Many website owners in search of top web hosting often turn to a web hosting forum to get some opinions and ideas about who they should go with. For many, this has taken the place of using web hosting review sites as a source of information, as many of those are notorious for being thinly disguised promotional pieces for either the web hosts themselves or their affiliates. Let’s see how a web hosting forum may be a better bet, and some of the places people are turning to today.

In the absence of a formal education in the business of internet marketing, forums have become a low-cost alternative to high priced membership sites and courses. Many people spend a lot of time in these forums, and a lot of the time, they find the help they are seeking. It’s not uncommon at all for internet marketing veterans to make appearances in the forums, even the “gurus”. Doing so only solidifies their position as the mavens of the industry. This allows relative newcomers to find great advice on a wide range of topics, web hosting being among them.

So what should you expect from the advice rendered on a forum? First of all, most aren’t trying to sell you there. They may have links to their offers or sites in their forum signature, but for the most part (and there ARE exceptions!) people are genuinely trying to be of help.

That said, take the opinions offered there on balance, and with a grain of salt. People do tend to carry their past hurts or bad experiences around for a while, and while these may be legitimate, it may well be an isolated incident, and not reflective of the web hosting company as a whole. On the other hand, if you see a pattern emerge of poor support, downtime, and general indifference on the part of the host, then it’s time to make a note on that one.

Remember, a forum should be the starting point for your investigation; also look at the company’s Facebook fan page (many top web hosting companies now have one) and possibly send out a tweet, or search Twitter on the subject. You will get a lot of material on which to base your decision. Popular web hosts get a lot of attention in these places.

Obviously, you also want to make sure the host actually offers the type of hosting you need, and this can be gleaned easily from their site.

Some of the more popular forums on which to take a peek would include The Warrior Forum, SitePoint, DigitalPoint, WebHostingGeeks and WebHostingTalk. The latter two deal exclusively with quality web hosting, while the first three cover a wide range of internet marketing topics, including hosting.

Take your time, gather opinions and recommendations, and then carefully make your decision. A web hosting relationship is very important for your site. Don’t make the mistake of neglecting to check them out!