Webuser Forums: Hosting and domain help please

Most hosting companies sell domain names separately to hosting, although most have special offers, buy hosting get a free domain (usually a .co.uk domain only) or buy a domain and get (a bit of) free hosting.
In most cases you get what you pay for, but there are some bargains out there. Sometimes a host can be really cheap and everything seems fine, but in my experience if it's cheap, the server will go offline, your site vanish and your host uncontactable.

When you choose a hosting company, you need to read the T&C and any small print very carefully. Check the SLA (service level agreement) to see what they will do when there is a problem (for example, can you get a refund). I see some companies (Strato is one) now make you sign up to 24 months and others (like 1&1) sell you cheap names but add on extras for your hosting. Some charge you up to £50 if you want to move away from them to another hosting company (like EasySpace, now part of Iomart)

Test the support of the company you have chosen, and if they fail to reply promptly cancel and get your money back (assuming you chose one that had a guarantee)

I host my sites with TwentyHost. Very good track record and prompt, polite and knowledgeable support.
All of my websites with them have a free domain (I always choose .com) but you need to sign up for a year and pay upfront for the free domain. You can pay monthly without a fixed length contact if you like, but you'll have to buy a domain yourself if you do that. I can't fault Twentyhost at all, but there are thousands out there, you just need to read all they say...

--------------------
Zippy

Post Extras