Web Hosting Scam Be Damned: Top 5 Questions You Must Ask About in a Host

Don't be the next victim of yet another web hosting scam, or misleading web hosting ad. Ask these simple, specific questions, and no host will be able to trick you. How is that, you ask?

Well, the way most hosts scam their customers is by one of two methods: making you buy into features that you either don't want or didn't know cost extra; and with "traps" - little technicalities that they rig across their system to snare an unsuspecting customer in.

Arm yourself with these five simple questions, and web hosting bliss will be yours. Or something like that.

• The Question: What customer service comes with The Plan [the one you chose]? And what premium service can I buy?

The Proper Answer: first, the premium service can't be much beyond The Plan. Anything more than getting bumped up in line a little [they answer faster], and you need to start looking elsewhere. Why? Because often the basic plan will be insufficient; you'll find yourself "having" to pay extra to get an accurate answer or needed help. The Plan should also come with at least a toll free tech support line [NOT a sales or "customer service" line] & ticketed email support; I also recommend chat support for those questions on the go, although it's not a requirement.

• The Question: What is your money back guarantee?

The Proper Answer: I recommend an insisting on an "anytime" or "whenever" [different terms for same service] money back guarantee. Why? Because a web host whose service is subpar, or a web host who's configured to scam you out of your money will not - and cannot - offer such a guarantee. The unscrupulous frauds and scammers are banking on getting you caught in their contractual netting, where you can't escape and are therefore forced to put up with their victimization.

A guarantee that allows you to leave at anytime is a dangerous prospect for the host - because they could lose the sale at anytime - and therefore makes the website hosting service always on their toes. This contrasts with the 30 day guarantee, where users of the overworked & less than honest will often find the service quality dramatically dropping once the final day has passed.

An anytime guarantee means that you can get back the money you paid for any unused hosting time - NOT the full price you paid [all hosts require at least one year up front]; these guarantees are usually coupled with a 30 day full price money back guarantee.

• The Question: Do you charge extra for domain name anonymity [where a whois search will not reveal your name]?

The Proper Answer: "Yes, we charge extra." Huh? - you wonder? Well, many web hosting cheats [including at least one big name in the industry] register your domain under their own company name, ostensibly to "protect" your anonymity, but then if you decide to sell it or change hosts, they insist on charging you a large fee because "it's under our name, so we own it". Not all internet hosting companies that offer standard anonymity do this; and charging extra is not a guarantee. But it makes it highly unlikely, in that it's not an institutionalized company scam - and trust me, you're much better off avoiding this one from the start.

I know one website operator whose host tried to sell him back his own domain for thousands of dollars, saying it was worth that because of all the work he had done promoting his site (!). Lesson: Buyer Beware.

• The Question: Do you offer unlimited upload/download bandwidth AND webspace?

The Proper Answer: Yes.

True, there are many technical questions you should ask [You can read more detail in "Oops! Web Hosting Scams Be-Gone: The Technical Questions You Forgot to Ask"], but I'm going to make it easy for you. Like the previous question regarding the anytime money back guarantee, this question serves as a benchmark: hosts that offer this, the most expensive and profitable feature, invariably offer all the other features you'll need. So ask one question instead of ten. Told you I'd make it easy.

• The Final Question: How much do you charge to transfer my domain to another host?

The Proper Answer: Nothing up to around $15 dollars. Anything more, run like they had ebola.

Yes, I've saved the best for last. Why? Because I can. Hosts that lace their service with hidden, exorbitant fees, always start with this one. It's practically their calling card. Why? Because making leaving very difficult to impossible is the first and most important step to a fee trap host.

For a quick overview of what to do and what to avoid, check out my Web Hosting Bullet Point Breakdown.

Or cut it short, and check out the Best Host anywhere - and this is from someone who weeds out scams, no less - here http://www.ipage.com. They are not just good on technical points, but they have the best customer service, the best price - $3.50! -and the most Free Stuff, including over $100 in free google/facebook ads. I spent over a month weeding out the scammers, and this one is definitely the best - check them out!!

Oh, wait - I forgot one more question. It's very critical. Here it is: ask your host - and carefully repeat this after me verbatim - "Will you feed my ice cream in bed every night and then give me a..." woops, nevermind, wrong subject.

OK, so we're done here! Yeah!! Now back to that ice cream...

Oops! The Technical Anti-Web Hosting Scam Questions You Will Regret Not Asking

Don't fall victim to the oldest web hosting scam in the book: The Technical Trap. It's true - so many unscrupulous hosts defraud unsuspecting customers by making an attractive, cheap offer, only to scam you out of your money with missing "extra" features.

