Webwork - 4:20 pm on Aug 3, 2012 (gmt 0)

Hi wildwill. Welcome to WebmasterWorld.

My advice, when it comes to using any "mass market" company, is "test, test, test" - to see what you get for your money and to see if the company delivers on its promises (marketing).

"You get what you pay for" is a fundamental truth, with the exception of new firms that are burning through VC$ to keep costs temporarily low in order to build up a client base - or, in rare cases, in situations where patented disruptive technology gives a new market entrant a temporary advantage in pricing. (Hosting isn't quite new tech so such advantages are rarities. It's mostly about how little service you will get or how slow the servers will run once they are maxed out.)

Forums can be of "some help" in making a choice but, invariably, you will see that there are many "favorites" in most mature verticals.

I understand that the easiest approach to probing for "answers/solutions" is to ask the direct question: "Tell me who to choose/pick (or not pick and why)?". Unfortunately, as forums go, allowing such dialogue offer results in no real dialogue at all but, instead, an endless flow of promotional posts/threads. Even though we don't allow "tell me who" threads we DO our best to guide people in the selection or choice making process by other means: suggesting approaches, etc.

FWIW, it's been my experience that much is often gained, in working through the important decisions in life/business, by working on the questions to ask. In other words, instead of anyone "handing you a fish" ("Hey, use company X!) we might do you better by offering lessons and guidance in "how to fish".