know any better almost 4 years ago. The problem here was inadequate publishing support and poor response to queries as well as poor log systems. All these problems were compounded by the fact that the service was expensive.

Essential components of a host service

By the time you have reviewed 3 different potential hosts I can almost guarantee you will be more confused than before you started. Now if you have never been involved in host matters before (you left everything to your designer or webmaster or IT department) you will also become very frustrated because the more you look the less matters become clear. My list coming later is based totally upon my own experiences.

Before I come to the list it is imperative that we discuss ip addresses and shared hosting and dedicated ip addresses. Even in this area different hosts use different terms, names and descriptions all meant to confuse I sometimes think.