I'm looking at setting up a website for my new business, and have been using GoDaddy's shared web hosting services. Unfortunately, it often takes awhile when the website first loads, although subsequent page loads are much quicker.

I'm thinking about upgrading, but can't seem to find very many legitimate reviews of hosting companies; therefore, I'm throwing the question out to you guys:

What hosting service are you using to host your company's website, and are you happy with them?

Thanks for the help,
Glenn Fisher

Free Web Hosting with PHP, MySQL and cPanel, No Ads (http://www.000webhost.com) is free or try paid hosting at Web Hosting, Reseller Hosting, and Dedicated Website Hosting w/ cPanel - HostGator (http://www.hostgator.com)

I use Speed Host and have nothing but good things to say.

Netfirms is my preference. www.Netfirms.com (http://www.netfirms.com)

I have used both shared and dedicated servers with HostGator and have been very happy with them.

I've used services from Media Temple. Great host, technical support responded quickly when issues arose. I'd recommend checking them out.

I've also used 1and1.com. Not as personalized experience as Media Temple, but very stable.

Hosting is kind of like your preference in food..... it depends on what you want. I provide hosting services to small businesses, but my services are not for everyone. If you consider yourself very technically savvy, then you probably don't need my kind of service. I provide a "pick up the phone call" sort of services where my customers don't want to have to know how things work. But for clients that want to be able to call someone and have the problem taken care of, I'm a helpful service.

I have personally worked with clients on GoDaddy, Dreamhost, and Surpass. Surpass provides more powerful features, which is why I recommend them, but for users that don't care about power users features (parking domains, lots of MySQL features, etc) then other hosts like Dreamhost might be good to look into. I do not recommend GoDaddy because everything with them is an up-sell, and it is annoying to deal with.

I'm fortunate to have an office in a business park with a top tier data center where we have collocated servers. Prior to that, we used hosting services from 1&1 (1and1.com). They are very good, and we still keep an account with them for testing. They have hosting starting at $3.99 a month or some unbelievably low price.

I use IXwebhosting.com and have been very happy with their services.

I've used services from Media Temple. Great host, technical support responded quickly when issues arose. I'd recommend checking them out.

I've also used 1and1.com. Not as personalized experience as Media Temple, but very stable.

Hey Roger -

I am still perusing for a web host myself and MT came recommended a few times as well as 1&1. My question for you is, are you using a Shared or VPS service with MT? And when you were using 1&1, what service did you use with them Shared or VPS?

Are you able to host your videos on these sites without any problems?

E-commerce?

Also, if you do your own web designing/building, what software do you use / recommend?

We still use 1&1 for a few client sites. Yes, we do host a lot of videos on 1&1 but they are not streaming, but instead progressive download. We do have one client for whom we use the "Beginner eStore" e-commerce hosting. It's capable, but very limited. We use Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 as the development platform, but that's serious overkill if you just want to make a basic site.

Yahoo may not be the greatest, but it's cheap and easy. I made mine and it's working pretty good (surprising since I've never done this before).

Hey Roger -

I am still perusing for a web host myself and MT came recommended a few times as well as 1&1. My question for you is, are you using a Shared or VPS service with MT? And when you were using 1&1, what service did you use with them Shared or VPS?

Are you able to host your videos on these sites without any problems?

E-commerce?

Also, if you do your own web designing/building, what software do you use / recommend?

Andrew,

At MT we were using VPS not Shared; at 1&1 we had our own dedicated server farm. We did host a some short videos using Silverlight streaming.

By day, I'm a software solution architect and work with mid- to large-businesses, complete with integrations in to backend EPR/SAP systems. So I'm using Microsoft Commerce Server, SharePoint Server, and Visual Studio. For a small site this would definately be overkill.

I'd check out Google Checkout or Paypal for credit card processing. This way you don't have to manage the credit card transaction (and the security involved with accepting credit cards). In a nutshell, you redirect your customer to their site with the shopping cart contents, the user then provides Google/Paypal with the credit card info, once the transaction is complete Google/Paypal sends your web site a special message, and finally the user is redirected back to your site. I've done this for some non-profit orgranizations and it has worked out well.

I'd also suggest checking out Google Checkout or Paypal for credit card processing. I am a small bis hosting provider and I have implemented an OSS shopping cart system with the PayPal interface for a client and the results worked quite well. As mentioned, this greatly reduces your responsibility for storing & securing credit card transaction information by offloading it to the third party company.

Thanks all for the insight and suggestions. I'll definitely check out the PayPal and Google Checkout options; looks like the easiest and, more importantly, very secure.

Just shopping around right now for:

- A good value, reliable web hosting company

- Some decent software, nothing too fancy as I'm not a code geek by any means. (Some of the software I've heard about, but never have used yet, are: DreamWeaver, Expression, RapidWeaver (I believe this is for Mac's only), Namo WebEditor to name a few)

Also, has anyone heard of or used Homestead?

Hello Andrew,

I use Ipower for my hosting and they have been very good. They offer 24 hour phone support and their plans have unlimited bandwidth.

For a cheap and user friendly web design tool you might might want to check out Xara Xtreme or Xara Web designer. They are graphic based web design tools that write the html code for you. Not the best pro code for a huge site like amazon.com, but it works and search engines will see it.

