Poll: Who Is the Best Web Host?

My webhost is the best. Unbeatable support, great plans, amazingly low price, free Adwords credits, money back guarantee, 99% uptime guarantee... Their name is....

My current host is Web.com and now I would like to change it. I was considering eBoundHost. After seeing this poll and checking few of the tops, I got interested in Inmotion. I'm little confused with their max speed zone. does that mean I can choose in which data center my website will be hosted? Will all of my visitors from nearby area have faster connection with my website?
Does anyone here have experience with them?

Webhostingtalk is a great place to find help in choosing webhost. A lot of experts and webmasters are members and they are very helpful.

Who is the better HostMonster or InMotion? For a simple website with low traffic? Website will be in Wordpress.

I didn't vote for anyone, but I would like to give negative points to few. Adding negative points would be a great option for this poll.

I have been using wordpress.com for my blog. Now I would like to self host it - install wordpress on a hosting account. Do you have an suggestions on best wordpress host?

1 million dollar question: who is the best host? Well any service, no matter how good it is, have few unsatisfied customers. and vice versa. unsatisfied customers are often the loudest ones. spend $100 per month on hosting and you'll be satisfied for sure.

I like IPower. I have been using them for 4 years and they keep getting better. I used to use several others, including GoDaddy. I HATE GoDaddy. IPower has much better tech support and customer service if you have problems, plus they are priced right. If you are a large company, they aren't the right choice...but for small businesses and consumers, they are perfect.

How fast is InMotion's server?

When i choose host I first look at their hardware specs.

So much sites exist on the internet where you can read hosting reviews, this one also, reading them is the best way to choose appropriate host. I've been visiting lot of them lately and I was surprised with the amount of the info you can find out about each host. However it is good to first limit your choices only to few hosts that look promising.

I have been using FatCow for the last 15 months. They are great host, support is very friendly, from North America - not outsourced. They are fast in fixing client's problems. There are a lot advantages in hosting with them.

Why not creating worst host poll? I guess it won't be so profitable, won't it?

Buying a webhost isn't something you should do prior good research. i have luck that few of my friends are also webmasters so I always ask them for honest opinion about hosts they used. I do not believe reviews that could be found on hosting reviews websites. It is too easy to manipulate them. both, negative and positive ones.

These are the main factors that one should take into account prior choosing host:
- support options
- support quality
- server performance
- software offered
- upgrade options
- price
- money back guarantee
- user reviews

I have one advice: don't host with GoDaddy. They are great as domain registrar (if you don't mind site clustered with ads and boring newsletters trying to sell you each and every product), but as a host they aren't so good. I could even say they suck.

Ask yourself some questions before you choose: how much space and bandwidth you'll need for your site? what scripts you plan to use? Do you need Windows based or Linux based server? How much people will visit your site? Can shared server handle that traffic? Do you need SSL? Will shared SSL certificate be enough or you want install your own? Do you need root access? What is your budget? What were the problems with hosts you used before? Answer that questions and it will be much easier to choose.

Hostmonster rules. Definitely check them before you choose. I am really impressed with the quality and user friendliness of their service. Responses to my inquiries were lightning fast and the people I talked over the phone support are knowledgeable and friendly. I have just recommended them to my close friend and he is more than satisfied.

There is no best web hosting service. that questions often pop ups in various forums by newbie webmasters. \"can you recommend me the best web host\"?
Stupid question. Much better question would be: \"can you recommend the best way to choose host\"? That question is much better.

This poll should be divided into more polls like Who is the best ecommerce host, Who is the best Wordpress host (and some other CMSs), Who is the best Windows host, Who is the best reseller host and so on

I have been using bluehost for years. Their customer service is the best I have ever seen. They are always ready to help me solve a problem with my site and or hosting. I am very happy using them and recommend them.

Prior choosing host, ask yourself, how you\'re gonna build your site. What software you need, will you use CMS, which one would you like to use, how much traffic you\'re hoping to receive, what control panel options you want... That will narrow your choices.

Best hosting provider should satisfy all your website needs and charge reasonably.

I couldn't help noticing that Webhosting pad is the first one on the list prior voting and has almost 20% of votes. Concidence? Or lot of people voted for them only because they are first on the list?

I feel whichever host satisfy my needs is a good choice. Price differences between budget hosts are so small so they are irrelevant.

I have used in my webmastering career career (6 years) totally five hosts. Two of them are on this list: WebHostingPad and FatCow. I have moved all my sites from WebHostingPad's servers, although they weren't a bad host, there were some performance issues so I moved away. I'm still using FatCow for my personal blog and I might say they are awesome. Pretty simple, but have all I need for that purpose.

