Is Bigger Always Better?

Posted on February 11, 2008
Filed Under webhosting reviews, huge web hosts, large web hosting companies, web hosting review, web site, web hosting, web hosting company, web host |

It seems to be a cultural thing to consider anything that’s bigger to be better. The current trend is towards bigger houses, bigger cars, bigger meals . . . basically bigger everything. Plus, bigger companies are considered more trustworthy, and usually make more money. But, although our tendency is to think that bigger is better, and higher volume may mean higher profits for a company, it’s easy to see that it’s not necessarily true.

For example, there was a small diner in a plaza near my home that was only open for breakfast and lunch. They had breakfast sandwiches and burritos that were better than anything at MickeyD’s, and their burgers at lunch time beat any burger chain, hands down. Their prices were great, the waitresses were friendly, and the place was clean and nice looking. Of course, they didn’t have a drive-thru (a plus, in my opinion), and they were only open from 6:00 AM to 4:00 PM. They also didn’t have a billion dollar advertising budget, so either you knew they were there, or someone had to tell you about them. In every way that matters, if you’re looking for a good, cheap meal, they were superior to the big three burger chains, but they only made it for about 5 years before closing down.

Another example, is when it comes to your web hosting company. I’ve hosted web sites with a few large and very large companies, as well as a few medium sized and smaller companies. In my opinion, you’re much better off at a medium sized company with a history of excellent service and support, than at any of the “super-sized” web hosts that are out there, even the really expensive ones. There are several problems with using a huge company that hosts over a half of a million sites or more. Most of the issues I’ve had with huge web hosts are related to service and support, something I consider to be very important.

1. No matter how hard a huge web hosting company might try to make it seem otherwise, anyone hosting a site or even a dozen sites with them is expendable. Some of them even have what they call “acceptable attrition rates”. They don’t care if 10% of their customers go elsewhere for hosting after the first year, as long as they can gain more than twice that many back through aggressive advertising.
2. A really large company tends to spend a much higher percentage of their income on advertising, and so isn’t able (or willing) to spend as much on customer satisfaction and support. Think about Wal-Mart. When they were a medium sized company, they didn’t advertise as much, but they were willing to take exchanges or make refunds on just about anything, for any customer. Now that they’re huge, they spend millions more on advertising, but getting an exchange on a $15 coffee pot, without your receipt, is virtually impossible.
3. If you have a special request, say for a server side script, or a Pearl module or update, the huge web host will probably refuse on the basis that “it isn’t a common enough request to be beneficial to the majority of their clients”. You’ll need to pay a lot more for a virtual private server or private server to get the scripts and modules you need.

Now, I wouldn’t necessarily suggest you go with a really small web hosting company, either. You want them to be reliable, and you want them to be around for the next decade or so, at least. But a medium sized hosting company, with between 25,000 and 200,000 clients, for example, is usually your best choice. I think your main concern should also be how long they, or their parent company, has been around and providing web hosting. If they’ve been in business online for more than three years, that’s a great testament to their longevity. Remember, five years ago, YouTube and MySpace didn’t even exist, and ten years ago, Google was just starting out. So, online, any business that has been successful for more than two or three years is pretty reliable.

A medium sized company will have the resources to take of your needs, questions, and support requests. Plus, although they want to grow their business, they tend to be at least as focused on keeping their current clients, and keeping them happy, as they are on obtaining new customers. If you never need any help or support with your websites, you may find that a really huge web hosting company meets your needs. But, if the time ever comes that you do need support, or even some special treatment to help resolve an issue, you’re probably going to wish you went with a smaller company, one that really values your business.

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