Do you trust hosting reviews websites?

[elasticcat]

Hey Guys,

Do you trust hosting reviews websites or forums?

Some are giving them great feedbacks while some are bad ones.

If you trust then why? If no why?

 

[RDO Servers]

Forums are a great place to look for honest reviews. Just be careful, there are forum spammers also.

Sadly, most of the hosting review sites are completely junk! The majority of them are nothing but affiliate links.

 

[ElixantTechnology]

Unfortunately I don't trust any hosting review sites whatsoever; take into consideration the top 10 lists. The Top 10 hosts are listed in order 1-10 in accoardance to the highest paying affiliate program(s).

 

[smallbudgethosting]

Unfortunately I don't trust any hosting review sites whatsoever; take into consideration the top 10 lists. The Top 10 hosts are listed in order 1-10 in accoardance to the highest paying affiliate program(s).

if you look at a dozen different review sites and find the same 10 companies in the list, then you know that review site is full of bs.

 

[nesito29]

I think it really depends on the review, if is consistency with what is being said then I don't see why you shouldn't take into account what it's being said. Having said that, I wouldn't go to places like Top10 just like ElixantTechnology said those sites are only trying to get affiliate commissions.

When you read a review always look for the good and bad section, if they don't have one it's most likely not worth reading. And when you find it make sure the "bad" part is as honest as it can be, they have to be very critique about that, if you find one like that then it could be worth your time.

Hope this helps

 

[RDO Servers]

HostGator, Arvix, and Bluehost are all owned by EIG and have a very poor reputation in the hosting industry.

They also have very high marketing budgets and popular affiliate programs.

If you see a review site that lists any of these among the top, it is a good way to tell the reviews are probably fake!

 

[smallbudgethosting]

the crappy part about searching for review sites, is you will search and you will find all these bs review sites, and trying to find a legitimate review site is very difficult. This is why many people use WHT and other hosting forums and list user reviews.

 

[Hostlumina]

Personally I believe they are not that useful. If you go to any of them you will notice their top 10 be the same hosts such as hostgator, godaddy. bluehost, 1&1, etc... with it comes a link.......affiliate link that is. There are some that do carry other host however its a pain to get to those lists without been greeting by an excessive top ten (affiliate) pages and/or popups.

Are there some reviews that are good. Yes, but they are hard to find.

 

[smallbudgethosting]

Personally I believe they are not that useful. If you go to any of them you will notice their top 10 be the same hosts such as hostgator, godaddy. bluehost, 1&1, etc... with it comes a link.......affiliate link that is. There are some that do carry other host however its a pain to get to those lists without been greeting by an excessive top ten (affiliate) pages and/or popups.

Are there some reviews that are good. Yes, but they are hard to find.

I thought of making one and banning all those hosts from being reviewed on my site or advertised in anyway then doing the same thing with hosts that I've tried out or used

 

[Lucastock]

If you ask me, I trust Webhostingstuff. I have found hostingsource web host there and after reading reviews about them decided to give them a try. I would like to mention that all of their work is based on quality. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a good, steady host.

 

[Maria Marketing]

Based on what I have seen, the review websites seem to rate the hosting companies the highest who have the most complaints found around the internet. So it looks kind of strange to see such high reviews on services that have so much complaints.

I do not think I would trust most of them. I am sure some are good but you have to try to find those.

 

[ProfMike]

You have to take all reviews with a grain of salt and really read through them to see if there is a bias as you read the reviews. Most of the hosting review sites will show a bias if you read deep enough. Most of us do not have the time for that. Your first red flag is if the review site is an affiliate marketer for any of the hosting sites. It surprises me just how stupid they think people are, they are reviewing sites and you will find scattered all over their pages links to hosting sites.

A good review site would not promote, or allow to be promoted any of the sites that they are reviewing if they are truly trying to stay unbiased.

Forums are a whole different story. I judge a forum by its members. This forum is a great example. The members, and especially the moderators are consistent in the enforcement of the rules, they are very helpful to the members of the forum as they try to assist in questions, they try to point people, especially new users in the right direction as they are learning the forum and the topic and they try to be courteous.

And with some of the knuckleheads in the world today, that last one can be a challenge. A forum is as good as the membership. Drawing and keeping good members is difficult. I ran many forums over the years and always eventually gave up trying to keep up with the spam and distractions from the main topics. It is difficult to run a good forum and takes a lot of time and dedication.

Membership participation is key. As a member actively participate and help out where you can and you will get back from the forum much more than you put in. Think of a good forum like a bank, the more and better deposits that you make in the content, the better your withdrawals will be over time.

You will meet a lot of good people who are interested in the same topics you are and are willing to share what they have learned over the years to save you time and energy. Then down the line you can share that information with others and help them grow.

 

[ulterios]

Most of the hosting review sites will show a bias if you read deep enough. Most of us do not have the time for that.

A good review site would not promote, or allow to be promoted any of the sites that they are reviewing if they are truly trying to stay unbiased.

These are two REALLY good points Mike and I don't think enough people take them into consideration!

Especially with the time considerations, I think that with everyone wanting things done so fast these days that they don't or won't do the proper research on things and especially with hosting and the reviews.

Whenever I was shopping for a host I would spend hours and hours researching and looking for good quality information. Although I am always short on time, when it comes to hosting, I make time for research.

Forums are a whole different story. I judge a forum by its members.

Another really good point and I do the exact same thing. I think that if you can find a forum with good quality members, then you have found a good one.

 

[SenseiSteve]

I would say that the majority of small business owners are not web hosting literate when it comes to researching providers. They have no clue that Bluehost, Arvixe, Hostgator and so many other brands that they see on the top ten lists are all part of the same company (EIG), or that those are paid positions. Personally, I judge companies by the expertise and professionalism that members on forums like this exhibit.

