The CaymanHost Web Hosting Directory

GVO Offer Three levels of shared hosting starting at $18.95 per month. As specialists in the marketing industry they are a good choice for business users offering reliable service, good support & far less restrictive limits than many shared servers. Full service comparison details on site including the industry leading affiliate plan. All shared plans include cpanel and Fantastico with over 50 of the top scripts available for simple installation.

In addition to shared hosting GVO can also provide dedicated fully managed servers tailored to your needs and full details can be found at the company’s website. GVO bill themselves as the host for internet marketers and they are attuned to the needs of that market sector, but whatever your online business they offer reliable service and excellent tech and customer support.

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I normally write about comment spam over on my marketing blog but in recent times I seem to be getting more and more that emanates from web hosting companies on this site so I thought I would make a quick educational post for these SEO lost causes and free ad seekers.

1) This site may well still be listed as a “dofollow” blog, but, alas, the spammers caused that to change some months ago now and our decision was posted here at Goodbye To DoFollow

Now, my reason for restating this is that it is blatantly obvious that some of the comments are being posted by services who advertise their comment spam as SEO  and link building services on the sites they link back to. These are smart people without a doubt.

Most of these comments are flagged by Akismet as spam already, so, they are charging people for something they cannot hope to deliver, having secured themselves a warm seat in the spammer hall of  shame. The point is, if you see someone advertising a service to post links for you, for a fee, on dofollow blogs, don’t be a sucker. You are wasting your money. This is not SEO or legitimate link building and in my experience, the comments are usually so poorly written &/or completely generic or irrelevant that even if the perpetrators haven’t yet been flagged it sure won’t be long until they are.

2) Hosting providers – I think it is fairly obvious what kind of website this is. It is also fairly obvious that an area entitled “Customer Reviews” exists for customers to post their feedback. Somehow, more and more hosting sites seem to interpret this forum as “place your free ads here” or similar.

I’m not going to name any names, but invariably these companies are operating out of the Indian sub-continent or the far east. So, let’s help clear things up for you – the area of the site you are looking for is titled “Advertisers” and can be found easily in the top menu bar of every page. Yes, this site owner has bills to pay too and the rates are extremely fair as some of my existing customers will tell you.

Again, a great deal of these kinds of free ad seeking comments are finding their way into Akismet’s sin bin too and if they haven’t, you can be sure I’ll be one more webmaster/blogger doing my bit to help Akismet’s filters for the future.

To make things even easier and more convenient, if all you really want is a link, once again, it’s right there at the top of the page. I realize that reciprocal linking has lost a lot of juice in recent times but if you have a related site, I have made exchanging links as painless as possible.

3) On the subject of advertising and spam – unsolicited emails are not the way to do business online, however, I recognize that sometimes, an email to a webmaster with some kind of proposal is not always a bad thing.

Having said that, I would like to make it very clear that you cannot buy a listing at this site, nor can you buy a favorable review or similar shenanigans. I am well aware that this is common practice in the industry and is also why hosting review sites often have little credibility – see the article and video on Honest Hosting Reviews for more.

Again, I am not going to name names, but there have been several occasions where an unsolicited mail has arrived, offering me what I consider pretty substantial consideration in return for a “top listing and review”. To my mind, if you have to buy good feedback for your service, whatever industry you are in, you have some serious problems, both business and ethical.

Whilst it hurts to turn down such offers (at least in the pocket) there is little hope for any kind of  impartial hosting information should every site owner be lured by the promise of easy (dirty) money.

If you want to pay for advertising on these pages there are convenient an easy channels for doing so, but bent reviews are not part of the service provided and, I’ll say it yet again,  there is no such thing as a “Top Ten” or “Top Twenty” list of hosting providers unless the criteria are very strictly defined, and, even then, it’s hardly objective.

4) Affiliate programs – the majority of web hosts here on TCH run affiliate programs (it’s all in the disclaimer) and therefore I am paid a commission should I send customers their way. I hope that if my visitors find the reviews and articles helpful, they consider this fair exchange for the site’s features and any assistance it provides for them.

Such affiliation does not guarantee either party any favors or special treatment. Well, aside from a couple of cases where affiliate status has been withdrawn because of a refusal to remove/edit negative but fair feedback. (yes, sadly it has happened). Reasonable criticism and complaint is part and parcel of a place on our real estate.

