Web Hosting - Look for a Customer-First Attitude

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We just created a new blog called Audio Video Electronics featuring videos and articles about audio video equipment.

We've just started using Google Docs for collaborating on the writing of articles, blog posts, audio and video scripts, reports, etc. - anything that requires team work.

After about a week with the system I am very impressed. I suspect there will be many more reasons to like Docs, but here are the first three...

1. Sharing documents is very easy. Just add someone else's Google login email address and it is done. You can optionally send an email to your collaborators telling them the file is shared.

2. Folder organization works nicely. You can save your text documents in your own folders, then share them with others who can then organize them as they see fit. This accommodates people who have a difficult time with file and folder organization. Believe it or not, everybody does not like the abstract file and folder model used and taken for granted by computer geeks everywhere. With Google Docs you share the specific document, not the document-in-a-particular-location, so Collaborator B does not have to buy into Collaborator A's folder structure.

3. The default formatting used in the basic text "documents" translates nicely into most article submission and blog entry forms. MS Word notoriously adds characters that article and blog entry forms do not like.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Google Docs Could Be Useful

We do a lot of collaborative writing and publishing at Linknet - where two or three people get in on writing articles and posts, creating videos, etc., and the people involved are often not on the same internal network. So managing the writing, editing, publishing, reporting and archiving can be a challenge.

A shared online repository for content seems like the answer, so over the last few days I've been looking at Google Docs to see if it fits the bill. So far so good. One person creates a document and then shares it with others. The originator of the doc can work on it and then have a collaborator make additional edits to exactly the same document.

Take a video script for example. The script writer can write a script and store it in a Google Docs folder. Then give access to that script to the person doing the voice track and the other person doing the actual video production. If changes are made further up the production chain - say by the voice track person - these changes can be made right to the master version stored in Google Docs. So everybody is working from the same script.

One potential problem I've seen so far is that you cannot share folders - only individual docs. That means Person A may want to organize the same files in completely different folders from Person B. That sounds like it could be a good thing in some cases, but in others not so good.

I can also see this system being good for client communication and reporting. You create a report, say by using the online Spreadsheet utility, then share it with the client so he/she can see what is going on. Other users could even make notations and add stuff like you can with a wiki.

I must admit though, that I haven't quite figured out the Google "account" thing yet. If you've got accounts for adwords, adsense, docs, video, analytics, etc. and you signed up for them at different times, there's no telling whether or not they are synchronized. I'm sure there's a way, but I haven't figured it out yet.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

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Web Hosting - Look for a Customer-First Attitude
Mar 1, 2006 - Linknet Internet News

Web Hosting - Look for a Customer-First Attitude

Mar 1, 2006 - Linknet Tech News - by Rick Hendershot - The single most important factor when choosing a web host is reliability. This is confirmed over and over again in surveys of webmasters and online entrepreneurs.

== Reliable cheap web hosting ==

But "reliability" is not a simple thing. If you assume for the moment that most web hosting companies are technically competent, have been consistently upgrading their systems, and have products that are reasonably priced, then a major part of web hosting reliability comes down to good old fashioned "customer service".

In other words, what you really want to know is, "When there is a problem with my website, can I get speedy no-nonsense solutions?"

With web hosts the "no-nonsense" thing can be a problem.

Dealing with Technical Support Can be Difficult

If you have ever talked to a web host technical support person you get the impression they are handling three or four calls all at the same time. That's because they have thousands of clients, and often the problems come in waves. And that can lead to frustrating conversations with your tech person.

For example, I have recently been having a problem with one of my web hosts. The problem has to do with accessing some of my sites with Front Page. Now I have been using Front Page for years, and with many different hosts, and this is the very first time I have had this specific problem.

== Increase Your Link Popularity ==

So although I am open to the possibility that the problem is somewhere at my end, I think it is unlikely. All my sites with this host have this same issue, and none with any of the other web hosts that I use.

But so far I have not been able to get any action -- even though it has been happening on and off for about a week now. I get the standard response: "Have you tried this, have you tried that..." all of which imply that the problem must be at my end.

Having been there myself quite a few times, I can sympathize with the technical support person's conservative approach. But the truth is, at least in my case, about 90% of the time the problem is not at my end.

Reliability starts with a Customer-First Attitude

This kind of service has a direct bearing on the "reliability" of this host. Service people often take the attitude that if they stall long enough the problem will go away. And, yes, sometimes it does go away.

But on the other hand, I think they usually stall because they are just too stretched out to be focused on your little insignificant problem. In other words, they are not sufficiently "customer-focused" on me to solve my specific issue.

This is when web host "reliability" takes a hit. And it is when customers start thinking hard about changing hosts. While the tech person is stalling you are wasting time trying to get your blasted website to work. And more often than not, getting it to work just takes a little bit of effort on the part of the tech team at the other end.

This merely confirms what marketing people have been saying for years about "customer service". Customer service is important in every business, and at every stage of the sales and delivery process. Your sales and accounting people must be customer focused. Your production people must be customer focused. And your tech support people must be customer focused too.

Unfortunately many web hosting tech support people just do not understand this. They often consider themselves superior to their clients. And they have been able to get away with shoddy, unfriendly service because it is just too inconvenient for clients to change hosts.

Thankfully this is changing. There is enough step-by-step information available to help make a host change, and many hosts will actually help you trasfer your domain to their system.

Making Your Choice Based on Customer Service

Unfortunately there is no completely fool-proof way to know in advance where you are likely to get good, reliable, customer-friendly service.

You can try looking at web host review sites to get some comparisons between hosts. But unfortunately many of these sites are themselves not reliable. For one thing, they are usually trying to resell hosting services, so the "reviews" are often tainted. For another, if they contain comments and reviews by the public, these can also be manipulated. Some hosts will post bogus reviews praising their own services and criticising those of their competition.

You can also scan web hosting forums for comments and recommendations. These seem to be generally reliable, but are still open to the kind of manipulation mentioned above. And since things change so quickly in the web hosting business, comments made a year ago about a specific web hosting company will probably be out of date.

My own preference is to look closely at the website of the host itself. If it is overly technical and confusing I usually move on. That usually suggests, to me at least, that the focus of this host will be on technicalities, that it may be difficult to navigate their support system, and I may have difficulty getting plain and simple answers to my inquiries.

A simple layout with a minimum number of customer-oriented products and an easily-accessed support system suggests the company is customer-focused. I also recommend contacting the customer help desk in advance of ordering just to see what kind of reception I get.

I also look for testimonials from real web hosting customers. Make sure they are clearly identified with names, physical addresses, and website addresses. If you really want to be aggressive, you might contact some of these people directly.

Of course I agree that none of this is fool-proof. But given the highly competitive nature of the web hosting business, all other things being equal, a simple, straightforward customer-focused approach is what you should be looking for in a web host.

Rick Hendershot is a writer and online publisher. For online promotion see Linknet Promotions.

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