How to detect a fly-by-night host

A question I am often asked is how to determine whether a host is fly-by-night or here to stay. In other words, how does one know whether his host will be around in 3 years when he purchases a 3-year hosting package? Today I will share with you some things to look for when you are evaluating hosting providers. I hope you will use the comments section to share some ideas of your own.

1. Grammar and spelling

A fly-by-night host is typically not going to worry much about the grammar and spelling on its Website. You will notice such errors as web hoting, 24-hour supoprt, etc. A host that is here to stay will fill their Website with well-written content that clearly explains what they offer.

2. Visual appearance

A serious host has a serious Website. This means their Website has a professional appearance, including a unique and visually appealing logo. A fly-by-night host is more likely to use a template with a text-based logo, broken links, and the like.

3. Testimonials

Many hosts post supposed testimonials from customers on their homepages, but how do you know these are real? Often, you can tell by looking at the writing style. Does it match that of the rest of the site? If so, it is more likely that the testimonials were written by the Webmaster, which means they are fake. Real testimonials will not all be written similarly.

4. Claims

Does the host claim to offer 100% uptime? This is impossible, even for a site like Amazon.com. No host can offer 100% uptime. Claims such as this definitely point to a fly-by-night host. Now, I want to point out that these are not hard and fast rules. There are many hosts that don't meet every single one of these rules and offer exceptional services (rule 4 notwithstanding). These are merely guidelines, things you might want to look out for. As I said above, feel free to help expand the list by sharing your own suggestions in the comments section. Daniel Briere runs the 07x.net free web hosting service. He has been involved with the Web hosting industry since August 2004.