5) To those who would genuinely like to be featured on TCH, please feel free to use my contact form and submit your proposals or requests. Whilst I can’t and don’t guarantee anything, I will always consider them. Lack of an affiliate program does not exclude you either.  As I’ve always stated on these pages, I try to offer a site where visitors can give and get some honest information and also to feature hosts who have a proven track record for reliability and fair practices. That’s not to say I never get it wrong, but if  serious problems with a company are becoming the norm,  I try to keep people informed and do remove companies who perform really badly, regardless of my personal affiliate status.

I hope this clears things up for everyone. To those who have been guilty of comment spam I urge you to rethink your tactics because it really does you nothing but harm. To those who have ever considered paying for any kind of “blog commenting” service, please save your money and put it towards some legitimate marketing and advertising. Comments are about interaction and sharing, not a shortcut to high SERPS rankings.

TCH

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web hosting explained for absolute beginners. It is easy to forget that the whole subject of web hosting is a complete mystery to many people and this video, covers the absolute basics, explaining in simple terms what web hosting is and the basic mechanics of how it works.

Whilst most of our visitors are probably a lot more knowledgeable about the subject, this video will benefit anyone who really is at the very first rung of the ladder and looking for a non technical explanation of how web hosting works. Obviously it does not cover a great deal, but as an introduction it serves its purpose.

If you are new to the world of web hosting, we hope it will be helpful. Please have a look around the site for more useful video tutorials and articles on a whole range of topics connected to the world of hosting, domain names, blogging and webmaster tips tricks and tools.

webhostingsleuth.com The basics on what web hosting is and how to use it.

Did you know you can get your first hosting account with Hostgator starting at only $4.95 Per Month? Click Here To Find Out More Now

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D9 hosting offer a wide range of hosting options from unlimited shared cpanel hosting through VPS and dedicated server services.  Domain name registration services are available as well as mini site design graphic design services.

D9 was founded in 2007 by two UK entrepreneurs and now hosts thousands of clients around the world.

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Long established UK based web hosts Heart Internet offer a range of hosting plans from the cheapest shared option all the way up to dedicated server solutions. 24/7 dedicated UK support and ranked as one of the fastest growing UK web hosting companies.

Domain name registration for .co.uk names also available at very low prices.

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Before going any further with this we should point out, as we always do, that using free services for web hosting always brings with it certain risks and we do not recommend using free services for any site that is at all important to you and most certainly not one with any commercial or business intentions.

Having said that, we are well aware that many visitors to our site find their way to us through searches for free hosting and free domain names – everyone loves a freebie it seems!

The following video shows how you can use two free services to get a) a domain name and b) a free place to host it.

Beyond that we do not endorse or recommend either service in any way and have no personal experience of either one. How it compares to other free services or how reliable and stable the hosting will turn out to be is something on which we cannot comment. If you are insistent on running a website for free, we hope you will find the video useful however.

If anyone has any experience of either service please share your knowledge with others and leave us a comment below.

If you are looking for quality commercial web hosting services please check out our main page for web hosting providers.

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We have just launched a free marketing blog here at the CaymanHost where members can post their best hosting, marketing, SEO, blogging and Wordpress related content.

Register For A Free Author Account Here

If you have a review or an article dealing with any aspect of web hosting or want to promote your websites to the world you can register for free and post away – there are only a couple of rules and provided they are followed this will be a great way for you to earn backlinks and syndicate your content to a wider audience.

As article directories go, there are none of the usual restrictions – you may include video in your posts as well as hyperlinks in the body of your articles as well as the resource box at the foot of your posts.

The site runs on Wordpress, and it has been set up to be search engine friendly using a range of plugins to ensure your content gets spidered and indexed quickly. If you already blog on Wordpress the members area will be very familiar to you.

As it is a brand new site, now is the time to register and start posting your content and links – we are accepting articles on all web hosting and domain name topics as well as internet marketing articles, SEO, Wordpress, general blogging and website design and promotion. If you write about any of these things you can sign up as an author and start spreading your message.

As an author you may post as often as you wish. All we ask is that you refrain from using affiliate links (including redirects) and stick to the topics allowed. This is not a general article directory but one aimed at those looking for information on specific subjects.

After registration make sure you fill in your profile details to gain as much advantage as possible as when people click on your profile they will see your website links etc.

When posting be sure to include your relevant targeted keywords and tag your posts so that they can be more easily found.

