Over the last month or so we have been meticulously counting up all the little complaints and problems you, our readers, have been experiencing with some of the largest names in the business.
We’ve exposed everyone from iPage to JustHost, from HostGator to HostMonster, from WebHostingPad to WebHostingHub. During all of this, however, we’ve also noticed a few similarities between the complaints. In fact, we’re almost positive we could compile a list of a few issues that all shared hosting providers suffer from. We’re so sure of it, actually, that we already did it. You’ll find that list below, broken up into sections that best detail what our readers have been clamoring on about.We’ll try to keep things level with you as we round the corner to:
Causes behind the Common Problems of Shared Hosting
The most common complaints related to shared web hosting arise because of the disadvantages or drawbacks of this type of plan for your business. If you are facing too many complaints from your staff, it is a sign that you should either change your web host or upgrade to a VPS or dedicated hosting plan.
In this article, we will list some of the main drawbacks of shared hosting that could be the main reasons behind the problems arising with your website and the related processes.
Less Reliability
Reliability issues are commonly reported by users of shared hosting plans, and there is a good reason behind it. It is technically the least reliable among all the different types of web hosting plans. But that doesn’t mean that all the hosts are unreliable. There can be issues with some hosts but not with all of them. This problem arises because hundreds or thousands of websites could be working on the same server.
So if there is an issue with any single site, it could affect the server and cause problems for your website’s performance too. The solution to this problem lies in choosing a trustworthy and reputed web host. They will have fewer sites on the same server and they will also ensure that all the sites are reliable and don’t run malicious scripts.
Reputation is by far the only thing you should look at when it comes to shared web hosting. That is the single most important factor because most shared hosting companies have the same offers, and most people don’t understand the industry jargon, they look at the size of the feature list to make an uneducated decision.
Speed Issues
Shared hosting is generally considered to be the slowest of all the hosting types. But that doesn’t mean you have to compromise with your site’s speed.
Why the speed issues arise? Again the reason is the same. There are so many accounts on the same server. When some of those sites experience a surge in traffic, they will consume more resources. This causes a relative shortage of resources and the speed of all the other sites on the server get affected.
There are two main side effects of a slow website.
- Firstly, it will affect the processes on your site, such as eCommerce operations and other processes affecting user experience.
- Secondly, it will have a negative impact on your SEO. Google and other search engines give a lot of emphasis to your website’s speed, and if your users are experiencing delays in page load times, then your pages will be ranked lower than your competition.
So you cannot afford to have a web host that offers a shared hosting plan that slows down your site’s load time. This is a serious issue and you must take action to make amends. Else you will be losing a significant percentage of your visitors.
No Flexibility
Another disadvantage of using a shared web hosting plan is that it doesn’t offer you any control over the software or operating system you can install. The web host will provide you with all the software and you have to continue using them. The software you may want to install can be an application or an anti-virus program to enhance security.
So there are three main disadvantages of using shared web hosting plans. We find that these issues typically arise based on the resources available on a server. The more websites you will have on your server, the more will be the issues. So it is recommended to choose your web host and plan carefully.
Support
Technical support is another factor. Most common complaints are support related. The support may not be as good as those of dedicated or VPS plans. Learn from reviews.
Reading the reviews from customers about shared hosting will help you see if it is all about price, or if there is something else that matters. Customers will tell you if they love the price, but the service is horrible and they will tell the truth most of the time. Understand that customers are more likely to write a negative review than a positive review.
Remember, NO web host is perfect! So choose wisely!
What hosting companies are in your short-list?
7 Comments
In my experience the biggest issue I’ve had is reliability. Issues with hackers and just general tech problems have caused quite a bit of downtown with various hosts over the years. I guess there is a chance of it happening anytime but its definitely frustrating.
Good article! All shared hosting is NOT equal to be sure. Sometimes you get what you pay for so don’t let the rock-bottom prices of some of the huge, famous hosting companies out there (you know the ones – the ones with the TV and social media ads everywhere) suck you in. I’ve tried them all and, by and large, they stink – slow, customer support is spotty at best, lacking features, etc…. $1 per month hosting is no good if even a handful of visitors will drag you site down. Do your research and look for shared hosting companies that have excellent reputations and service.
I could have used this info earlier today when I was shopping around for hosting plans.
You’re right. If we don’t know any better, we look at what features go with the price. I hadn’t given a lot of thought to whether shared hosting would slow things down because of the amount of people using the same server, but it makes sense. If the site is slow or goes down, then features don’t matter much.
Regarding customer service, I had a terrible experience with a company a few years ago because of a (large) hidden cost I knew nothing about until after I paid them. Hidden costs are NOT cool. One of my biggest pet peeves.
The guy I spoke with didn’t even try to help me and didn’t sound like he cared.
I’m sure it’s tough for some of these reps with the amount of calls and complaints they get. Technical stuff gets complicated, even for those who know what they’re doing.
But for us bloggers who really don’t get it, a cold customer service rep makes it worse.
Loved this post. Thanks for the insight.
Well, this post correctly discusses all the important factors that are associated with a shared hosting. When you begin with your blog or website, a shared hosting package can be a life savior and save you many dollars, but once you are on the road of traffic, and since shared wears out really easily if you have a decent traffic, that I think is the right time to make a swap. What do you think Dmitry?
I agree and I as a user would not prefer to discover that “Unlimited Hosting” is actually quite limited.
This all started when about 5 years ago one hosting company has started the “unlimited” in their marketing campaign, every other company had to follow the same model as they were loosing new customers.
Basically today “unlimited” means that you can use unlimited resources (bandwidth, disks space, emails, etc), but if we detect that your site falls out of the common shared hosting user, we will ask you to upgrade or leave.
So unlimited shared hosting really is ok for regular user, but if you are planning to use your site for streaming audio and video or to store personal, non-website related files on the hosting account, then you’ll get a call from the hosting company, offering you a more expensive product.
Not true Ahmed. Shared hosting is simply a limit to your max resources (CPU, RAM) that you can use.
The downtime aspect entirely depends on the hosting company and the quality of their infrastructure and support.
I think, shared hosting case a lot of down-time.