It happens all the time. You get offered a free domain, only to discover that if you want to leave, your web host will tell you "oh, by the way, your domain is registered under our name, so if you want it, it'll cost you. Bigtime." And, yes, this is an actual, perpetrated scam - with multiple complaints.

Or a web host will offer an unbeatable price, with a 30 day money back guarantee - now what could be better than that? Only on day 31, [or 2 or 3...] you run into a problem - and guess what? Customer service? Oh, yeah, they don't, like, answer. But the web host will helpfully offer you "premium" service, for a premium price, of course. Again, this is a real scam, with real complaints - not hypothetical.

Luckily for you, you've got me on your side. And I'm packing - granted, they're double D's, but packing's packing. I've got the key questions that you will need to ask your web host about - those simple details that will make all the difference and help you avoid getting scammed. And to make it even easier, I'm not only including the proper answers AND an explanation, I'm even throwing in "catch all" questions - those simple queries that indicate so much more about a web host. So you don't have to get lost in a sea of technical jargon. Talk about getting a cheat sheet.
Oh, yeah, and do me a favor: please check out my recommended host - hey, a girl's gotta eat. Somehow.

One more note: ask all the questions, verbatim if necessary, even if you have zero idea what's being said - even if the words are effectively gibberish to you. These are semi-technical questions that you will regret not asking later on.

Got it? Good. Now lets jump in.

The Questions:

• How many gigabytes in uploads and downloads do you offer per month? If you're running a blog: 100gb upload/download per month is fine.

If you're running any other kind of site: I recommend unlimited downloads/uploads. This is necessary because while your site's text may not amount to much, if you have graphics, photos, or ads, you may run out your bandwidth much sooner than you think - and end up paying the price.

• How much disk space comes with an account? Its best go for unlimited disk space; photos and videos can eat up an unexpected amount of space - even on a blog. You don't need surprises.

• How many domains can I host on one account? If you're starting out, you probably think: wait a minute; I'm only doing one site, so why would I need more domains? With some sites, you won't. But wait.

Once you have some success, you may want to buy up domains that are similar to yours; buy up domains that have particular keywords, so you'll rank higher in searches; perhaps start similar sites, etc. Basically, 20 domains is usually sufficient for a small business or hobby site; if you are running anything larger, go for unlimited.

• How many emails am I allowed with each domain? How many employees/email accounts do you expect to have? If you find a host that offers, say, 25 emails, and you only have 2 full time employees, you may think to yourself "25! That's waay plenty!" Only it's much closer to full than you realize.

How? If you're running a business and want to seem professional, you'll want separate email addresses for things like hiring, sales, customer service, management, etc; then everyone will want an email with their own name@yourdomain.com. And what happens when an employee leaves? You have to keep their email working because old contacts will still send to him/her. Add to this temporary employees, special emails, project accounts, emails for newsletters, no response addresses, filters, etc., and you'll discover that 25 names can be used up pretty quickly.

So, generally, for small companies - 25-50 could be adequate, depending on number of employees. Anything bigger, cut it short and go for unlimited email accounts.

• Is an ftp account included? This is critical to upload your website. Don't accept a host that doesn't have a free ftp account included with their service.

• Is webmail included? Webmail is where you can access your account from the web. Although some people like to have their mail in their company server, I find it necessary to have webmail access. Bottom line: if you're already set up and use outlook/similar exclusively, then lack of webmail is ok; otherwise, it's a must - don't leave this feature out.

• Do you have any spam protection/filters? Without spam protection, you'll be wading in a morass of ads for a certain blue pill, and the like.

• Do you have any malware protection (for the site)? Not only should they have malware protection, but also they should have a frequent scan for malware (usually daily).

• Is a shopping suite included - including ssl and a shopping cart? If you think you'll ever want to do something like this, even down the line - sell t-shirts associated with your site, for example - then get the proper tech specs now. You'll save yourself so much trouble later.

• What tech support is included? Standard tech support should include a 24/7 toll free number [NOT a sales line - ask specifically, and check out, to ensure that the phone number is for TECH SUPPORT - so many people see an 800 number and think "alright!", when in fact it's closer to "all wrong;"].

Other points to watch out for are excessive "premium" support [more than just bumping you up in line] and average wait time. Trust me, when your site is finally starting to take off - after so much work, and then the whole thing comes crashing down, and your host won't answer your emails for days on end, you'll wish for a working number - if only to curse someone on.

• What's your money back guarantee? I tell everyone who will listen - go for a guarantee that allows you to cancel anytime, and get the remainder of your money back. This one point by itself will almost ensure a smooth hosting experience - more than anything else. Why? Because a host that can lose a customer at anytime is a host that's working hard not to all the time.

