Written by Jerry . Published on 15 Mar, 2009 . As a smart consumer, you must be aware that every web host are in the business to make money. Therefore, it’s necessary for web owners to put up certain level of defense against their own web host (even if they are trustworthy and efficient).
To get you started, here are 15 ways to protect yourself from a bad web hosting deal.
1. Register domain separately from your web host
Just because your web host offer a free domain doesn’t mean that you should let the hosting company controls your domain registration. Personally, I prefer keeping my domain names with a large registrant (in my case, GoDaddy) and separate them from the web host. By doing so, I can change my domain DNS anytime I want and avoid myself from being locked with a particular web host.
2. Test customer service before you sign up with a web host
A web host customer support department can be your savior or, nightmare. As most hosting companies provide 24/7 online chat support I suggest you to talk with their staffs at least once before you purchase. Ask questions to test the quality of their services and only go with those that provide satisfying answers.
3. If possible, pay with a debit card or PayPal
Lousy web hosts do not play gentlemanly when you are leaving them. I once had my website hosted with Network Eleven (which is a terrible hosting company) and they refused to stop charging my credit card when I unsubscribed my service. Eventually, I have to cancel my credit card in order to stop them bullying me. Moral of the story, always go safe when it comes to money. If possible, always pay your web host with a debit card or PayPal account. Just in case your web host turn bad, you can stop your subscription easily.
4. Learn the basics in web hosting
One good way to avoid from being fooled by the web host personnel is by educating yourself. Even if you are a non techie, make time to learn the basics in web hosting. You should at least understand the differences between various types of web hosting, pros and cons for different web host operating system, as well as some fundamental knowledge about hosting bandwidth.
5. Avoid web host with black-holed IP
Does your favorite web host allow spam activities? Is your website sharing the same server with a porn sites? All in all, is your hosting provider listed on Spamhaus Block List? Many hosting companies care little about what their clients are doing with the hosting as long as they get paid. Sharing same IP with such spammers will bring you nothing but troubles (imagine if your emails can only be found in your recipients spam box – terrible!).
So before you make any purchase decision, make sure you run a quick check with SpamHaus Block List.
6. Check your web host spam policy
I can’t stress how important it is to avoid hosting your website at a spammy web host. In fact, checking on SpamHaus Block List is not enough. A web host that isn’t black listed now doesn’t mean that they will not be blocked in future. To be safe, check out your web host’s spam policy in the FAQ section. A responsible web host will normally have clearly written guidelines in fighting spams. For example, as in my recent post about Lunarpages, there’s a policy where unsolicited bulk emails are forbidden with all Lunarpages accounts.
7. Understand the meaning of overselling
Overselling might not be a bad thing as it cuts down web hosting cost. However you have to be clear about the meaning of overselling. A manged-overselling is acceptable; but overselling without proper planning is simply rubbish and you should runaway from such hosting services as far as possible. To learn if your web host is well prepared for overselling, check your server load regularly. Do not hesitate to complain or even switch host if things look fishy to you.
8. Make sure your web host offer long enough trial period
Following up on the overselling issue, it’s important to work only with web host that offers long enough trial period. This is to ensure you have sufficient time to test out the servers without any risk of losing money.
9. Understand that unlimited hosting is NOT unlimited
Accept it, unlimited hosting is only unlimited when you are not using too much of the hosting capacity. All hosting services are offered based on series of limited resources – how are you suppose to get unlimited hosting capacity with just $3.95 per month? So be wise, if you foresee your website will attracts crazy volume of traffics, a dedicated hosting is the way to go.
Learn when you should pick up a dedicated server.
10. Ensure that your web host provide clear refund policy
Does your web host provide full money return if you choose to refund your service within trial period? How about the refund policy after the trial session? It’s important to know your web host refund policy in-and-out so that you won’t panic when things go wrong. A point worth noting is that some good host (Bluehost, for example) provide pro-rated refund even if your trial period is past. Needless to say, web host offering such benefits is always recommended.
11. Find out what others have to say about the web host
When it comes to web host shopping, it’s important to get opinion from your experienced friends. These friends can be your neighbors, Poker buddies, favorite bloggers or even Internet friends you met on FaceBook. User reviews are always helpful when it comes to picking up the right host!
(In case you need my opinion, here’s where I place my honest hosting review based on my real usage experience.)
12. Read and participate in related forum discussions
As said, nothing’s more important than getting yourself educated. If you are into website hosting, make sure you visit frequent enough on related forums. Web Hosting Talk and Webmaster World are the two best places to visit. I suggest all of you mark them down on your favorite list and visit them from time to time.
13. Make sure your web host runs on with a redundancy protection plan
When dealing with smaller hosting merchants, make sure they have their own data centers and more over, have the data centers fully protected with redundant power supplies and connectivity. “How many lines do they have coming into the facility? Do they have redundant power to the servers? Do they have an on-site power generator? What sort of security measures do they have for the network?” – these are the basic questions to be asked.
So go back to tips #2 and test their support!
14. Do your own backups regularly
Even if your web host provides sufficient redundancy protection, do not trust them 100%. Your website should be backed up always. Utilize cPanel’s cron job and backup features to ensure backup works are done regularly without fail.