If you are a publisher looking for content you may use any of the articles in the database for your own sites provided that they remain unchanged in any way, including all live hyperlinks which must be left intact – the content is free so please respect the author’s and their right to exposure if you are using their work.

Other than that, all we ask is that you enjoy the new site and help us make it a success

TCH

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MK Hosting USA is a relatively new name to me here at TCH but one I am going to become very familiar with in the weeks ahead.

This review is being written after only having signed up for an account a matter of days ago and in that sense it is perhaps too early to speak much about negatives, because in all honesty, I have yet to find any. That’s not to say that there won’t be any problems, ever; this is web hosting after all.  However, I thought it would be good to share my very positive experiences with the company so far and explain a little more about them and how I came to be a customer.

For many years I used Kiosk.ws as my hosting company and I’ve been pretty happy, as regular readers will probably already know. Their bundled web hosting and marketing services were, for many years, pretty hard to beat in terms of service, support, reliability and value.

In recent times Kiosk transformed into GVO and they have invested a great deal of time and money in upgrading and adding to their core services and embarking on a very high profile relaunch after moving from Canada to Texas and a brand new data center. During the course of all the upheaval however, all in the GVO garden was not rosy and after countless issues and problems I felt it was time to start seriously looking for new pastures. To be fair, GVO is not a bad company but like many relationships one party outgrew the other and the changes, whilst essential for one to grow, left the other feeling disillusioned and wanting more from life.

Having built several websites and mailing lists with GVO, as well as earning recurring affiliate commissions with them, it seemed a lot to give up and also a lot to try and replace.

Discovering MKHosting was one of those happy accidents, the circumstances of which are hard to recall. On seeing their website however, I was certain I had found a real contender for my hosting and marketing requirements.

The company are, in many ways, similar to GVO and whilst direct comparison might be unfair to both companies, the similarities are hard to ignore and their target market is indisputably similar. GVO offer a reseller hosting account, unlimited email autoresponders, lead capture templates and systems, video hosting and marketing services, VOIP conference rooms and a multi tier affiliate program paying recurring monthly commissions. The charge for their package is, at the time of writing, $45.00 per month.

MKHosting provide shared hosting with no limits on storage, bandwidth, email accounts, domains, FTP accounts or MySQL databases (no reseller account). For a full list of MKHosting’s web hosting features click here.  They also offer a complete email marketing service with unlimited autoresponders, a multi tier affiliate program paying recurring monthly commissions, a free domain for new customers (.biz) and  around $150 in PPC advertising coupons.  You’ll also get some basic rebrandable lead capture pages that can be easily integrated with your autoresponder service and for those wanting to build a site using templates, the company have teamed up with Hostgator to offer a library of over 4500 quality themes. All this comes in at under $20.00 per month.

The following video gives a brief tour of the company’s website and Service Features and Live Demo Accounts Features (Please turn on annotations when viewing the video below -- see button bottom right of YouTube player)

This was well worth a look for me and I tested the waters, as I recommend all potential new customers of a hosting company should do, by firing off an email enquiring about the services and asking a few questions pertinent to my requirements and situation. I had an answer within twenty minutes (on a Friday afternoon) and it was positive, well written and to the point.

I began a series of questions via this ticket and replies came very promptly and were all from the same support guy who was knowledgeable and very efficient. It seemed that I had found a little gem and although I had decided to think carefully about my decision to move, I was so reassured by the responses that I decided the next day to pay my first month’s fee and initiate the transfer of my sites and domains.

This is always a nail biting time for a webmaster but the smoothness and simplicity of the move was impressive indeed. The fact is that the same support guy I had spoken to from day one, handled the entire move for me. I did not have to do a thing aside from provide him with required login information and the like so that he could access my various sites. All I did was kick back and answer a couple of emails and my sites were seamlessly moved to the new server, the DNS changes taken care of and in the space of a Saturday morning and early afternoon, the job was done.  More to the point it was done with no ill effects whatsoever, nothing was broken and to an outside observer you would never have known anything was happening.

I spent most of the day configuring my new autoresponder and email marketing toys, which, I have to say, may not be quite as user friendly as those at my previous host but are certainly way superior in terms of features. These tools are the best I have used and the statistical information is a match for any third party service. After a day of messing around I had pretty much mastered the system. The company were quite happy to allow me to import all my existing opt-in subscribers and the only reason it took a bit longer than I would have liked was due to the imperfect export facility from my previous autoresponders rather than anything else.

