How Useful Are Web Hosting Reviews?

Where do you start when you are searching for a web hosting company for your new website? How do you tell which companies are good and which companies are not? A place that many people start is by looking up web hosting reviews. There are a shocking number of sites that offer this service. The idea is that the reviewer checks out the web hosting company and reviews their product and customer service. If the company does well, then they get a good review. If they do badly then they get a bad review. Too bad it usually doesn’t work like that.

If you look at a number of review sites, you will find that the very same sites were routinely found near the top of all their “good” lists. It would be natural to assume that because these same sites keep appearing in review site after review site they must be great, right? Not so fast there. The truth is, the sites that appear at the top of the list over and over again are there because these web hosting companies have paid the reviewing site big money to give them positive reviews. Some of the reviews are so glowing that you have to wonder just how big a check changed hands there. Basically, a site that is well reviewed at most review sites earned that accolade by paying for it. As a result all negatives associated with that company somehow never find their way into the review. Rather depressing, isn’t it?

So what do you do now, throw out all review sites as junk and vet each hosting company the hard way, one at a time? As strange as it may seem at first, web hosting reviews are still very useful. First off, there are a small number of web hosting review sites that are reasonably honest. They take a bit of hunting to find, but they do exist. Secondly, even the other sites can be useful. The point to remember with them is that they only give you half the story on any web hosting company, the positive half. The rest of the story can be found in web hosting forums where people will be happy to give you the unvarnished scoop any company you are looking at. Use the web hosting review sites to draw up a shortlist of hosting companies that have the constellation of good qualities you are looking for. Then, go find their web forums where you get the rest of the information you will need to make the right decision for you.