15. Always keep your option open
Last but not least, always have an open mind in term of your web hosting choice. It is, after all, simple to switch your website from one host to another. So why stuck with the same old lousy host? If they don’t appreciate your business, someone else will. 
More guides in web host switching, read: Moving to a new hosting: Checklist guide.
Hi guys,
Just to warn any of your potential readers from a poor web host, I’m still making it my mission to expose 1and1 internet as the jokers they are. The problem you described above (re: charging the cc account) happend to me and numerous other bloggers.
http://blog.webdistortion.com/2008/06/25/1and1-internet-bunch-of-jokers/
Great post on avoiding the pitfalls, hope you don’t mind me link dropping here.
Nice point it give help for me thanks budy for sharing!!
very true, register your domain some where else. I use godaddy and google.
Anyway, I have two domains stuck with the hosting company. They automatically renewed it without notifying me. When i Checked the control panel, (you’re not gonna believe me this)..by dafault it was set to ‘Auto renew, do not notify me’??? And it is hostmonster hosting. And they do not provide any anti virus protection. I’m running backup while writing this.
[...] It’s okay to go with a cheap web host, it’s okay to go with a web host that provides unlimited hosting; BUT you must make sure that you are dealing with a responsible host providers who care about their customer and you learn how to protect yourself from a bad host that tends to screw things up. [...]
I used sustainablewebsites.com for over a year and they were great. As my needs expanded, they were kind to let me go. I keep my domainnames with their sister site (at the time) sustainabledomains.com. Good people.
In contrast, I used priorityonehost.com (also called alpha1hosting.com or anywherehost.com) for almost a year. Their customer support was sarcastic and condescending. That was my first warning.
When I attempted to leave their hosting service, they billed me for 23 years of service claiming that I violated agreements! The worst bit though: they directly insulted me and my character throughout our conversations. Weird. Just plain weird and unprofessional. Avoid them at all costs.
Actually for Point 3 I would suggest using a credit card instead of a debit card. You get more protection from a credit card company. And of course, as you said, Paypal is another option.
[...] on how not to get screwed by your web host: You don’t register your domain together with your web host. If, unfortunately, you did register [...]
#16: set a reminder so you know when your account renews, ESPECIALLY if you use a debit card. Google Calendar, Outlook, or RenewalClock.com all send free reminders if you’re looking for reminder options.
Mr. Steven Smith: You have not accurately portrayed why you were terminated as a customer of Anywherehost. You did not cancel as you would have others believe in anonimity.
The truth is that you purchased an end-user account that you then resold space on. You were warned that you were in violation of our TOS and AUP but continued the violation. You were not billed for 23 years of service. You were billed for each web site that you resold pursuant to the violation of the contract.
Instead of being honest with your web host you paid a small fee each month and then put up 28 web sites that you resold. You did not have a reseller account.
So let us ask Mr. Smith, who is the real issue here? Instead, you come here and post without accountability? We have all of the emails to and from you for reference, as well as confirmation that you were referred to our collection agency. THIS is not the place for an argument and you may have the last word. Out of repsect for the site owner we will not go back and forth with you.
For those of you reading this, my humble apologies. Web hosts get railed on and cheated every day. No matter what the truth someone such as Steven Smith in Utah may come to a site like this and say anything that he’d like. Suppose you owned a store and Mr. Smith came in and bought a Cola but walked out with a 12 pack and then sold them outside your own door?
If the web host can backup what they say, and they sound very believable, then S. Smith has some explaining to do! As a web developer myself I know the difference between a reseller account and one for individuals. I just sign my customer up and they pay their own bill and I make their site. I haven’t used Anywherehost but went and read their TOS and it says very clearly that space cannot be resold. If you broke the rules and were warned whatcha complaining about? You got caught.
[...] Come Non Farsi Ingannare Da Un Web Hosting Provider [...]
[...] Come Non Farsi Ingannare Da Un Web Hosting Provider [...]
THX that\’s a great awsenr!
Today is November 26, 2011. I just decided to dump my web hosting company, 1dollar-webhosting.com, after weeks of frustration with their ineptness in solving a server problem. My site has now been completely down for five days. Prior to it going totally out,there were interruptions in service on a daily basis, sometimes for an hour or two, but most times for 4-16 hours. I submitted a “trouble ticket” each time. Sometimes they answered, most times they did not and I had to submit another ticket. They claim that tickets are answered within four hours.
I should mention that the only form of contact you have with them is e-mail. There is no telephone contact available, not even a live “chat” contact. You send them an e-mail and when they decide to contact you that’s whe you will hear from them.
There were times it too FOUR DAYS for them to respond, and the the response was, “Please have some patience as we are very busy!” This is good service? There is much more but I don’t want to use up terabytes here to write all of it. Just let it suffice to say, DON’T CONTRACT FOR WEB HOSTING WITH: 1dollar-webhosting.com
I should mention that, with regard to the previous post which I made that their hosting is one dollar a month BUT, I also have a site hosted with another “1 dollar a month” company and they have live chat and they are responsive and the site IS up 99.9%. With 1dollar-webhosting.com the up time was about 20%
THEY ARE A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY! USE THEM ONLY IF YOU WANT TO PISS YOUR MONEY AWAY! ALSO, THEIR SERVERS ARE PITIFULLY SLOW! I DOUBT THAT THEY WILL REMAIN IN BUSINESS FOR TOO MUCH LONGER!