Regardless of your geographic location, there seems to be no shortage of entities interesting in hosting your website. The best hosting alternatives out of all of the willing companies are difficult to identify and also tough to quantify. Because the requirements and parameters of websites vary so significantly, it is almost impossible to set objective standards for web hosting.
Every major hosting enterprise meets a series of fundamental service guidelines, and many foreign entities are able to do so at less cost than American or European companies, but is it wise to delegate your web hosting to companies located in other countries?
What Accounts for the Cost Differential?
Web hosting firms located in foreign countries typically offer comparable services to major domestic firms, but at much lower prices. Though it may be that certain foreign firms offer low prices simply to gain additional customers, others are able to provide such competitive rates simply because they have lower overhead expenses within their home countries.
Operational expenses in nations such as Pakistan and India are often very low, facilitating extremely competitive pricing for web hosting services.
Thus, making hosting decisions based on cost alone can be problematic for businesses. There is no doubt that a bargain price is appealing, but considerations of quality and value must also be made. Are cheaper services providers able to provide quality services?
As is the case with most situations, the answer will turn on the specific vendor being considered. Generally speaking, webmasters should neither rush to hire nor dismiss out of hand any foreign hosting provider because of their pricing model alone. Several additional considerations should be made.
Location is Key
As is the case with real estate transactions, location is critical. If your server is in closer proximity to your customers, they will be able to use your website more quickly. Though we are talking about a virtual world, the actual, tangible distance separating users and servers remains important.
The majority of internet marketers seek to attract European and American visitors, and thus if their hosting is done on the other side of the world, there may be delays in website processing and response times.
Responsiveness to Clients
Many overseas firms pride themselves on their customer service skills and provide quality assistance to clients and others. In this context, the customer is is represented by the webmaster, and most foreign firms understand that they need to put forth even greater effort than American hosting enterprises in order to earn similar standing.
With that said, however, foreign companies may simply be working under time zone and cultural constraints which produce dilemmas for webmasters. The typical obstacles facing other types of outsourcing arrangements also have the ability to impact web hosting relationships.
Miscommunication, faulty comprehension and problems coordinating schedules (even in the face of round-the-clock service promises) can cause issues when web hosting is outsourced to foreign firms. While these issues are not inescapable when a foreign firm is hired, the likelihood that they could develop is something that should be addressed with every company being considered.
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