If you encounter any of the following problems with your current web host, it’s time to make a change.

10. Noone else has ever heard of your host provider.

9. You have long hold times (over 30 minutes) for phone support.

8. Troubleshooting by phone support makes the problem worse.

7. It takes tech support over a week to fix a problem on your site.

6. You happen to find a review site where your web host has several negative reviews.

5. The fee structure for your hosting plan has been reduced for several months and you never get notified.

4. You access 24 hour live chat and the system is down.

3. You call tech support and get a different answer to the same question each time you call, by the same person.

2. You call tech support, get “placed on hold” and then get introduced to “tone” (that is, the dial tone).

1. Tech support doesn’t respond to your trouble ticket.

And the bonus: It takes your web host provider a week to give you the information to change your DNS servers but only a few minutes to shut down your account if you decide to cancel.

With that said, I can’t over emphasize the importance of doing your homework before selecting a web host provider. For example, check consumer comments on review sites, find out who others in your industry are using or get recommendations from your social network.

As for me, after experiencing several problems with my original web host, I switched to Hostgator and have been quite satisfied every since. Customer support is responsive with short wait times (typically 15 minutes or less) and available 24/7 via phone and live chat. WordPress setup is a breeze as well as traditional sites or scripts such as BANS.

I’d love to hear your host provider stories, good or bad. So please feel free to share below.

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