Heart Internet Review

One of the most important things to look for in a web host is customer support. Web hosting is one of those areas where even experienced, techy people need help now and again.

Furthermore, if you're running a business from your website and you have a technical issue, you can lose money. If you're a charity, you can lose donations, which could be even worse as people may forget about your page or your cause. So you need to pick a web host that offers really good support.

Most companies have an issue with their support systems; once they have your money and you're signed up as a customer, they aren't that interested in you any more and it's very difficult to contact them.

Heart Internet uses a support ticket system, so basically you log into your customer control panel and raise a ticket with your question or problem. Usually they respond within seconds, and definitely not longer than a few minutes. They offer 24/7 support, and I often see people on Twitter praising them for their fast responses. I've found the support to be great, and even at odd times and at weekends they reply very fast.

Positives: Support is free (many hosts keep you on hold on premium rate numbers). It's also fast and effective because you get a real response from a real person, rather than a copied and pasted standard reply from someone 10,000 miles away.

Negatives: Currently, Heart Internet don't offer phone support; however as they are so quick to reply by ticket, I don't think it's a problem. Particularly as I'm terrible at understanding people and following instructions over the phone - I'd prefer to have them typed up in a ticket so I can take them one step at a time and refer to previous steps when necessary.

Heart Internet Review Score - 9/10 for customer support

Another important factor is uptime - if visitors can't access your site because of a problem with your host's server, then you will lose traffic and potentially money too. The important thing to remember here is that no host has 100% uptime, and so you want to pick a host that uses good servers and up-to-date technology, has great tech support that will address problems as soon as they happen, and keep you informed of what's going on. It's also helpful if your host conducts any maintenance outside of office hours, or a time when you're least likely to get customers/visitors to your site.

I have to say that I have never personally experienced an uptime issue with Heart Internet. I've heard of people who have been unlucky enough to have their sites down, but the issue is usually resolved within a few minutes. Sometimes it can also be an issue with internet connection/your ISP, even if you can view other websites. So always ask a friend with a different provider to see if they can view your site.

You can check if there are currently any issues or any planned maintenance at Heart Internet here: Web Hosting Status.

Heart Internet Review Score 9/10 for uptime.

As prices vary so much all over the world for varying reasons, I think it's only fair to rate Heart Internet in terms of the UK hosting market.

I've tried cheaper hosts, but I always ran into problems. No, they didn't have X feature available. No, I couldn't install Y. And don't get me started on the restrictions on space and bandwidth. So with that in mind, going for a cheaper web host can be a bit of a false economy. Not to mention that it attracts cheaper customers who tend to cause all kinds of problems (for example if you're sharing a server with people who like to take advantage or don't really know what they're doing it can put your site at risk).

So with that in mind, I would say that Heart Internet may not be the cheapest, but it is feature-rich and it is reliable. You get a lot more for your money, and when picking a host it's important to check out what you actually get rather than just looking at the price and deciding on the spot whether it's worth it or not.

In terms of the UK market, I would say that Heart Internet has average to good pricing, but the amount of features and flexibility means that the value for money is actually much higher.

Heart Internet Review Score - 8/10 for pricing.

Heart Internet sells a variety of different domain name extensions.

The price of domain names varies depending on what extension you want. You can buy names for a year or two years, or more if you prefer, and all of the common extensions are available such as .org, .net, .com, .co.uk, .eu, .org.uk, .me and so on. If you are buying domain names in bulk, you can take advantage of their domain name credits system and the domain name robot to get a discount.

You can find out about the current prices here: Domain Names.

Heart Internet offers three different web hosting packages: Starter Pro, Home Pro and Business Pro. They all have different features, so you're best off examining them carefully before choosing one, or if you have a question you can call the sales team, or sign up for a free account and raise a ticket from www.heartinternet.co.uk.

You can find out more about hosting here: Web Hosting.

The reseller hosting package is a great invention, because it means you can make a profit selling web hosting to your own customers. Everything is white-labelled, so you can put your own logos and designs on everything. It's running your own hosting company with as many customer sites as you like, but without the cost and hassle of dealing with hardware and technical aspects. Find out more on my lens about How To Become A Web Host.

Reseller hosting is what Heart Internet is best known for, and they even have an integrated payment and billing system called HostPay. You can find out more about how you can sell web hosting here: Reseller Hosting.

Heart Internet also offers dedicated servers. These are great if you have a lot of websites or you just don't like sharing your space with other people. The advantage is that all that lovely space and speed is yours and yours alone. Dedicated servers are generally best for more experienced website owners who know what they're doing, because you will need to install software and maintain it. However, this also gives you a lot more options.

If you're interested in buying a dedicated server, you can read up on the technical information and prices here: Dedicated Servers.

Another thing I like about Heart Internet is that they have a lot of free stuff you can use.

• 360 Name Finder. This helpful tool not only lets you search to see what domain names are available, but also checks if your name's free across several social sites such as Twitter and Flickr.


• Icons, Templates and Reseller Hosting Guides. Plenty of free graphics and resources on this page.


• Web Hosting Guides. A series of free PDFs to help you get started building your website.


• Wikipedia article to find out more about them: Heart Internet.


• Video Tutorials. If you prefer a visual/audio guide.

Heart Internet Review Score - For tools and resources, I would give them a great 10/10.

Overall, I would fully recommend Heart Internet if you're looking to host a website in the UK. If you're trying to rank well in Google UK or any other UK search engine, then having the servers based in the same country is a great boost. For price, features, support and uptime, I'm yet to find a UK host that is better.

Heart Internet Review Final Score: 9/10