What Solid Hosting Means in 2014

Web hosting services have come a long way in recent years and the kinds of optional extras that once cost a fortune are now being offered for next to nothing – free of charge in some cases. It’s now perfectly possible for any first-time amateur to try their hand at building and running their own website for the kind of monthly fees that once wouldn’t have even netted you a consultation with the provider.     However, this doesn’t mean that each of the thousands of hosting providers out there are of the same calibre or in any way have your best interests at heart. In fact, with some quite the contrary is true. Things may be more accessible and affordable than ever before, but this doesn’t mean that anyone must or should accept low-quality hosting service packages when they don’t have to.What makes for genuinely solid and respectable hosting in 2014?Low Price GuaranteesRight off the bat, there are tons of hosting services out there that offer 100% rock-solid guarantees that their prices will not be beaten by any of their rivals. As such, when and where you come across an example to the contrary, you have to ask yourself if you’re being taken for a ride. These days it’s a simple standard to seek these kinds of low-price guarantees, so don’t settle for anything less.Response Time PromisesHopefully you’ll never need to contact their customer care department in a hurry, but you very well might. As such, you’ll need to know they’ll actually give a damn about what you have to say and will get back to you in a timely manner. These days, 24-hour response time guarantees are still considered pretty good, though if there’s live-chat on offer via the website day and night, you’ll be in a much safer position.Minimal DowntimeUnless they can guarantee no more than 0.01% downtime over the course of any given period, you’re running a pretty unacceptable risk. Downtime means no site access at all which basically means money down the drain if you’re running a business – never overlook the importance of insisting on minimal downtime assurances.Rolling Contracts Alarm bells should begin ringing if your chosen provider insists that you sign up to a two-year contract AND pay for the whole thing all in one go. This does happen and isn’t always a scam, but there are very few reputable providers out there that will ever ask you to pay up-front for the whole thing, so be aware of this. What’s more, you should easily be able to get out of the contract cost-free if you aren’t happy with the service you’re offered.The Voice of the PeopleAnd finally, there’s no reason on Earth why any hosting company in business today shouldn’t have chalked up a sizeable archive of reviews from delighted customers…unless of course they don’t have any. As such, one of the most crucial deal-breakers of all is that of ensuring that there is plenty of feedback to dive into and find out first-hand just what folk think of the brand once they’re put to the test in the real world.