With the growth of the hosting industry allot of “one man shows” are popping up all over the place. Basically someone decides to start a small hosting company and normally it’s run by one to two people to keep costs down. There are allot of down falls associated with small companies like these, but on the other hand there are allot of good things about them also.

When running a small hosting company that is normally owned and operated by one to two people, it’s a great way to start a small company and generate a good amount of profits. But with a small company the cons out weigh the pros. There are few things to take into consideration when finding that perfect host and there are allot of companies out there that pull many scams to gain more money from their customers.

More information on web hosting scams can be found here:
Web Hosting Scams

Service & Support

Many users go for cheaper hosting because it’s cheaper, of course. But there are plenty of things to keep in mind when getting service from a company that offers bottom prices to free or unlimited hosting. With smaller hosting companies or those that offer very cheap hosting. Service is normally the first thing that goes. With these “one man shows”, it’s just how it sounds. It’s run by one person and sometimes two. With a “one man show” a few different things suffer concerning the type of service they may offer. The first to go is normally support, especially if they offer very cheap prices.

The old saying goes “you get what you pay for”. Just keep this in mind when searching for a host. Remember that if it’s too good to be true, then it probable isn’t true. Allot of these small companies aren’t bad to go with though. Just do a little research about the company, try a few different things before singing up. Ask to talk with other clients of theirs to get their opinion on the company’s service. Send them emails from time to time at different times of the day to find out how quick their response time is. If they offer phone support test the number out, find out if their support team is knowledgeable and will be able to handle anything that comes their way. Most of the cheaper hosting companies will not offer any type of phone support though; most of the support is done through emails. Find out if they have any other type of support system, like a FAQ section or something similar to that. Most smaller hosting companies will use forums to offer support, which is allot better then just a email address. They do this so other clients of theirs could help other users and it will take the support stress of the other staff.

Over Selling

Over selling refers to a hosting company selling more resources then they currently have. This is normally what hosting companies and other similar companies do. Allot of the “one man shows” use this and normally extend more then needed. Basically the company will sell more space or bandwidth then what is allocated to them monthly. Which for the most part isn’t a bad idea and isn’t bad to do. But allot of these “one man shows” that are trying to make the extra buck will over extend themselves in order to fit more clients on one server. In most cases a user will only use a percentage of what they pay for monthly, in a few cases clients will use more. Most servers will handle 200+ clients without breaking a sweat. Allot of these smaller companies will pack 300+ on a server and normally get away with it. This means that the server will be sluggish, slow response times, page loads, and so on.

While cheap hosting is great for smaller sites that don’t really need allot of support and extra services to run, it’s very bad for companies that rely on the server and need allot of extras to make their company and sites run correctly. Most hosting companies do not utilize any type of back-up system, so if the server has a hard drive failure, the information is pretty much lost unless the client has a back-up of it. Most users won’t need the extra service and support that these smaller companies can’t handle. So keep in mind what is needed and what will have to be sacrificed if cheap hosting is utilized.