I really love our hosting provider IX Web Hosting http://www.ixwebhosting.com. I use Dreamweaver CS4 for design and use Exposure Manager (http://www.exposuremanager.com/index.html) for our online store and photo lab fulfillment. The hosting does come with an eCommerce solution and now all plans include unlimited storage and bandwidth. Although I don't use it they do offer VPS services. One of the things I really like is they customer support. I usually do major updates in the dead of the night and they are there 24 hours a day by phone or chat interface. They are also constantly upgrading and improving the services and product offerings. I have hosted with them for 5 yrs now and couldn't be happier.

...I use Ipower for my hosting and they have been very good. They offer 24 hour phone support and their plans have unlimited bandwidth.

** Thanks for the suggestion; I'll check out their offerings.

For a cheap and user friendly web design tool you might might want to check out Xara Xtreme or Xara Web designer. They are graphic based web design tools that write the html code for you....

Those tools seem really cool!! I may have to give the XWD tool a shot, most unique web page building tool I have seen yet. Their other tools are cool as well. Not too bad pricing either. Thanks for this tip....much appreciate it!!

I really love our hosting provider IX Web Hosting Web Hosting:IX WEB HOSTING:Best Web Hosting Site:Webhosting Provider (http://www.ixwebhosting.com).

** I'll check out their offerings, thanks for the recommendations.

I use Dreamweaver CS4 for design and use Exposure Manager (Welcome to ExposureManager l Home (http://www.exposuremanager.com/index.html)) for our online store and photo lab fulfillment..

** Dreamweaver seems cool, but how would you rate it for ease of use for a novice? And regarding Exposure Manager; so you have a website with EM as well as IX? Are the two linked together? Where do you generate the sale...your site or EM's site? From what I've read on their site, they don't seem to host videos ..... or do they?

The hosting does come with an eCommerce solution and now all plans include unlimited storage and bandwidth. Although I don't use it they do offer VPS services.

** Are you referring to IX or EM?

One of the things I really like is they customer support. I usually do major updates in the dead of the night and they are there 24 hours a day by phone or chat interface. They are also constantly upgrading and improving the services and product offerings. I have hosted with them for 5 yrs now and couldn't be happier.

** Again are you referring to IX or EM? But whichever you are referring to, it's really great to see that they are providing excellent customer support (which is severely lacking in many companies these days!!) Many thanks again for this info., it's much appreciated.

...Dreamweaver seems cool, but how would you rate it for ease of use for a novice?
I think it is a very flexible program. I started with GoLive (Adobe CS) and Migrated to Dreamweaver at CS4. If you are looking for a complete WYSIWYG program loaded with pre-designed sites that you tweak then you probably do not want Dreamweaver. However, it does have design templates and if you are familiar with photoshop, you can create some really great graphics. I would recommend the tutorials on Lynda.com as they are much better (IMO) than the adobe training tutorials.

...And regarding Exposure Manager; so you have a website with EM as well as IX? Are the two linked together? Where do you generate the sale...your site or EM's site? From what I've read on their site, they don't seem to host videos ..... or do they?..
In addition to video services, we also provide some photography services, so I needed an online store linked to a pro lab that could handle fulfillment. Exposure Manager was a good fit for what i need. EM does not host videos natively but you can import HTML text and customize it heavily. When I need to import clips I host them on my main domain and code them into my EM site, but mostly I use EM for photo sales and online DVD reorders.

Example
My content site: www.TheVideoProfessional.com (Hosted on IX)
My online store: store.TheVideoProfessional.com (Hosted on EM)

Through the magic of domain mapping, my store shows as part of my host domain even though they are handled by different companies.


My content site generates the leads and I lock in contractual video sales through direct contact. The online store is for photo sales, DVD re-orders, and post-event sales.

Another way to think of it, the public portions of my content site serve as the showroom and storefront. This is where a client can find out more about my company and our services. It is a touchpoint (along with our facebook page) for clients to interact with me and gather useful information. The private portions are for direct interaction and feedback, i.e. posting clips, useful information, etc. And the online store is the self-service portion of my site. It is where clients come to place orders from the convenience of their homes without having to call me or mail in order forms.

Originally Posted by Bryan Daugherty
The hosting does come with an eCommerce solution and now all plans include unlimited storage and bandwidth. Although I don't use it they do offer VPS services.

** Are you referring to IX or EM?
I am referring to IX. IX includes an eCommerce store but I found it too cumbersome for my needs and I did not want to be responsible for transactional security of CC info. EM already has all the necessary safeguards built in for a safe and secure online shopping experience.

Originally Posted by Bryan Daugherty
One of the things I really like is the customer support. I usually do major updates in the dead of the night and they are there 24 hours a day by phone or chat interface. They are also constantly upgrading and improving the services and product offerings. I have hosted with them for 5 yrs now and couldn't be happier.

** Again are you referring to IX or EM? But whichever you are referring to, it's really great to see that they are providing excellent customer support (which is severely lacking in many companies these days!!) Many thanks again for this info., it's much appreciated.
I was mainly referring to IX but the customer support at EM is very good too. For me, that is a huge factor. If you treat me right, I tend to be a very loyal customer.