Web Hosting Support

Web Hosting Support

When selecting a web hosting company, it’s important to understand the support options that will be available to you. If something happens to go wrong on the server, or your site unexpectedly goes offline, you’re going to need to know how to not only get in touch with your host to ensure rapid restoration of services, but how long said restoration is going to take.

How Do You Want To Communicate?

First of all, find out what methods of client interaction are offered by your web host. Most hosts these days offer numerous contact options, the most common being phone, email, live chats, and help desk. While your first impulse might be to pick up the phone and call your host as soon as something goes wrong, you will probably receive a faster response by emailing them. A large percentage of web hosting companies outsource their technical support to either foreign or domestic support companies, and when you make a phone call, the tech on the other end will probably just open a support ticket anyway.

How Do You Want Your Support?

When possible, always utilize your host’s support desk. This method of support is similar to directly emailing your host, but in a much more organized fashion. A support desk will generally assign your problem a unique identifier, group it together with any other issues you’ve had in the past, and keep track of how long it has been since your first alerted them of the problem. Utilizing this system allows the technical support team to remain much more organized, and will usually result in faster resolution of your issues.

Is Your Host Reliable?

Finally, always be aware of your web host’s downtime guarantee, if one is available. Most hosts will aim for 99% uptime, usually promising a refund if they go under that. If possible, utilize an external uptime measuring service if you think your host may be unreliable, and don’t hesitate to find a new hosting company if total monthly uptime dips below 95% (or 36 hours of total downtime). Also, always ask if your host employs 24/7 technical support. If they don’t, you may want to consider finding someone who does.
Photo by Amante Gatuno