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Care for some cheap web hosting?No, ‘cheap' is not necessarily a bad thing (well, not always), but when it comes to a services industry as competitive and with as thin margins as the web hosting industry, customers better watch out. Hosts offering ‘low-cost' services tend to offer the world for Rs. 900 per year but, usually fail to deliver even the most basic of services. Surprised? I'm not. Let me explain some basics for the benefit of the vast majority who would still be unsure as to what I'm rambling about.A “web host” is a company (well, most like to think of themselves as such but that's a whole new article) that is in the business of procuring bandwidth (internet connectivity) and servers (glorified computers) with the intent to re-sell the same, in smaller bits, to people who need storage space for their e-mails and websites. This is usually (read always) accomplished by renting out dedicated servers with a decent hard drive and bandwidth quota and then using a hosting automation suite (control panel) to divide the server resources up into smaller chunks called ‘hosting plans'. The goal is to price these plans in a way that they remain affordable for the client while helping the host maximize profit from the resources it has. Now comes the fun part… Since there are almost no barriers to entry in this particular industry, new web hosts keep popping up every day. This helps keep the price for hosting services sane and should also mean better service for the customers since there are many hosts competing for their business. What really happens is that one Johnny-come-lately decides that the only way he can grab some market-share is by offering the lowest prices. Once customers start quoting his price to the host struggling for their business, the host decides to match it. Before you know it, everyone has slashed their prices by half! This, in Pakistan, can be seen every 10 – 12 months. “Good”, you say? Read on… What does this mean for the web host? Suddenly, all their existing clients are paying them half of what they used to. This means that in the coming year, they would have to generate twice as much new business just to make the same amount as last year! Is this considered growth? I think not! Sadly, the number of clients does not magically increase with every price shave. So, the web hosts are left with little choice other than to cut costs just to make ends meet. Where there were 3 support people, they decide to make do with just one. Where there were 2 servers earlier, they decide that they can load all of the clients onto just one server resulting in lower operating costs. These measures, needless to say, do have a positive impact on the host's bottom-line but deteriorate the services resulting in un-answered support queries and long periods of downtime (website/email inaccessibility) or extremely slow server response due to excessive loads on the server. Now, if the host were to put their existing clients first, they would price their service fairly so that every client not only feels good in his wallet, but can also rely on the service being offered. I guess, all it boils down to is; whether a web host is in this business to provide a top-notch service with a long-term business goal or is just there to make a quick while competing with all the fly-by-night hosts who happen to come along. Recently, I have come across at least three such hosting companies that are now in financial peril because they could not resist the urge to slash prices in order to try and capture some new business. Sadly enough, these are not people who are ‘new' to the industry. Such an impact on the market is magnified 10 fold when an older host decides they would be better off by just slashing prices rather than improving on service. As a result, the younger companies follow suit and create a mess for themselves and more importantly their clients. The ultimate outcome is that frustrated clients decide to switch to foreign web hosts that provide a better service at a saner price. From experience, I have learnt that providing a good service is what really matters. The rest falls into place when clients realise that they can only run their online business if the service they get is of good quality. After all, you get what you pay for. What good is a cheap service when you will eventually stop getting any? About the author: Zahid N. Sindhu is currently working at Inspedium Corp (http://www.inspediumcorp.com). Inspedium provides software development (http://www.inspediumsoft.com) and quality webhosting services (http://www.inspediumhosting.com). The latest venture undertaken by Inspedium is Article Street (http://www.ArticleStreet.com), the place for quality content for your site and ezines. Circulated by Article Emporium Care for some cheap web hosting? No, ‘cheap' is not necessarily a bad thing (well, not always), but when it comes to a services industry as competitive and with as thin margins as the web hosting industry, customers better watch out. Hosts offering ‘low-cost' services tend to offer the world for Rs. 900 per year b... Battling Tough Spyware Applications on Your Computer Due to the extensive craftiness of spyware intruders, new methods have allowed spyware applications to load even while the computer is in safe mode. This stubborn quality of spyware makes the program even harder to remove because it cannot be eliminated while it is running. ... Learning the Ropes to Cleaning Spyware The widespread unawareness of computer users about spyware has resulted in nearly every computer being infected with the malicious codes unknowingly to users who then experience declines in their computer's performance and a string of pop up ads. Even new computers are infected wi... Using Buttons and Badges Effectively in a Political Campaign Political campaigns can be tense and stressful. There is so much to do and often not enough time to do it. If you are a candidate or campaign manager, you should not be without a button maker machine. These machines will help you with some of the most critical areas of your campaig... Las Vegas Theme Weddings - Las Vegas theme weddings are the envy of the world. Nowhere else on planet earth can you find such a dazzling array of choices for a theme wedding. If you can't find it in Las Vegas, it simply doesn't exist! Here's a partial list of just some of the different themes available in La... Do You Neglect The Power Of Your Mind? James Allen, who wrote the masterpiece, As a Man Thinketh, talks about the vital power of the mind in creating success. “All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct results of his own thoughts. In a justly ordered universe, where loss of equipoise would... Press Release Barefoot Coffee Roasters Helps Grind Homelessness to a Halt ... Cell Phone Reviews, Mobile Phones Shopping For A Mobile Phone? You Should Read Some Cell Phone Reviews First! Before buying a cell phone, the first thing you're most likely to do is conduct online searches on the cell phones you're considering. But what makes a good mobile phone? How do you analyze cell ph... Wedding Shower Invitations: An Overview - The purpose of a wedding shower is to celebrate the bride and provide her a moment to share with family and friends before the big day. Traditionally, the bridal shower is hosted by the maid-of-honor or the bridesmaids. Sometimes it is co-hosted to save on costs for a large number... Sorat and the Modern Day Evil “Sorat's evil will be spread by his infernal army of soulless followers, willing to give their lives for his pleasure in subjecting mankind to horror of the ultimate magnitude.” The above mentioned quote summarizes one of the main themes in Hearne's political thriller, “Hu... Drug and Alcohol Addiction and Rehabilitation Just what is addiction, you asked? Addiction is a physiological dependence on something, and is both physical and psychological in nature. When a person is addicted they literally need to feed that addiction constantly. Addiction is a traitor it sneaks up on you. People who are add... Checking for Spyware on your Hardrive. The spread of spyware and adware for advertising purposes has gone beyond the privacy limits because distributors of the invasive software see no harm in installing the surveillance programs without your knowledge. One way to check for spyware intrusion is by going to the tools me... Olympic Aspirations Olympic Aspirations The war-drum throbb'd no longer, and the battle-flags were furl'd In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world... -- Tennyson In an hour long ellipsoid procession of various s... Return to Ouvea, New Caledonia "Ouvea is everything you'd expect in a South Pacific island. Twenty kilometers of unbroken white sands border the lagoon on the west side of the island and extend far out from shore to give the water a turquoise hue. The wide western lagoon, protected by a string of coral islands a... The World Mourns the Loss of Aid Workers Marla Ruzicka and Faiz Ali Salim 4/23/2005 - American aid worker Marla Ruzicka, founder of CIVIC Worldwide (Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict), and her colleague Faiz Ali Salim, CIVIC's Iraq Country Director, were tragically killed by a suicide car bomber on Iraq's infamous Airport Road on Saturday, April ...
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