In addition to the autoresponders you also get a proper email marketing set up that provides a large number of templates for your broadcasts or newsletters . They cover countless niches and they are very easy to use.

As far as the hosting goes I have zero complaints so far. cpanel is the control panel of choice and I would not use anything else. All the features of my previous cpanel are there, including Fantastico Deluxe, plus a few new ones I didn’t have at GVO. OK, there is no reseller facility but I gave that game up a long time ago so it’s no loss to me. I have more of everything for less monthly cost.

Aside from the conference rooms and the Easy video Producer tools (Neither of which were important to me personally) MKHosting are providing me with the options to do way more than I could have done at GVO where I paid $25 per month for all services due to grandfather rights as an old Kiosk Platinum customer. However this came with pretty stringent restrictions on storage, bandwidth and things like MySQL databases (that last one is a real pain for a webmaster in 2010).

And so to the affiliate program -- GVO’s much hyped opportunity is a genuine program and does reward active affiliates very well, as well as those who are fortunate enough to join under a big name networking recruiter and benefit from spillover. However, the pay plan with MKHosting is also very good and they actually pay a higher percentage to their affiliates for direct referrals at $6 a head. The earnings potential with both companies is good but in light of all the MLM focus recently over at GVO, I tink it’s become a harder thing to sell in all honesty and when times are tough, even if it does represent good value, close to fifty bucks a month is something a lot of people can’t or won’t commit to. I have sacrificed my monthly Paypal deposit from GVO in the quest for better service and a better user/customer experience. I no longer felt that it was worth holding onto the commissions when the trade of in recent times has been downtime and an indifferent attitude towards me as a customer.

If you would like to know more about all the features and services of an account at MKHosting, the marketer’s package is the sole option. Everything is laid out clearly and neatly for all to see, so you know exactly what your monthly hosting fees will get you. At this price point, you really would be hard pushed to find anything better.

If I have any criticism at all, I would say that the payment options could be explained a little more clearly on the site. You can choose to pay via AlertPay or Paypal but at the moment, Paypal customers have to do things manually and send a purchase receipt to the company to get set up -- it’s no big deal, just a minor inconvenience. AlertPay users will have no problems but the site suggests that you must pay via AlertPay every month (as someone with little experience of the payment processor I found the issue a little confusing, wanting as I did to pay with my debit card). As it turns out of course, this is not a problem, and although the website showed the major credit/debit card logos the insistence on AlertPay was a little disconcerting -- then again maybe I was just having a senior moment Ultimately it is easy enough to set up a free account with AP and you will need it if you want to receive commissions earned as an affiliate.

After a couple of days of exploration everything seems to work just as it should and, it seems to me, my sites’ load times are improved too. The MKHosting servers are located in the US, with the Planet, so in terms of data security and server monitoring etc. there should not be too much to worry about. This was one of my major bug bears with GVO in recent months where security issues were plaguing many customers and causing downtime of varying levels of seriousness. Unfortunately for me I suffered at the extreme end of the scale and whilst much of it was not directly the fault of the host, the responses to the issues were not good at all.  Combine that with very inefficient support and, to be frank, some pretty uncharacteristic bad attitudes from GVO staff in general and it starts to wear on you and your business after a time.

I’m hopeful of a much better experience at my new home and so far, they have certainly not disappointed me.

To sum up, if you want a very well featured shared hosting account along with a superb email marketing system, a great affiliate program and excellent 24/7 customer and tech support, you could do a lot worse than check this company out.

I will report back after a few months have gone by on how the glow of newness as stood up to the rigours of day in day out web hosting but for now, all is good and MKHosting win a big thumbs up and vote of confidence from TheCaymanHost.

Sign Up With MK Hosting USA Here - There are no contracts -pay as you go or pay in advance by arrangement. Your monthly cost with MK Hosting will be just $19.99 and will not increase.

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For a long time the sole platform option in hosting was between low- price shared servers or higher- cost dedicated servers. Now there is a sensible third choice – mid- priced Virtual Private Servers or VPS.

Virtual is the key description here. A VPS offers most of the advantages of a dedicated server whilst actually running on shared hardware. It is achieved with the aid of modern clever virtualization software that creates and manages a number of ‘virtual servers’ on a single box.

Each ‘virtual server’ appears to the customer’s applications, databases and so forth as if it really is a dedicated server, which includes a predetermined memory size, disk size and network data transfer. It even allows the customer to fully configure the environment for their specific application and security needs.

