What Good are Reviews

[mwaraitch]

Hi,
Most web hosting reviews sites are affiliate based site which are more interested to make money than being honest to web hosting customers.
Also its pretty simple for web hosting company to hire an employ to post reviews for them
So what good really these reviews are.

Regards

 

[romes]

Those sites are no good. There are a few sites (maybe) on the web that are purely review based and not paid to review. But, good luck findind such sites. The web is filled with sites that get paid to to post good reviews.

If anyone is going to do research about a company, it is best to post on forums like HD, and read some reviews that others have posted about the company of interests.

 

[csn-uk]

sites often doctor posts to fit their need, changing what users say to always make the company sound good. However a good forum record is always good and avoid sites such as as those that do "top 10 hosts" etc as these are almost always hosted and run by the top "n1" host listed.

5quidhost - is one of many that do this, however hosts will always place reviews onsite (even builders of whom i have designed sites for do) lookout for those who provide a name and a website and contact them to validate it if possible. a good sign is often spelling misakes and gramer and writing styles as hosts that pay for reviews often ensure that these issues dont exist.

 

[romes]

Yep. Always verfiy the review a host has if possible. Also, asking a host to give you the site that belongs to a review on their site should not be a problem. As long as the review is genuine, then the host should not have a problem to prove it. I've had a few requests and i've been more than happy to provide proof.

So, do your research, verify reviews, and ask lots of questions before you buy. These steps will ensure a good outcome.

 

[Artashes]

So what good really these reviews are

They are not.

This is somewhat of a bitter sweet subject for me.

One one hand, if it helps hosting companies expand their client base and if such marketing techniques really pay off (affiliate commission is still climbing!), then its great for the industry as a whole to gain more awareness.

On the other hand, many of the so-called review sites are built on deception, and a lot of those hosting companies are not ideal partners in the long-run, so some potion of amateur hosting users will get turned off by service.

Which is right? :dknow:

 

[handsonhosting]

Also, asking a host to give you the site that belongs to a review on their site should not be a problem.

We actually don't hand this information out to visitors on the site. If someone did want to contact the user however, we would pass the information to the site owner. Often times, people that give reviews do not want their competition knowing where they are hosting, but still want to put in a good word. On our review page, we ask users if they want their domain to show or not - many choose NOT to show it.

If you do a search in google for "webhosts review", substituting WEBHOSTS with the actual webhost's name, you can usually find reviews on other forums that the host has no control over.

Similarly, we get customers asking us to give them a few sites that we host that are running X-Cart or Magento or phpBB2 etc - but we do not disclose this information either as it could be a malicious user looking for easy pickings of software code

Be sure to check with your client before handing out their website information to the general public that could potentially be a hacker, spammer, their competition, or and angry Ex-employee!

 

[stayhomemom]

I have to agree with alittle bit of everyone. I have visited alot of review websites and alot of them are ranked. How can one website host completely dominate on one review site, then sink on another review site. Alot of them look completely made up. I would like to start an online business but dont really know what I am looking for because all ofthese review sites have completely different info. On the other hand, there are some that I have seen that do not even rank hosts. Some that describe a few packages offered by the host with the price. Another one I saw had 30 hosts with information on each package and the price for the different billing cycles. Thats more than what some review sites do. They just send you right back to the company without giving any information.

 

[Gaby-HostDept]

I am sure there is still hosting review site that is true However, you are right that most of them are paid one and not real customer reviews.

Maybe one that you can trust is customer hosting reviews in web hosting forums

 

[SenseiSteve]

If you do a search in google for "webhosts review", substituting WEBHOSTS with the actual webhost's name, you can usually find reviews on other forums that the host has no control over

And even that doesn't guarantee that the reviews are genuine. If a provider makes it beyond 5 years, they have to be doing something right - most kiddie hosts don't make it that long. Then again, there are new providers that offer great pricing and greater customer support - the problem is finding the right one. You need to research beyond review sites - call prospective provider's references if they have any. Ask lots of questions.

 

[ldcdc]

Alot of them look completely made up.

No reason to doubt yourself. They are.

If you do a search in google for "webhosts review", substituting WEBHOSTS with the actual webhost's name, you can usually find reviews on other forums that the host has no control over.

The whole trick to that is finding well moderated forums. Lots of hosting and webmaster forums have no skill, and sometimes no interest, in cutting off them shills that turn their discussions into billboards.

 

[SenseiSteve]

The whole trick to that is finding well moderated forums. Lots of hosting and webmaster forums have no skill, and sometimes no interest, in cutting off them shills that turn their discussions into billboards.

And that's exactly why forums like WHT and Hosting Discussion are great - both are well moderated, which makes a HUGE difference.