| Today there are many web hosting packages out there, tons of web hosts (some in Canada, some in the USA, and many overseas), but it is hard to decide which deal is the best one. We all know that cheapest is never the best, so how do you choose?
I find that if you consider a Canadian host for your website, there are some things you should always do BEFORE signing up with them.
- Always call them on the telephone and try and reach their tech support department. Find out how long you have to wait on hold. If you find yourself waiting for hosting support longer than 3 minutes, it's too long, and give up. Do this a couple times of the day. Do it during business hours, which would be their peak time, and do it late in the evening, like 11pm.
- Send an email to support@example.com or whatever their support address is.. As a generic question, like if I setup a web hosting account with you, how long does it take? Or, how much does extra bandwidth cost, etc, etc.. Never mind the autoresponse saying your email has been received -- how long does it take for a real person to answer you?
- In both cases (telephone call or email), how fluent in english is the tech support person? If you call your website provider and they give you "canned" prewritten email responses, that shows that they probably have a poor command of the english language and probably are not located in Canada. If they have very thick hard to understand accents, again it is an indication that you've reached a web host who outsources their web hosting support call center to an overseas company. The problem with this isn't ethnic. Where the problem lies, is that you are now dealing with a 3rd party company who is answering questions on behalf of the first company. This spells disaster for the following reasons:
- They are located in a different country (not Canada), with no access to the servers themselves. They are often nothing more than low paid overseas call center staff who read FAQ (frequently asked questions) for web hosting help and all they do is repeat what is written on the FAQ.
- By getting these "canned" prewritten answers to your email questions indicates you are more likely to ALWAYS get prewritten answers to any question you ask now, and in the future.
For instance, you could ask something like:
"I'm trying to upload files to my web site, and I don't know why I can't login"
The canned prewritten reply comes back:
Hello, thank you for contacting web hosting support. In order to upload website files, you can use FTP which is explained on our FAQ, see question 43.
Then you send a reply back saying:
"Sorry, that is not helping me. I need to know why I can't login. My password isn't working!!! I didn't change my password recently, so why am I suddenly denied access?"
The next canned prewritten reply comes back:
Hello, thank you for contacting web hosting support. In order to change your password, simply login, and in your control panel, click the FAQ, see question 17.
Then you get upset, and finally say:
"Stop sending me references to the FAQ! All I want to say is that I cannot login to my account anymore, my password no longer works, and I want someone to test my account before I consider cancelling it"
The next canned prewritten reply comes back:
Hello, thank you for contacting web hosting support. If you want to cancel your account, we must advise you that there is a $50 cancellation fee. If you decide you would like to cancel, please login with your username/password and click the accounts link, and then the cancellation button"
..and it goes on, and on.. canned reply after canned reply.
Don't get caught in these circles. Always test the technical support of any Canadian web hosting company that you plan to host your website with.. Too many people fixate on Unix vs Windows servers, or hosting packages, who gives free domain names, or what type of storage space or hosting bandwidth come with it.. If you decide on a domestic host located in Canada, then be sure that they are truly Canadian.
In actual reality, you want a solid technical support department at your web host, someone who you can rely on when things stop working. We all know that web hosting requires fast speeds, high uptime, constant maintenance, and someone who is ready and willing to help you anytime of the day when you need it.
One of the FIRST things that many non Canadian web hosting companies do to cut costs is shave down the technical support budget. They concentrate on spending money on sales and marketing to gain new business, and a lot less on helping bitchy customers. (This is their mindset, not mine).
Good luck with whatever web host in Canada you finally choose, and hopefully these tips will help you find a decent Canadian web hosting server for your website.
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