The computer software then protects that ‘virtual server’ from the activities of all other ‘virtual servers’ which are operating on the same physical hardware. So, should another customer’s application go rogue because of a coding error or get swamped with internet transactions or be in any way compromized, other ‘virtual servers’ would carry on as normal. Even a significant crash within one virtual server won’t affect the the rest. Each partition is autonomous and to both inside and outside visitors the server partition appears to be is a stand alone server to all intents and purposes.

The software that makes VPS viable is becoming very advanced indeed and recent times have seen the entry of  companies like Microsoft into the marketplace with what they dub their Hyper-V product. That is strong evidence that the concept of VPS is swiftly becoming mainstream, not merely for hosting companies but also for large IT users trying to optimize the effectiveness of their hardware utilization.

There are multiple advantages of VPS compared to shared servers, some clearer than others. The greatest disadvantage to using a shared environment for your websites or applications is the possible impact on your system’s efficiency and stability of those that you share space with.

All you need is one of the other user’s applications to crash badly and the whole of the shared server is likely to quit and need re- booting or even repair. In addition another user’s website becoming very popular might slow the system down for your programs as they would use up a disproportionate amount of the shared system resources.

If you have a breach in security it can often affect a lot of or all of the sites on a shared server, meaning that every client has to hope that the hosting company are quick to respond and have enough expertise to resolve such problems quickly and effectively.

You will have less responsibility for your server’s security on a shared hosting account(virtually none in actual fact) in comparison with a customer on a VPS account but if those who own and/or manage the box you are on are not on top of their game, the consequences might be very frustrating.

Under the VPS approach these shared hosting issues just go away. It’s as simple as that.

The software protects each ‘virtual server’ from the others and isolates the key resources which have been configured. So if one VPS has been configured with 512Mb of RAM, then it always has that level of memory available to it irrespective of what other ‘virtual servers’ are asking for(despite the fact that the total pool of RAM is shared amongst all ‘virtual servers’). It is this protection and isolation that justifies the use of the word “private” in the VPS label.

What are the benefits of  VPS over dedicated servers? Consider that before the latest VPS software became available the only alternative to the performance ‘lucky dip’ of shared servers was a dedicated box, a server that you owned/leased exclusively for your own use.

This required the hosting provider to purchase and configure new hardware for each buyer. This in turn meant a significant capital investment upfront from the hosting company and the swift usage of their data center space, power, network connections and so on. Thus the fee for dedicated servers is usually pretty high.

The VPS process adjusts the web host’s costs significantly. Now, they can provide a near- dedicated server quality of service and features using shared hardware, which reduces the consumption of their data center racking, power and network connections. This cost reduction may then be passed onto their clients by way of reduced fees.

One other cost- associated matter that using VPS technology changes noticeably only comes into play after several years of use … hardware renewal. In the traditional dedicated server setup, when the server hardware attained a certain age, typically around three years, it made sense to lessen the risk of failure whilst also allowing the customer to obtain developments on processors speeds and so on, to renew or “refresh” the hardware.

The idea of renewing the hardware after a cycle of continuous use still holds true for a VPS, but the big distinction is in who pays for the new equipment. For a dedicated server, the full cost of the replacement hardware was borne by the client through the fee levels, sometimes including a new set- up fee too. With the VPS model, the price is distributed across a number of customers and as a consequence the fees can stay low throughout multi- year plans even when hardware refresh is involved.

Virtualization is being quickly embraced by both hosting companies and large IT using organizations because it makes strong financial and technical sense. There will, obviously, still be complex computing needs for which true dedicated servers are a requirement but for many commercial computing demands, virtualization offers considerable resilience and performance improvements over using shared servers with no technical disadvantages. VPS has certainly come of age.

As a VPS hosting customer you will effectively be allocated a partition within a server that’s exclusive to you. That partition is a self contained server where you can run all your applications as well as your own operating system, all customized to your requirements and wishes. It offers you the efficiency of a dedicated server at a more affordable price but the VPS option usually includes more tecnical and financial responsibility than a shared hosting plan.

One of the key advantages of leasing a VPS is the ability to have more resources allotted to your web pages. With shared hosting you’re restricted with resources and must share it with many other websites. All of these websites compete with each other for the resources of the server. When you lease a VPS, you’ve got the peace of mind that a set volume of memory, and hard drive space is allocated to you. This will be significant if you are running websites which are resource- intensive or that have particularly high visitor traffic. Not only do you have those set resources, but you can customize the VPS to match your demands.

