You may have all the pieces; a terrific looking website, superb content, great sales funnel, traffic out the wazoo, and a growing list to boot, but if you’re lacking great web hosting support, you may one day find yourself in a world of hurt. There are some things that web hosts need to be able to do for you that are integral to your online success. Let’s take a look at a few of them.
Types of Web Hosting Support
Phone Support – Obviously the best option, nothing is better than getting someone on the phone soon after you discover a problem or otherwise need assistance. You don’t often find this on free or low-cost web hosting accounts. There are several things to be aware of with phone support, chief among them is whether it’s included in your package or are you paying for it? How much? What hours is it available. Do the people on the other end of the line know what you’re talking about. Many times the extent of the support requests they are asked to deal with are of the lost password variety, and they may have to search a bit for an answer for you. Also, how seriously is your request taken. To them you may just be the next call, but you may be losing money hand over fist on your end, and need help. Don’t tolerate a cavalier approach.
Live Chat – Many web hosts employ live chat, either in place of phone support or in addition to it. This can be a perfectly legitimate form of support, and even better you often have a record of what was discussed, and the solutions offered. One of the problems with this type of web hosting support is that it often has limited hours. You can find yourself not getting help for some time.
Email Support – Email support is my least favorite, other than no support at all. Emails go unanswered for days, and you simply have no recourse. You are at the mercy of the support personnel who man the email box, and meanwhile your site is losing money, or worse than that, not showing up at all! While there is a virtual paper trail, it can be maddening and very unproductive to work like this. Opt for one of the above two options first.
What to Do When You Can’t Get Help
You have few choices when issues aren’t resolved to your liking when it comes to support. If you are spending a good amount of money with the host, play that card. It’s a real hassle to change hosting companies, and it should be done only when there’s a clear reason, like frequent downtime, security issues, software incompatibilities, and absolute indifference to your needs.
If you do decide to move, make sure you’ve checked all the fine print. You may not be able to leave. Worse, the web host could also be your domain registrar, and this can make it difficult to switch DNS.
At the end of the day, making sure you have top notch web hosting support will save you a lot of money, time and headaches. Make it a top priority when choosing your web hosting company.
