I’ve been looking for a new hosting provider for my rails applications—Dreamhost just doesn’t cut it as I’ll be launching a new service soon, and I’ve found where I’ll be ending up, but through my search, I ran across dozens of sites that left me wondering about the companies’ commitment to their trade. It wasn’t the lack of technical information, pricing structure, or support promises—those tend to be very universal, and oversell is mostly nonexistent for VPS hosting anyway.
It’s their website.
We’ve all seen them: websites with a generic logo, the whole website full of chrome, gradients, and a large stock photo of a data-center; the whole thing reaks of template. Below the data-center, two or three columns speaking in very general, professional, corporate, human-less language about that company’s individual merits. The about page refers to the company as an entity; it doesn’t mention the people or the passion. It mentions the corporate structure and the 2/47 365 uber commitment to you, the customer, the savior of the corporation, the mother of our children, and the human-less desire as a corporation to satiate you, to be the hosting nipple on which you suckle.
As the internet grows, as more and more people use more and more services accessed through more and more websites, even the layman will begin to notice the human touch that creates an intrinsic bond and trust with a company, that feels more like communication than business, that gives you a high-five instead of a handshake.
Until then, companies like GoDaddy will continue to thrive.