Watch out! There is a new fad on the Internet – website hosting companies that don’t really exist. People masquerading as hosting services are taking people’s money, hijacking their domains, and immediately putting them out of business. Here are a few things to look out for to make sure this doesn’t happen to you!
1. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You already know the average cost of hosting if you have done any research online at all. If you find a company that is so cheap that you can’t say “No”, then you better say “No”! Chances are that it is not legitimate.
2. Make sure the company that you end up signing up with allows you to pay via credit card. Companies that only allow checking account transactions are notorious for not being on the up and up. A company that does business through your credit card knows that it is subject to the rules of your credit card and the funds can be reversed at any time.
3. Do your research! Make sure that the website hosting companies you are looking at have been in business for a year or more. Also, just do a Google search on them and you should find out what the overwhelming sentiment is among users. If you hear stories about too many unsatisfied customers, you might want to move on to another.
Perhaps the worst thing you could do with your business is to put it in the hands of someone who just doesn’t care about you as a customer. The key to building a strong and thriving online business really does lie with your hosting company. Deciding upon website hosting companies can be the most important decision you make with your online business, both now and for the future.
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