Tasty, tender writer lambs gambol out to play on the internet. Looking for a friendly, reliable web hosting company (WHC), they nibble here and there until they find a scrumptious meal. They linger, eat, and then—SNAP! They are mangled in the jaws of a WHC big, bad, wolf. Their naiveté will cost them dearly.
Is this you? Have you purchased services from a WHC without knowing for certain you need them? Are there hidden charges souring your tummy? Have you been sickened by a lost domain or costly tech support?
Never fear. Your under-shepherd is here. The Good Shepherd doesn’t want his lambs fleeced, and I will shake my rod and staff at any company that tries to take advantage of you. Look out for these scams:
- Paying for your domain registration. Domain registration is free at most WHCs. Multiple domains (I own at least three) will cost extra, but at least one domain is usually provided free. If you are asked to pay for domain registration, graze somewhere else.
- Paying for an enhanced security certificate. If you do not have a shopping cart on your site that receives credit card payments, you don’t need an enhanced security certificate. Most WHCs offer a free standard security certificate that is very capable of handling security issues without extra charges. One client of mine paid $400 for several years of a managed security certificate, and she didn’t need it. Her site links to Amazon for purchases. When she called the WHC wolf (I won’t name them per se, but if you’re like me, you find their Super Bowl commercials overtly sexual and offensive), she fought until she got her money back. And we are switching WHCs.
- Extra charges (usually exorbitant) for tech support. Most reputable WHCs offer free tech support. If you are asked to pay extra for services (except migrating a site or recovering a site that has crashed), it’s a sign you may be prey of a wolf.
- Paying extra for enhanced e-mail services. You should be able to configure your email boxes without additional charges for third-party programs like Microsoft Outlook. Many people buy email add-ons, but they are just a fancy way to shear you bald.
- Paying for private domain registration. If your website or blog contains sensitive information that you do not want traced to you, you may need private registration. But most writers want people to find them on internet searches, and private domain registration is not necessary. If bad actors perform a WhoIs lookup, they will likely find you anyway despite your efforts to remain anonymous. Don’t waste your money. And be careful…some WHC wolves include private registration as an automatic add-on and you must manually deselect it. The same is sometimes true for other services.
- Limited access to WordPress plugins. Here I will name names, because I still bear bite marks. When I recommend WordPress to build websites, I do NOT recommend hosting from WordPress.COM. WordPress.ORG provides FREE software that can be installed on any reliable WHC platform. WordPress.COM is simply another for-profit hosting company. When I built my website, I was dunned for a higher monthly fee to use certain “premium” plugins that were free elsewhere. Disclaimer: this was several years ago, and their policy may have changed, but I’m still mad.
Do you have WHC bite marks? If so, leave a comment below, voice a warning, and allow other writer lambs to frolic the fertile fields of the internet in safety.
