Host + More

shockym

shockym

New member
I just got off the phone with a local person that told me they found some hosting company (in Canada, I don't know the name) who was a web host and a design company. After 3 months of they doing half the job they charged this guy for they up and bailed on him. So should hosts and design go together, whats everyones stance on this?
 
I see no problem teaming up with a web designer. I am actually trying to do that . When I do find one, I will make him sign a contract to prevent what happen to your friend
 
I see no reason why it shouldn't.
Design is a value added product. There is nothing to say that a host can only be one dimensional.
 
I'd go farther and say that many clients are not well served by the three-part division between domain registrar, web host, and web designer. They just want a web site, and want someone to take care of it all for them.
 
Designing can add a lot more revenue for a host. So, hosts and designs can go together. Sorry for the bad luck though.
 
I have actually come across a number of web hosts that also offered other services such as web design, and some of them were actually quite nice. While some of them may bail on you, the risk is out there for any kind of host, unless they are already well established. When a host wants to offer more services than just hosting, I think it's a pretty good idea, especially if they offer a discounted package deal, for buying several services together.
 
If a host can team up and offer multiple services, do it. Clients love it, because they only have one place to shop, and get to deal with known quantities. It brings the host more business, too.

But...for the sake of the industry and for the sake of the clients, clients should be able to easily transition to a different provider for any of the services without losing the others (whether by their choice or because the host stops offering the service for some reason). Set up your contracts so that you (and the clients) know who owns any designs, mock-ups, high-resolution or PSD graphics, et cetera. Make sure that all services work together seamlessly and are easy for you to maintain, but don't intertwine the services so tightly that the client can't switch away if they so choose. If a customer wants a different web designer (maybe they want to let their college-age relative, who's in graphic design, handle the site design as a way to build their portfolio) but isn't able to easily stop paying you for design services...you may lose their design business AND all other business as well.

People who advertise a service and then short on delivering said service are a constant fact of life...but they're irritating (to say the least.)
 
Host + More
I just got off the phone with a local person that told me they found some hosting company (in Canada, I don't know the name) who was a web host and a design company. After 3 months of they doing half the job they charged this guy for they up and bailed on him. So should hosts and design go together, whats everyones stance on this?
Click to expand...

Web Hosting and Design go hand in hand in my opinion.
There is nothing wrong with this if you can get a site designed and hosted at the same place. It's like a garage who fixes and paints your car :)
 
I once lived in a place where to get your car fixed, you had to go to one repair guy for a battery problem, a different place for any mechanical issues, etc. It drove me nuts.
 
For start up it is good to provide both services like one can go for reseller hosting plan but in long run you may face problem in managing both services smoothly.
 
We like the "one stop shop" idea too and thats how we got started. For the design issue I am dealing with now its a slow progress, right now they are looking at a custom CMS/CRS along with a couple other tricks too, so I will continue to have a busy day and a busy next week getting things sorted out. Love the feedback though, thanks all.
 
We were a design company from 1994 until 1997 and then started offering hosting to design clients only. In 1999 we opened our hosting to the public, and then got so busy that we had to choose one or the other. We picked hosting, and teamed up with designers to do designs instead.

As long as you can provide quality service in both design and hosting, and deliver 110%, then you can keep your customers. If however your pricing goes out of scope for a design client, you do run the risk of losing the hosting customer. :)

Personally, I much prefer working with design companies and referring our customers to those that we've worked with and trust. Likewise, they refer their customers to us.

It's called "Value Added Service" :)
 
actually , you can do your self to choose website design that have good partner in webhosting company.

they usually have great deal fo u ;)
 
If you are new and inexperienced, hire one company that does both design and hosting will make your life easier.
However, I don't know any web design company that is the best hosting company out there.
It takes a lot focus to be a good web host.
If you have some experience, you are better off to host your website with a web hosting company that does nothing but web hosting. They will provide you with the best web hosting services.
 
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