First and most important factor is the technical support. Response time - you don't want to wait answer for a few hours while your site is down due to tech complications. Amount of support - you don't want to hear "it is out of the scope of our support services". Availability - nowadays 24/7/365 is a standard. And of course quality - there is no any good from support available and prompt if they don't know how to solve your problem. Bonus to good support are chat and phone options to regular email support.

I first look at the price. Then money back guarantee. And the third are reviews.

I would like to start reselling hosting. Should I use a resell account or a dedicated server? What's the difference? I would use it for my web design client's websites.

Never base your choice solely on low price.

Uptime is very important factor to be considered. There are services that monitor hosts and their uptime.

When buying hosting check reviews for any support issues. Support is much more important than price.

I have no advice about choosing the best one since I made a prettybad choice myself and now I'm seeking for a new one. However, I have one advice how to avoid the bad host: Do not choose HostGator.

Check reviews by users to see if there are some repeating problems. Be careful with hosts who aren't long in business, you don't want to wake up one day knowing that your host disappeared and you lost all your data that was placed on a server. At least 2-3 years in business is my minimum criteria.

1. support quality
2. support response time
3. hardware quality
4. server security
5. freedom (no restrictions)
6. price
7. money-back guarantee
8. upgrade path

I say if you are just starting and looking for a host for a new website - use shared and don't pay more than $5 per month. There is a great choice of budget hosts under 5 bucks monthly.

I personally have never used any host from this list so I couldn't vote for any. And after all "best" is a subjective term so it is pointless to seek for a best host. If I had to choose some from these, than I would say JustHost. During past years I found a lot of positive reviews about them on the internet.

Some hosts don't fulfill money back guarantee. One should look for unconditional, no questions asked money back guarantee. The same goes for uptime guarantees. What happens if 100% uptime guarantee is not realized? 1 months free service? or maybe 2, 3 months?

To find a best host look at those with low price that has all the features you need. Pick a few, compare plans and voila - you're done! 30 minute job.

My vote goes to InMotion. They are superior hosting company comparing to all other listed here. My advice on choosing the best host: choose InMotion.

If you make the wrong choice you will have a lot of headaches. Then when you decide to move, you're back on the beginning of the problem. It is essential to choose the best host at the inital start up. So plan carefully and shop wisely. I will not repeat what other here have already said, like being aware of needs, comparing plans... but post just a small advice: If you find host you think could be a good choice, try googling for a
"host name + support problem"
or
"host name + complaints"
to see if it has reapetuing problems with support or any other issues. Every company has mentions somewhere on the web by unsatisfied ex customer who complains about bed support or performance problems, so feel free to ignore rare occurences. But if there are plenty of repeting problems for some particular host; be aware, you might experience just the same.

One of the things to have in mind is location of the server. If your targeted visitors are from UK then use host who'll put your website on UK based server. Search engines look at it when serving results. It will be much easier to rank high for searches made on google.co.uk if your server is there.

"best host" does not exist. It is stupid to seek for the "best something". Do best snickers exist? You should ask yourself "who is the best webhost for me" or who is the "best host for my website".

Thanks for sharing all these advices. Very informative.

My advice is whatever host you choose, register domain elsewhere - directly with the domain registrar like namecheap or godaddy. It is always good to keep domain separate from webhost. Best and easiest way.

Choosing host is one of the most essential parts of starting a successfull website. If you're are looking for a best host to start your online venture, check these criteria first:
1. How long they are providing hosting services
2. Quality of support (user reviews are great for checking this)
3. FTP access
4. Price
5. money back guarantee (unconditional or with restrictions)
6. Uptime (there are services that measure uptime)
7. Bandwidth and space
8. Which control panel they're using

What's wrong with resellers? If you get features you want at the lower price, why not host with reseller? It is not so rare case that tech support will be given to you by underlying host.

Check how long host you're interested in is the in business. Also check if they resell or own the servers. I don't host with resellers.

Before buying make a check list of all the features you need. Software, customization options, amount of disk space, bandwidth... Now seek for providers who satisfy your needs completely. This will probably be a long list. Now, write them down and add additional data about each like 30/60/90 money back guarantee, hardware used, support options, amount of websites on servers (if this data is available), price, uptime guarantee, upgrading options and any special features that you might use in the future. Next step is to choose from that list two or three best ones and check reviews about them to see what their customers have to say about them.
After all this research you will make a pretty good if not the best choice.

What about the security of the server? How can an uneducated potential customer make conclusion about server security from information that is available on the host website ?