Words of wisdom to live by.

OK, so there you have it. Now you know the technical details and questions that you need to ask your host. And with this knowledge, you also now know how to avoid getting scammed on technicalities by a web host.

For a quick overview of everything else, you can check out my Web Hosting Bullet Point Breakdown.

Or cut it short, and check out the Best Host anywhere - and this is from someone who weeds out scams, no less - here http://www.ipage.com. They are not just good on technical points, but they have the best customer service, the best price - $3.50! -and the most Free Stuff, including over $100 in free google/facebook ads. I spent over a month weeding out the scammers, and this one is definitely the best - check them out!!

So anyway, enjoy your life. Make money. Go home happy. Oh, yeah, and don't forget about me, thank you very much.

Web Host For Real? Three Cool Tricks to Weed out The Cheats

Separating quality web hosts from the incapable and the cheats can be very difficult - because they all put on the same face, make similar promises, and pretend to be just as reliable and qualified as the next guy.

Luckily for you, I've got three cool tricks that will separate the time wasters from the good guys, and make you smile.

At least that's the plan.

• Trick Number One: You're Not a Customer, But Play One on the Phone
  

Perhaps a little devious, but call up their tech support line, pretending to be a customer. See how long it takes for them to answer. Yes, they have confirmation questions to determine if you are actually a customer, but those don't come into play until someone picks up the line.

Be careful to call the tech support line not their sales or a generic number, which will answer quickly. If someone else [not tech support] asks for confirmation info, tell them you aren't comfortable giving out this information to someone other than tech support; insist, and they will give in.

Remember, web hosting scam companies, as well as the lousy & overworked, will have much longer wait times, if they pick up at all.

• Trick Number Two: The Rich Buyer Who Doesn't Give a Damn
  

Speak to their sales rep pretending to have a lot of money and not caring about price, but wanting "all the bells and whistles". Keep pushing for more add ons and extra services [which the agent will gladly give you, because most make commission off the sales], throwing out statements like "yeah, I just want the top of the line" and "is that the very best?" and "how many years can I get that for?"

Why? The number one trick unscrupulous web hosts use to scam customers out of their money is by "extra features" or "premium services." These are either features that you don't need that they sneakily tack on, or necessary features that should be standard [such as customer service that actually answers] but that you discover you must pay for after you are under contract.

Legitimate web hosts don't make money off of extras, which requires their "standard" service to be lacking. If your prospective host is offering a lot of extras, especially ones that seem like they should be standard, then run like hell - in the opposite direction.

• Trick Number Three: Robots, Be-Gone! We Want Humans!
  

Did you know that more and more of the corner cutters - those web hosts that you don't want to deal with - did you know that they are using artificial intelligence to power their online chat support? It's true. So how do you discern between A.I. [which is nothing like the movies] and a real live person? Who is probably working out of Hyderabad or Delhi, and doesn't necessarily speak good English? Or get little cultural references?

Well, there are a couple of tricks to tripping up A.I. First, ask complex, abstract questions, without any "keywords" - words that pertain to any aspect of your hosting. Steer clear of words like "billing" "not working" or "domain," so the algorithm won't be able to pick up on what you mean, or make a close guess.

Second, do the opposite - ask questions loaded with keywords that have nothing to do with the answer you want. Something like, "If I buy a new domain after I'm billed and after your 30 day money back guarantee, can still I transfer my other non-working domain's pages to my computer without accessing the CP panel, or not?" [This is a question about your "other" host, not the current one.]

If they give you a quick canned answer [say, detailing domain name transfer procedures], and repetition of the question doesn't give a more human, imperfect answer variety, then you know you're dealing with R2-D2 without brains.

• Bonus: Shortcut

To separate the scams from the legitimate companies: ask if they have an anytime money back guarantee. Too many hosts will pull off dirty or underhanded tricks, such as canceling your account after 30 days [the end of the money back guarantee] while keeping your money, saying you violated their terms of service, or just plain unauthorized billing. You never really know if one's going to do this or not, until it's too late.

Except with an anytime money back guarantee. Such a guarantee ensures your web host won't scam you, because they can't. It's just not profitable, taking your money, making you mad, then giving it back to you. Kind of dumb, actually.

So there you have it, three cool tricks - plus one bonus shortcut - to separating the web hosting scammers from the trustworthy. I hope you found this helpful.

And please, if you need hosting, check out this host.[page. com] They are top rated - with an anytime moneyback guarantee - but they also have the most [free] features, and currently the best
price of any legitimate host [as well as over $100 in free google/facebook ads].