Since you are reading this article, chances are you are in the market for a web hosting company. It is also possible that you are confused right now. I remember starting out and trying to decipher all of the tekkie mumbo-jumbo involved when trying to decide what my best option would be. Most hosting companies offer many of the same features in one form or another. If you are launching your first website, I wouldn't get too crazy with options. What you will need is probably going to be just the basics. You can always move up to a bigger plan later as your company grows.
I don't claim to be an internet guru, but that is pretty much the point. It's just that I have been there and done that when it comes to researching. I have built my share of websites. Some were personal, others for my own business, and yet others for several small companies in my area. I am just a slightly advanced internet user. I have worked with several web hosting companies. When I go to their sites, I don't know how they expect an "average Joe" to understand all of the technical options available.
So what is a person to do? Well, I guess you could try to find a link for tech support, or maybe even a phone number to call. The problem is that many companies make it very difficult to get support that is understandable. Many of the bigger hosting companies outsource their support to overseas call centers. Others, even though they are based in the US, are so big that their tech support is very hard to get a hold of. At times, you will have to wait on hold for a very long time to get help. Once they do answer, many tech support reps talk to you with the assumption that you actually know what you are doing. As I mentioned earlier, I do know quite a bit and sometimes I can't even get a straight answer. I can't imagine the frustration a person with little or no experience must feel. Not to mention the fact that the support people can "smell" a rookie. That is when they start trying to sell you a lot of unneeded features.
Last year, after being fed up with lack of support from the host I was using, I decided to do a little research. I perused the internet looking for opinions and articles about the best hosting companies out there.
That is when I discovered InMotionHosting. I went to their website and read about all of the plans and services they offered. I also checked out the live demo of the website builder they offered at an additional cost. I wasn't crazy about having to pay extra for the builder, but after testing it out, I did not mind paying 12 dollars a year for it. That's only 1 dollar a month, and since their hosting fee is so affordable, I felt that it was well worth the money. (They do offer free designers, I just happen to prefer the Plesk sitebuilder.)
One of the features that also interested me was the ability to "add-on" other websites to the same hosting plan for free! At the time I signed up, I was launching a brand new site. I had another site that was hosted by different company and it was costing me 9.95 a month. I canceled my plan with the other hosting company and simply added that site to my plan with InMotion. This saved me 9.95 a month.
I was on the cheapest business plan with InMotion which was 6.95 a month. That included 1 add-on site. Later, when I wanted to launch another site, I simply upgraded to the 8.95 a month plan (which allows up to 5 add-on sites) and I was able to add the 3rd site to the plan for free. So now I had hosting for 3 sites for just 8.95 a month. That's a dollar LESS than I was paying for only 1 site.
The best and most important feature that InMotion offers is their incredible customer service. I am not kidding. I really don't have to call for support very often, but when I do, the support reps are so laid back! I mean, they are very calm and polite and there is definitely no script reading going on there! I think I get one of maybe 3 or 4 support guys every time I call. I can understand every word they say too. They never try to rush me, and they make sure that my problem gets resolved. Their support is based in the USA! If you don't believe me, just call them for yourself. If you want a good hosting company with outstanding, USA based customer support, then I recommend this company. In my opinion, InMotionHosting is by far the best hosting company out there.
TIP: Do a search and read up on them. You will find many of the same opinions in forums and articles...there are plenty of good reviews out there.
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