How We Review
Editor reviews start with us signing up for hosting just as anybody would. We then walk through the initial WordPress installation and domain configuration. Sometimes we will use the one-click installers to try them out.
Once the blog is set up we will monitor its uptime and speed using Pingdom which is an uptime monitoring service. If you plan on testing out some companies before purchase, getting an uptime monitor helps you determine the hosting company’s performance.
While using the service we look for opportunities to test the company’s technical support. We will think of a common question or error and see how long it takes us to resolve it.
Rating Scale
We grade on a 5 point scale. Not sure what a 2 or a 4 means? Lets put some values with those numbers:
- 5 – Awesome/Excellent
- 4 – Pretty good or Above Average
- 3 – Minimum standard or Average
- 2 – Disappointing
- 1 – Made us Mad, we got very frustrated
Publishing the Review
After we have tested the hosting company, usually for several months, we will publish our review.
If the hosting company is one of our top picks we will keep the site hosted there so we can stay current with the hosting company.
Proof That It Works
1. Editor / Expert Reviews Are Honest & Real
The reason many review sites fail is that they lack consistency and integrity. Some reviews on other sites are written with misinformation about the service they are representing on purpose to convince you to buy from that host. On our site our goal is to build trust and make you feel comfortable coming back.
Our Competitors: Not all, but a majority of review sites are only interested in money. Deliberately enticing you to choose a host that may not be the best match for you.
Our Method: We give you a thorough overview of the hosting company, review and rating based on ours and others opinion. The information presented in these reviews helps guide your decision. Say a hosting company does not support WordPress installation and that’s what you need, our review will tell you (heck, if they don’t host WordPress, they won’t be on our site!).
2. User Reviews
We’re excited when we get user reviews. That means people like you (fellow customers) have tried and used a WordPress hosting service and want to tell their story. That being said, not every review is perfect. There are some companies out there hire people to plant fake “customer” reviews on websites to make their company look better.
Our Competitors: They do not worry about where a customer review comes from or if it’s legitimate. As long as it helps them sell a product, they will publish the fake user review.
Our Method: We wait for the detailed, honest costumer reviews. The ones that don’t point to everything a company does as perfection. We look for the criticism as well as the praise. These types of reviews are much more rare than the sugarcoated fake reviews you see spread all over the internet. This is partly why you will see fewer, more high-quality reviews on our site.
3. No Pay-For-Placement Model
Affiliate websites are no different than your local business. Hosting companies know this and some will ask what it takes to get moved to the top spot. They are often willing to dish out big bucks for the best spot on a well known review site.
Our Competitors: It’s not a huge surprise that many review sites operate this way. Sites where they do not explicitly say they are not participating in this type of pay-for-placement, it’s safe to assume they are.
Our Method: We do not sell rankings. Our ratings come after months of testing and years of experience. We will change our top host if they perform badly or if customers show dissatisfaction.
4. Advertising
We are an affiliate website so advertising is part of the process for us to make money. We use affiliate links and some times place ads on websites to earn revenue. We don’t like using messy ads, so we avoid them. Read more on our disclaimer.
How We’re Different
We want you to come back over and over. We want a long term relationship. To do that, we try very hard to provide you with high quality, honest information.
Making You Happy
We spend time wondering what visitors like you think of our site. It’s important to us that you can find your way around and learn the information needed to pick a great WordPress host.
Our goal is to help you pick a host and when you need a host again in the future (maybe for a personal blog or somewhere to send your friend who’s looking for a website) that you will think of us.
So, when you have a million visitors on your site everyday, our hope is that we have done our job well enough that you want to tell people about where you found your hosting company.
You Can Help!
The easiest and best thing you can do to help us is clicking our affiliate links. These links are found in our Reviews, Coupons and Compare sections. Once you have spent the time you need reading our information, click our link to say “Thank You!”
After you have had some experience with your hosting company, come back and leave us a review.
Another great way you can help us is by telling others about our site. Link to us using keywords like “WordPress hosting” or “Find a great WordPress host here”.
Connect with us on social networks like Google+, Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date with us! We are excited to hear about your hosting experience!
Thanks!
– WordPress Hosting Reviews Team
