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Buyer Beware: Web Hosting, Registration, and Site Building
All in One Package Nightmares
Starting out in any type of online marketing or Internet
business can be confusing and overwhelming. There are so
many different aspects of a start-up: domain name registration
and purchase, Web site host purchasing, and of course, the
"building" of the Web site itself. This leaves
many consumers looking for an easier way to purchase everything
in one place, both to save money and to save time.
This has led to the rise of "total packages"
by many hosting and Internet development companies, where
everything is included: domain-name registration, software
for design of a site or an online method of building a site,
professional design of the site, and of course, the hosting.
This is quite popular as it whittles down the process of
getting a site up and running for many new to the Internet
and online marketing.
However, with the convenience of Web-hosting packages of
this sort, there also can be inconveniences. No road is
paved "with gold" and this type of registration,
hosting and design package deal is no exception. There can
be problems that surface later on when purchasing a Web
design and hosting package that also includes registration.
These problems usually present themselves in the following
forms:
1. Once a Web site becomes popular, the hosting charges
may rise exorbitantly, as the "special" that was
presented initially can become inapplicable once a certain
amount of traffic or the size of the site changes. This
is more of a problem for larger business sites than for
smaller business sites or "personal" or "theme"
sites.
2. Some "specials" only exist for a limited amount
of time, and the charges can rise steadily after that period.
3. A Web site owner may have different needs as time goes
on, and the "package" no longer suits the needs
of the owner. This can include the inability to change the
pages on one's own, or the inability to effectively track
traffic, as some come with traffic statistics packages.
4. Downtime (when a site is down and can't be viewed) can
be significant enough to warrant a change of hosts or domain
name registrars.
5. A Web site, registration, and web hosting package company
may go out of business, leaving a client with no way to
contact them, and three services to quickly replace. This
also leaves a site open to loss of the registered domain
name, as well as loss of revenues while the site is "down".
6. A contract may exist which states that the "special"
prices are only offered contingent on remaining with a certain
company for a specified amount of time (which may be years).
7. The actual "name" of your site may not even
be registered to "you" the perceived "owner",
but to the hosting and registrar company that initiated
the purchase through the package deal. This how the Web
site hosting, design and registrar packages "save"
money many times for consumers, as they "buy in bulk",
registering hundreds of sites per month.
All the above seem simple enough to rectify. Simply "switch"
the Web site, hosting, and domain name registrar to that
of other companies.
This is the point, however, in which "trouble"
can rear its ugly head. Some hosting and domain name registrars
seem reluctant to "hand over" a site to any other
company, as it does mean the loss of a customer and therefore,
revenue, for themselves. The current hosting company and
registrar may likewise delay a transfer, or refuse to provide
sufficient information to a new host or registrar to effectively
conclude a transfer. It becomes even more tangled, if the
name of a site has been registered to them.
This is where it is possible for a "nightmare"
of subterfuge regarding a site to begin. Sometimes, after
numerous contacts, with no reply, a Web site owner will
realize that the switching of the site has become a real
battle.
Here's an actual real life example of a friend of mine,
Katheryn:
After much downtime had occurred, Katheryn wrote to the
initial hosting company, and domain name registrar, stating
her disappointment in the service. A rather nasty letter
was received in reply, telling her that she could either
"like it or lump it" and that there was not anything
they could do, as a contract was in place that could not
be "broken" by any means. The language of the
e-mail correspondence was rude and uncalled for, and a phone
number was not provided anywhere for more personal contact,
neither was the name of the support person that wrote the
e-mail.
The site remained down consistently, as well, over the
next few weeks, forcing Katheryn to sign up for a different
hosting plan with a different host, and also re-register
the domain with another registrar. Luckily for Katheryn,
the registration of the site was in her name, and a new
name did not need to be purchased. At the time of import,
however, the previous "problem" host refused to
initiate a transfer, claiming that the contract remained
intact, and therefore the site could not be transferred.
The new hosting company had to "maneuver" the
site onto it's own servers without the cooperation of the
previous company, costing the client more time and money
than was necessary.
For months afterward, Katheryn was billed repeatedly by
the previous hosting company for monthly hosting, even though
a site no longer existed on their servers, and they were
in essence hosting "air" at this point. Copies
of all correspondence had to be sent to the billing service
to "dismiss" this recurrent billing, which was
the only option left to Katheryn at this point.
I'm sure there are many people like Katheryn who at one
time or the other have gone through such ordeal.
Some possible methods of avoiding the "trap"
of packages such as this:
1. Read all paperwork and contracts thoroughly. The fine
print is indeed, very "fine" sometimes, for a
reason, and reading everything thoroughly will save frustration
and misunderstandings later.
Above all, make sure that the registration will be done
in "your name", as the loss of a popular name,
with a large amount of traffic, is a HUGE loss. Or better
still, register your domain name yourself. With so many
online domain registrars, it's very simple to register a
domain name online. The only thing you need to do once you
have bought a hosting package is change the "name servers"
through the control panel provided by your domain registrar.
If at all you are not satisfied with your hosting company
and would like to shift to a different company, simply change
the name servers to point to the new company. That's it!
2. Make sure there is a contact phone number and physical
address for correspondence with the companies if the need
should arise. As in the case of Example #1, the lack of
a phone number and physical address was detrimental to effective
correspondence and resolution.
3. Take the time to research different plans and different
companies. If at all possible, ask to speak to some of their
other clients to ensure that they are indeed sensitive to
the needs of their own customers and are flexible enough
to adapt to changes in a site over time.
4. Take the time to correctly ascertain your own needs
and the needs of any site you'll be building. The package
needs to "fit your needs" explicitly.
5. If at all possible, use different providers for each
stage of a Web site: hosting, domain-name registrar, site
building. It does take longer to get a site up and running
with this method, but the overall control that you will
have over the site is well worth the extra effort, usually.
If one provider proves to be a disappointment, it is easier
to replace one service, rather than try to replace everything
at once.
As you can easily see, sometimes "time saving"
strategies are not really that, and can lead to heartbreak
and headaches. As with everything else, "slow but steady"
wins the race, and it does pay to take the time to initiate
each stage of a Web site individually.
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