Hello there, I am Jerry and I am here to review my own blog – WebHostingSecretRevealed.com (WHSR). Yes I know, it’s weird to read a self-review like this; but no, I am not going to tout much on my own horn (promise!).
Let’s go with some introduction for start. I started WHSR with one sole purpose in mind – to develop a trustworthy hosting review blog. I used to read hours of hosting reviews and yet still find myself stuck in a terrible web host 6 months later (the name is Network Eleven – I am not sure if they are still in business). With that in mind, plus I noticed that hosting affiliate programs pay well, WHSR was born in May 2008. A few hundred bucks were out for signing up new hosting accounts as well as the marketing; and off I went writing and writing on hosting reviews as well as some other web development guides.
What’s good and bad about Web Hosting Secret Reveal?
There are a few strong good points (about WHSR) I would like to point out.
1. WHSR covers a lot of topics that other bloggers/webmasters refuse to talk about. For certain cases, I was literally revealing the ugly secrets in hosting industry; for instance, issues like web host overselling (unlimited hosting), inodes count, and CPU throttling. In fact, I was the first who shared firsthand experience about Bluehost/Hostmonster’s CPU throttling features and irrational change of Lunarpages price structure.
2. Real hosting experience. I sign up to a new host, test, and write my own review. No third party outsourcing, no superficial web host rating system, no bullshits. I have been running online business since year 2004 and because of this, I signup to loads of hosting plans (Bluehost, Hostgator, Hostmonster, Lunarpages, Network Eleven, iPower, etc) and I signup more after I started WHSR (Startlogic, Fatcow, JustHost, InMotion, iPage, etc). Although I don’t hold them all now but I am an existing customer for at least a year for most of the web host I reviewed. So when you read at WHSR, you can rest assure that you are reading review from firsthand experience.
3. No lousy pop-up, pop-under, splash flash, banner advertisement. I am pretty particular with the outlook of WHSR and I have a strict policy against annoying ads.
4. Constant updates on hosting news. WHSR is a blog. I cover breaking news, latest promotion, latest change of policy, and all the huu-haa in hosting industry. If you are tired with all the static contents on other 1999 web hosting review sites (you’ll know what I am talking about if you look around), WHSR is the place to go.
And, here go some of the ugly points:
1. Bad English writing skills. Not once, but multiple times, I received emails from readers asking me to hire an editor to proof-read my English. I am not a native English speaker and English is my third written language after Chinese and Bahasa Malaysia.
Solution I took: Books on English grammar and writing skills, duh!
2. Affiliation (the only reason you should doubt my review). I receive compensation from some of the hosting companies I reviewed and some of the companies pay me well. I am not going to lie to you – I make a living on this and yes I make money when you signup thru my affiliate links – hey, I need to eat too, right?
Solution I took: Clear FTC disclosures about my affiliation with hosting companies at the sidebar of every page on WHSR.
3. Not all hosting companies I reviewed these days are from first hands. Unfortunately, I am still running on one-man show after 3.5 years and this means I have little resources and manpower for new hosting reviews constantly. In contrast of my previous comment, some of the hosting reviews I wrote are not from my first hand experience. This means I am, and never had been, a customer for some of the host I reviewed. For example, A2Hosting and WPEngine, Eleven2, and SiteCloud.
Solution I took: State clearly that I am not an existing customer in the review page.
4. Lack of exclusive hosting discount. Unfortunately it’s very hard to negotiate with the hosting companies for special deals. I noticed some of the review sites are able to provide special discount (for example, Bluehost at $3.95/mo) to their readers – I have no idea how that is possible. I mean, I do negotiate with the hosting companies but I can’t see a way thru.
Solution: I started a special page to collect hosting coupon codes recently but frankly I don’t think it can help much.
Wrapping things up
Well that’s all I want to say about my blog WebHostingSecretRevealed.com. I hope you enjoy reading the little story of mine as well as the short reviews. If you are recently shopping for a good hosting service, please do not hesitate to visit and make use of my hosting reviews.
To learn more, visit (where else? :)) – http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/