The customization feature of VPS is perhaps the best selling point. The ability to run your own operating system and software as you wish, setup your own version of PHP, and MYSQL, and having full root access to your partition gives you an invaluable edge on shared hosting and a degree of autonomy and control that rivals those on a truly dedicated box.

Another great benefit of VPS hosting is the ability to handle growth. Most websites begin small, and then grow with time. By using a virtual private server, you’ll have the resources available to handle your growth. This is due to the fact that you are not on a shared web hosting environment. With shared hosting when you reach a certain point, the web host may request you upgrade to another plan since your site is using too much of the server’s resources. Always keep in mind that with shared web hosting you are literally sharing resources. With your VPS, you can grow as needed.

Prices for VPS hosting at the time of writing start at under$20 per month, or around $40 for a fully managed plan, which is a very inexpensive solution. It’s a lot more affordable than using a dedicated server, but also offers similar functions. You can now see why VPS hosting is very attractive for anyone seeking affordability backed with power and excellent customization choices.  As to whether or not you need it is going to be a very personal decision depending as it does upon your need for the features it offers – however, with prices now at almost shared hosting levels from many providers it is definitely more attractive to a much larger percentage of webmasters.

As with any hosting plan, remember that some are going to be better than others in terms of service, support etc. so we would advocate doing your homework just as you should for an hosting plan. Remember too that a VPS is likely to be a little more hands on in terms of server maintenance and configuration so it’s important to know what the hosting company offers in terms of support and management of your shiny new VPS and what the associated costs there will be for the level of server management you require.

We welcome your comments and questions along with any experiences you may wish to share.

TCH

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I have been a customer of GVO for around four years, long before the recent face lift, when my hosting provider was a Canadian based company called Kiosk.ws headed up by an amiable and hands on guy called Joel Therien.

A lot has happened in those four years and you can read my recent post about the resulting changes since the re-branding of the company to GVO, or Global Virtual Opportunities, for a little more on the background.

In this post I wanted to comment on a few more things that I either forgot or didn’t have time or space to mention in my last post. The gradual process of morphing from Kiosk into GVO has been a fairly lengthy one and, to be honest, the way it dragged on got on my nerves a little. There is only so much you can take when it comes to all the rah rah rah of such a relaunch, prelaunch and never ending cheerleading.

I think it is safe to say that most of that is now behind us and I for one am glad. GVO definitely brought in a fair number of some so called “heavy hitters” who have probably cleaned up by getting involved and whilst I do not doubt the experience and marketing power of some of these folks it does not mean you have to like them or their methods even if their involvement has ensured a substantial influx of new customers for GVO. One unfortunate side effect of the sudden growth is the plethora of ads, articles, blog posts and landing pages all selling GVO that are plainly written by people who know very little about web hosting, which is after all the core business of the company. I’m sure if you have studied most of the search results in google you have found very little hard information about the pros and cons of their hosting plans aside from a few brief “it’s great value” or “I’m pretty happy” type sales efforts.

So let’s move on to the GVO services and look at what has changed from the perspective of a Kiosk customer.

GVO still offer three shared hosting plans, although you almost certainly wouldn’t realize that from any recent advertising. The old Silver and Platinum plans still exist, priced at $18.95 and $24.95 respectively. But, and this is a big but, there really are no good reasons to buy either one of them any longer as all incentives to do so have been removed, basically making the Titanium plan at $44.95 the only real shared hosting option on offer. Neither the Platinum or Silver plans include any of the additional services, so they are effectively dead in the water.

GVO’s Titanium bundled marketing and hosting package is really good value, just as many of the “reviewers” are saying but unfortunately at such a price point, many experienced webmasters are going to see a managed VPS as a much more attractive option if they have no need for the autoresponder service, video hosting and conference rooms. This is one of the major stumbling blocks because ultimately, shared hosting is shared hosting and it’s simply not good enough for those with a lot of domains and a lot of traffic. Conversely, for newbies who see only monthly $ signs and who are starting from scratch, a sub $10 shared hosting package with someone like Hostgator or Bluehost for example, is rightly or wrongly, a lot more tempting.

