It is midnight, you’re relaxing comfortably in your home, safe with the knowledge that your web site is up and running, accepting traffic and generating value.
Suddenly, your spider-sense starts tingling, and you decide to check up on your website, see if everything is going according to plan. This is when you find out – the web site is down, not responding costing you money with every customer who tries to browse it is turned down.
What do you do?
This is where your wordpress hosting service support services come into the picture. And this is why you should examine the offered support services carefully before selecting your web host.
What should you be checking?
Phone Availability – what is the call center working hour? Do they offer 24/7 support, or will you be left by your won during the weekend? Is the call center local, or will you be calling out of the country? Is the call free of charge? These are all questions you should be asking. We advise that you call the support line before committing to a web host. Ask some general technical questions and try to evaluate the representative’s professional knowledge and willingness to help. The phone support will be the first thing you try in an emergency, and you should make sure it measures up to the expectations.
Chat system
A very convenient and efficient way to solve urgent and less urgent problems. A chat system in place will make sure you’ll have almost instant support in times of need. If a web host offers a functioning chat support – they should get big points for that.
Terms and conditions
A good way to assess what are the limits and capabilities of your potential web host offered services. This section will often elaborate on the nature of the support you’ll be entitled to and the staff that will be providing it. Go over the terms and conditions to find out what you’re walking into, and if it meets your requirements and expectations.
Ticketing system
A big plus for when you need more technical non-urgent help. Make sure there’s a way to submit tickets and follow time on your web host’s site. This type of service might save you a lot of time in the future.
And like we suggested under phone availability – check if any offered support system works and is satisfactory. A chat is worthless if it takes a representative a full hour to reply, and a ticketing system is similarly worthless if you have to wait 7 business days for a simple reply.
Also, check if your web host offers support on social media websites. Support services on Twitter or Facebook often work great and might be a great replacement for a chat or a ticketing system. In this case, just check your host’s social media pages. If they support their users, great, if not – you’ll find out for disgruntled social media customers, and you’ll know to stay away.
As we said, good support is imperative. Make sure your website is backed up by professionals, who will be there to help when the going gets tough.