Web Hosting – You get what you pay for…

Often times we have people coming to us with a VT website project, using inexpensive hosting such as GoDaddy, Bluehost, Network Solutions, etc.

GoDaddy is probably the web hosting that most are using. Why? Because it's really cheap. However, it's simply an “add-on” service to their flagship service which is domain names, SSL and everything that relates to domain names. As a matter of fact, GoDaddy and Namecheap are at the top of my list for getting or renewing a domain name.

Although they are one of the best services for domain names they are also one of the worst for web hosting. Their servers, PHP versions, etc. are often out of date. Customers have to pay a fee for any assistance with WordPress, etc.

One of our long time clients recently paid $79 to get help with a plug-in issue because GoDaddy didn't update their version of PHP. Needless to say, she was appalled at the thought of paying a web host to upgrade their own software. Soon after, she decided to host with Alpine Web Media.

On another occasion, we called Network Solutions on behalf of a client using their web hosting. After being on hold for a very long time the support technician finally answered. “Sorry,” he said “I'm the only one here today, so I was just finishing up on a call”. Although there seems to a better response rate these days, like GoDaddy, they are probably much more focused on their domain name services, which is their primary offering.

We used to assist our clients and build websites on their third-party web hosting…but we don't anymore

Although we used to offer assistance as a courtesy, these days we only support our own Vermont web hosting customers. We offer USA based web hosting, installation of a security firewall, monthly WordPress core and plugin updates and backups to the Amazon S3 cloud servers.

Extra help if and when you need it

If it's an issue directly related to our servers, we provide 100% free support. If it's an issue with a third party plugin, WordPress itself, etc. we provide a diagnosis at no charge, along with advice, alternative solutions (if any) and a time and cost estimate if you need us to take action on your behalf.