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No matter where you are located, businesses
seem to clamor to host your website. The top
hosting positions among these companies are not
only hard to award, but hard to define as well.
There are simply too many needs to be met for
too many different websites to conclusively
have ideal criteria for a hosting website. All
top hosting contenders do meet standard
requirements for standard hosting services, and
overseas companies often will meet these needs
for a lower price than US or Europe based
competitors, but should hosting be outsourced
overseas?
Why the Difference in
Price
Foreign web hosting offers the same packages
as top hosting companies for considerably less
cost in most cases. While some overseas
companies may simply be offering low rates as a
sales ploy, other offer rates that adequately
reflect the cost of living in that country.
Overhead costs can be tremendously lower in
countries such as India or Pakistan , which
means the web hosting services can be offered
for less.
This makes it difficult to determine the
best route for selecting top hosting companies
based solely on price. Low prices can be
tempting, but there is always the question of
quality. Do the budget services offer the same
level of service? Like all things, that answer
simply depends on the company. Overall,
webmasters should not write off or immediately
sign up for foreign hosting companies simply
based on rates. There are many other
determining factors to consider.
Location, Location,
Location
Much like real estate, location matters. The
closer your server is to your clients, the
faster those clients will be able to access
your website. Even in a virtual existence, the
physical distance between servers and end users
can make a difference. Most internet marketers
target United States and European citizens, so
by hosting halfway around the globe, website
response time for target demographics may be
adversely affected.
Customer Service
Many foreign companies are highly trained in
customer service and are highly respectful of
customers and other individuals. Customer, in
this case meaning webmasters, care is a top
priority for most of these companies as they
realize they must work a bit harder than top
hosting companies in the United States to
garner the same level of respect and
reputation.
Having stated that, hosting in countries
with different customs as well as time zones
can also be frustrating for webmasters. The
same problems that complicate any sort of
outsourcing affect web hosting as well.
Communication gaps, misunderstandings, and
difficulty finding a common time to work
together, despite the claims of 24/7 service,
can all plague individuals outsourcing hosting.
These problems, of course, are not a guaranteed
byproduct of overseas hosting, but rather
should be determined on an individual
basis.
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