 

[ProfMike]

Great point, opinions from other web developers are very important. After all they are doing the same things that we are and have to deal with the same experiences with customer service and support.

So based on Sensei statements I too would value the opinion of admins on a Forum as long as they did not have an agenda. Many of those admins may have affliate links to these very companies on their sites.

 

[ulterios]

So based on Sensei statements I too would value the opinion of admins on a Forum as long as they did not have an agenda. Many of those admins may have affliate links to these very companies on their sites.

OMG, You really said it there Mike. It's about trusting where the information comes from, especially when it comes to hosting.

There are SO MANY who do have an agenda that it's actually hard to comprehend sometimes. I have been a member of hundreds of forums in my lifetime and there are so many that will vouch for this or that, just because they have something going on that isn't visible to the members and visitors. Those are the forums that I gracefully step away and don't interact on anymore.

So bottom line is that you need to be able to trust where you are finding your information and the people providing the information. Too many of the hosting review sites will recommend this or that host, but when you check to see who they are using, that can reveal why they recommend certain ones.

Trusting a hosting review site means having to trust the owner of that site and I don't trust too many people on the internet, which is why I always try to get information from a variety of sources when I am looking for hosting.

 

[ProfMike]

I have been a member of hundreds of forums in my lifetime and there are so many that will vouch for this or that, just because they have something going on that isn't visible to the members and visitors.

I have had the exact same problem. I have now gotten to the point where I am focusing to no more than 5 forums, I am currently actively participating in 3, and those only after viewing them for well over a month or two as a non member just looking at the types of questions and answers that were coming to them.

I don't trust too many people on the internet, which is why I always try to get information from a variety of sources when I am looking for hosting.

I feel the same way. There are way too many people out there that are only in it for themselves and what they can gain.

That is one of the reasons that I will not have any ads on my training site. The people that come to the site to learn are new to web development and are easily influenced by flashy claims. Anyone that has been around awhile knows how many of those flashy claims, "I can bring you 500,000 targeted visitors in 30 days for $10.95" are actually true..... NOT! So no ads for my training site. It has impacted the site in a negative way traffic wise because those Ad back links are nice to have but that is alright, I know that because of the types of topics and the audience, it is the right thing.

 

[Ellen F]

Ya know what? One thing I noticed when checking into webhosting was that most of the review sites all seemed to rate the same ones at the top. It just looks kind of fishy to me. Maybe the webhosting companies are putting them up or something.

 

[ulterios]

I have had the exact same problem. I have now gotten to the point where I am focusing to no more than 5 forums, I am currently actively participating in 3, and those only after viewing them for well over a month or two as a non member just looking at the types of questions and answers that were coming to them.

I do that same thing as well. I am usually a "Lurker" before I join. I want to make sure it's worth my time. One thing with forums is that they can be great for a while then fall to pieces or the same thing but in reverse. I have seen great forums that were top in their field/niche die VERY easily due to bad decisions by management or a combination of things. I have always considered a forum as a living entity and it can die just like people, animals, plants, etc. without the proper care.

I feel the same way. There are way too many people out there that are only in it for themselves and what they can gain.

That is so very true, especially with the hosting review websites. They will recommend junk hosting as long as they make good money off of it. I for one won't recommend anything that I either haven't used or won't use. If it's not good enough for me, then I won't stamp my approval on it.

That is one of the reasons that I will not have any ads on my training site. The people that come to the site to learn are new to web development and are easily influenced by flashy claims. So no ads for my training site. It has impacted the site in a negative way traffic wise because those Ad back links are nice to have but that is alright, I know that because of the types of topics and the audience, it is the right thing.

That is very respectable Mike, especially in this day and age where the mighty dollar means more than integrity. You have build a good solid reputation so it's great that you are willing to protect that!

 

[ProfMike]

So you are a "Lurker", I do the same thing. I have to agree with your analogy on Forums, they are only as good as the membership and especially the administrator. I have been a member of hundreds of forums over the years, and many of them started out with very good intentions and slowly were overtaken by ads and certain members that had an agenda, and pushed that agenda. Obviously ads are needed to offset the cost of running the forum, but they can get to extremes if they begin to interfere with the use of the forum or the message. There is a delicate balance.

I tend to stay away from opinions on web hosting companies. I have had good luck with the hosting providers that I use but I have had customers use those same providers, and they had terrible customer support. I think the impression of a hosting provider has a lot to do with the knowledge of the user. The more knowledgeable and realistic the user on web hosting the more they will ge tout of the provider. Most of us know what to expect, understand the limitations of shared and dedicated hosting, and have realistic expectations as to what to expect for support. Let's be honest most hosting providers are using out sourced support that run off a script. If the answer to your question is not in their database, they will normally not have a clue how to respond.

That scenario has actually added to what I can offer my customers. Understanding how those shared systems work, and how to manipulate the servers and the tools available by the provider, now allows me to offer support for those customer systems. This way the customer does not have to deal with it, I will. Most of the time, based on what is available through the tools of the provider, I can do the support myself. Plus there is a pretty good fee that comes with adding that cost to a project. I call it the gift that keeps on giving.... there lack of good support is my opportunity to provide support using their system. It is a win-win, I can tack on additional fee for support, the customer is happy, and the hosting provider, none the wiser, does not have to deal with a customer that does not understand how the systems work. We all benefit.

Thanks for the comments on not having ads on the site. I appreciate it. My first consideration is always the students that use the site. I try to keep things simple for them and focused on education. Little to no distractions especially when they are watching the videos.