Don’t get me wrong, GVO offer a very competitively priced package, but convincing people of the fact is not always an easy task in view of the aforementioned considerations. I would guess that there might be a fairly substantial attrition rate in the early stages after the relaunch amongst those who joined in the belief that there were easy fortunes to be made through the affiliate program and the promises of spillover. Some will have done well already by signing up under the top recruiters, but many will not see the “money for nothing” they no doubt believed they would get and they will soon tire of paying each month unless they are willing and able to put the excellent tools to good use.

Existing customers, even those on the old Silver and Platinum plans of Kiosk.ws still get to enjoy the marketing tools due to grandfather rights, but for new customers, if you want the whole shebang it’s Titanium or nothing.

Many of the big marketing names associated with GVO and who recently marketed it so aggressively to their lists are obviously not using shared hosting but are on dedicated servers. This distinction is important because whilst Kiosk offered webmasters a pretty flexible set of dedicated server options, including one off custom builds for example, most of those now seem to be gone at GVO. Looking at the site, the only dedicated options at the time of writing are a fully managed Dell box at $299 per month with a one time $99 set up fee or a slightly cheaper box at $199 per month. Not bad, but only for those with deep pockets already.

One more thing worth mentioning on this topic is that if you outgrow a shared reseller hosting account, even one as good as GVO’s, the way things stand at the moment, you would have to either cough up for a costly dedicated server, or change hosting companies as there is currently no VPS plan available. This could be a real headache if you have built your lists and all your web real estate with GVO. Some people would no doubt argue that keeping all your services under one roof is never a good idea but again that will depend entirely on your outlook and your own forecasts of business expectations. As things stand, GVO can definitely save many webmasters a good deal of money with their packaged services.

Moving on to other changes, one of the major ones as been the outsourcing of many areas of support to India. For me, this as been one of the more disappointing aspects of the GVO re-branding. Whilst I appreciate that for the growth of the company to be sustainable there had to be investment in staff, premises and hardware, the end user experience is definitely not what it once was. When the old Kiosk.ws team in Canada were at the helm of tech support you were pretty much guaranteed fast responses, great service and experienced systems administrators. In recent times, whilst support as been available, the quality of that support as deteriorated. That is not to say it is really bad, just that the very high standards of old have slipped. Maybe it will not be permanent and things will settle down but like so many other industries rapid growth invariably results in  the customer experience suffering to a certain degree. This is something GVO must work on if they want to retain webmasters.

There have been several hiccups along the way but in view of the rapid expansion some of those have to be expected and I still feel very comfortable in recommending GVO if what you want is good solid shared hosting and some invaluable business and marketing tools. The new eResponderPro autoresponders are very good although they still lack one or two features offered by the established big names. The service is a massive step up from the previous Kiosk autoresponders and there are no graduated price points dependent upon the size of your list either – you get as many autoresponders as you want or need as a Titanium customer. With other third party services, the more subscribers, the higher the monthly fee.

Promoting GVO itself can be lucrative, but it is going to take work if you want to earn money as an affiliate. The compensation plan is very good but that does not mean you will get rich just by joining. I just think that should be made clear to anyone who is considering signing up with this as their primary motivation. You can learn a great deal about the compensation plan through the GVO Academy presentations and I would recommend these to anyone looking for a great overview of GVO as a whole.

Ultimately, when it comes to your webhosting and online business needs, GVO is either a good fit or it isn’t, just as with most web hosting, it’s not about which company or offer is best, it’s about what is best for you.

I hope that this honest summation will help my visitors in making that decision. What I will say is that Joel Therien has always been, and remains, an honest and trustworthy guy and consequently you can certainly feel comfortable dealing with his company. You will never need to worry about sharp practices as you sometimes do in the world of web hosting.

Overall, I would still recommend them to anyone except maybe those who are reaching the point where a VPS is close on the horizon because your hosting needs might not be best served by GVO at this moment in time. As an affiliate marketer, I would say that the affiliate program for GVO remains one of the best in the industry and will reward those who actively promote it. Resellers will also find GVO a good company to partner up with and a Titanium account with GVO still represents a solid investment for a lot of webmasters and online businesses.

(If you don’t want or need a reseller hosting account and can live without a conference room and video hosting a solid alternative at half the price is MK Hosting USA – we moved to them from GVO and have been very impressed to date, and would say that the email marketing tools are superior and support faster and more knowledgable).

You can try the GVO services for 14 days risk free with your $1 trial membership – no contracts, no catches.  I think you will be impressed with what you find on the inside.

As always I would love to hear what you have to say so please leave your comments below.

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