web design question

[nameless visions]

First of all, I can design web pages and such, but I haven't done any professional stuff for anyone as of yet.

My question is who is in charge of locating a host? Is it the designer or is it the client?

[chris_bcn]

completely depends. That should be established before the project commences

Another question: How long is a piece of string?

[nameless visions]

Piece of string? Not sure what you mean.

Anyway, I'm not sure where to look myself as finding a good host for my own website was somewhat of a challenge. I wouldn't want to find a host and find out they're terrible. I'd be forever associated with them by the client.

[chris_bcn]

The answer depends on the length of a particular piece of string you see :rolleyes:

Just go with reliable hosts. There are countless

media temple is the "celebrity" host of choice still
dreamhost is another
livingdot is the one I use - love them, can't recommend them enough
1&1 is huge - heard differing things
hostway
etc.

[EC]

It takes some time to find a host worthy of recommending them to your clients. Even if they're great today, they may not be tomorrow. Take Chris's advice and go with an established name, write to the host to see how you feel with their response/service, if they have forums -- read through them and see what the overall tone is (if people are dissatisfied, this is the place to find out!). Best way to learn about a host is to use them yourself.

[nameless visions]

The host I use is inmotionhosting.com and I find them to be very helpful, but for some reason it would seem strange to be telling people about that one all the time.

But after I signed up, one of their reps called me and told me all that would be happening, how soon the site would be available, etc...and that I could always call and ask questions.

[chris_bcn]

I host quite a few clients with livingdot. Each tech support question email has been answered by a human being within 30 mins. Quite often less.

I once accidently deleted a clients database - all of her photographs (and as she's a photographer, a pretty big boo boo) I sent a panicky email to them, and within 10 minutes the database was restored and every was fine. Client never even knew.

I heartily recommend them to every client that hasnn't already sorted out hosting. so if you really like your host you should recommend them. no point chopping and changing for the sake of it. The host will also be especially good to you if you are sending lots of business their way. If you're going to be doing a lot think about a reseller account.

[EC]

I have two hosts I work with, I don't venture to recommend anybody else I have not worked with. Support is critical. If a human being answers you promptly, that's the #1 criteria for me. Also, how they do backups is incredibly important. I always ask if they do offsite backup. One time I worked with a host that did not, and their hardware crashed. I lost everything because I didn't have a backup of my database. I am just glad it happened to me and not one of my clients.

[nyc_skater]

I have one reliable host that i recomend to all, it makes me a better liar as if i know what I'm talking about...Try it, it really works

[nominees]

The customer support is the most important factor for choosing a web hosting.
My web hosting has a perfect customer support, but on other hand, it's really expensive.

[Annie Social]

I've been really happy with A Small Orange. Service is great, the price is right, and they really are committed to service. They actually turned down new business for a little while because they didn't want to overload themselves until they got some new equipment up and running. That impressed me.

[cjoe]

yeah just moved the thread. It didn't really belong in the software thread.

[morea]

Another question: How long is a piece of string?

twice as long as the length from the middle to the end. :D

[urstwile]

Any thoughts on Godaddy?