One of the very best places to find professional web hosting recommendations is from a web hosting forum. There are several very good ones around, both as standalone forums totally dedicated to web hosting, and others as sub-forums within major internet marketing forums. Let’s take a peek at some of the great web hosting forums out there, and how you can best utilize them to come up with great web hosting.
First of all, understanding the dynamics of a forum is helpful. People come there to learn, share, sell, trash and otherwise vent. There is a great deal that can be learned from a lively, active forum, but there is also the need to take things with a grain of salt. Not everyone there has good intentions, and there is a bit of marketing going on, some subtle, some not so subtle.
There are the “flamers”; people who are dead set on trashing a product, person or company, and they can be very destructive. When seeking information on a web hosting company, it would be wise to use a wide angle lens when viewing this material, as you may not be able to tell who has an axe to grind and who doesn’t. The marketers are usually easier to spot.
If you find a preponderance of negative comments and horror stories, proceed with caution! Many of these are people just like you who’ve been seeking good hosting for themselves, and you need to hear what they have to say. Don’t however, take one negative review/rant and use that as a basis for passing on a host. There are two sides to every story! Get a good sampling.
Now, in terms of a great web hosting forum, here are five places that are worth a visit!
DigitalPoint Forums – One of the major internet marketing forums online, they have accumulated more than 13.5 million posts online. You can learn something here!
SitePoint – Another of the good internet marketing forums, this one leans a bit more to the technical side, but is a great resource!
The Warrior Forum – A terrific forum for all things internet marketing, you will find all levels of marketers here, and answers to a great number of questions quickly!
Web Hosting Geeks – One of the top two web hosting only forums, they have a wealth of reviews, articles, tutorials and more about the subject of web hosting.
Web Hosting Talk – The other one. This one is huge, with nearly 240,000 registered members, and over 6 million posts about web hosting!
There you have it! Web hosting forums can be a great way to find your new hosting company. Just remember to get a fair amount of opinion, before pulling the trigger on a new professional web hosting provider!
