Yahoo! Review
Yahoo! Hardly needs an introduction. The company has been around for ages and they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. They are known for their popular search engine and web portal as well as their webmail services. Being recognizable, however, isn’t always a sign of quality. So, how does their webhosting division stand up? That’s what we’re here to talk about.
Yahoo! offers a few different types of hosting. Their branding for personal websites falls under the familiar name, GeoCities. For the purposes of this review, however, we will be looking at Yahoo! Small Business hosting services.
At a glance, Yahoo! Small Business offers just about anything one could want. The standard package includes domain name hosting, unlimited disk space, data transfer and e-mail storage. This effectively means that you have no restraints on the size and complexity of your website.
The company’s mail system includes webmail functionality and boasts compatibility with client-based e-mail applications “like Microsoft Outlook.” Communications security is handled by integrated SpamGuard Plus and Norton AntiVirus protection. Each hosting account comes with the allowance of 1,000 separate e-mail addresses.
One of the advantages of signing up with this hosting service is that you’ll have access to some initial discounts like credit toward their Search Marketing and Google AdWords services as well as a 30% discount on their Local Enhanced Listings service. Even if you’re not interested in these extra services, you will still have the ability to track the numbers of visitors your site received, what search engine brought them to you and what you rankings are.
The company also promises to take care of its clients through its help center. Customers have access to toll-free phone support 24-hours. Tech support can also be reached anytime by e-mail, so you have multiple methods of contact at any time. That said, the number one complaint leveled about this company is of the low-quality of their tech support. Complaints range from finding the service to be generally unhelpful to claims that sites are not supported if there are not constructed using the development tools provided the host, which will be bad news for anyone with a professionally designed site. This complaint crops up primarily in reference to their Merchant account hosting, which is an additional service.
The basic small business package comes with three pricing options depending on how long you commit to their service. The monthly fee is $12.95 without a contract. If you sign up for three months, the first three months are billed immediately at a rate of $8.96, with the recurring fees rising to 11.95 thereafter. The cheapest option gives you the first three months at $7.46 with a recurring fee of $9.95, but you have to commit to a year of service. In all cases, the company is currently waiving it $25 one-time setup fee, but this is subject to change.
It’s important to remember, however, that while the word “unlimited” is used in their offer, your site will have some limitations. For example, if your small business sells merchandise or services over the Internet, you will not be able to get by with the basic package. The merchant account “starter plan” involves a $50 startup fee and monthly rate of 39.95.
Yahoo! Small Business has a lot going for it, but it isn’t the cheapest company out there and it gets mediocre reviews when it comes to reliability and there are many complaints about its support department. You’ll really have to do your homework and makes sure this company will meet all your needs at the price you’re expecting before you sign on with them.
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