Tuesday, 7 August 2007

Web Hosting Information

Finding a good hosting plan to host your websites can be a long and painful journey. In the 10 or so years I've been designing websites I've gone through 3 free servers and 2 paid ones with each transfer to the new server being as frustrating and time consuming as the last.

Luckily there are several sites that review the different companies and the services that they offer. One such site is Web Hosting Information.

On first glance, the site has a nice clean design though slightly on the bland side of things with the use of (and only of) red and black text on a white background. It certainly doesn't leave a long lasting visual impression but most people will be visiting the site for it's content so it's not really a major issue. It's a shame that while checking out the content though the journey has to be such a boring one.

The design could definitely benefit from some photos added to the layout in addition to some more use of colour (other than red, white and black).

The site's focus seems to be on reviewing hosting packages and services and so far it's done very well with lots of content and reviews sorted by categories and even an effective search form in the easy to find top left hand corner.

It's not until I check out the actual dates on the site that I begin to feel underwhelmed.

On the front page are several "LATEST" updates such as links to the "LATEST" podcast and news, but the freshest content under both categories is dated mid July 2006. That's just over a year old and makes the site look abandoned or at the least static.

If a webmaster can't update a feature on a regular basis it's probably not a good idea to advertise it on the front page as it makes the entire site look irrelevant.

There is a fair bit of content here worth sifting though, especially if you're thinking about changing hosts but a bit of works needs to be done both on the layout and content before it convinces me that it's a resource I should be returning to on a regular basis or when in need.

Check it out though, a lot of companies have been reviewed on the site and it's good to check out hosting providers before signing up for any plan no matter how cheap they are.