Full Review by Ravenisawesome
Scoring:
First Impressions & Appearance – (14 out of 20)
At a first glance, I was very impressed with how well the site looked visually. The main page showcases holderhost's products in a professional way and also gives a description of what holderhost has to offer. Looking past the graphics, there are a few spelling and grammar errors here and there throughout the website, which makes the site look a bit less unprofessional. I will go over the errors more in detail later on in the review.
I have noticed a issue with the forums though. I get a "page not found" error after clicking the link. The forums are mentioned in the customer support section of the site, and since this portion of the website isn't working you may be losing potential customers. Most hosting sites have a forum so customers can ask pre-sales questions and read others opinions on the services they are paying for. This is a huge error that should be addressed as soon as possible.
Another thing I've noticed while viewing the website, while it's great to see that you don't offer set up fees perhaps this could be added somewhere on the main site so that people see this information immediately? I feel it's a bit redundant to keep mentioning that there are no set up fees regardless of what plan is purchased on each page dedicated to said service.
Site Layout – (16 out of 20)
One of the best features of the site is the layout, something that's very important for a hosting site. While viewing your site I found it to be very easy to locate the specific pages that describes each of the services provided by holderhost. The general layout of the main page is easy to navigate, but I only have one slight issue. The live chat button is located at the footer of the main page, though I feel that this should be listed in the header between the "Contact" & "Client Area" links, just in case a client needs immediate help, or a customer has pre sales questions. This is a very important feature and I think it should be easier to find.
The Shared hosting plans page is another great example of a decent layout. Viewers are first greeted to the domain search bar, a feature the potential customer may need. However I feel that perhaps a "sign up" link could be added just bellow the name of each package, as well as bellow each description just in case the reader would like to purchase a hosting plan and already knows what the plan offers and how much it is. I also think the prices could be towards the top of each column to inform readers how much said service costs.
Statistics and Activity – (N/A out of 20)
Ah yes the statistics portion of the review. This is a tricky section, mainly because the site's forum is currently down, and the website offers hosting services so pages are not constantly being updated with information. According to the latest cached version of the forum, which was back in May, activity on the forums was very scarce. Since this is the only portion of the site that has activity, aside from a few announcements made in the clients area, there is no way to judge how much traffic the site has generated currently.
Content – (17 out of 20)
holderhost offers quite a few services that fits the needs of their customers. The site offers all you could ever need when it comes to website hosting. The main site has wonderful descriptions of each service offered at holderhost, and also contains links that are very helpful for current customers and future ones as well. Each link describes the services pretty well, which is always a plus for hosting sites. Besides the general layout of the site, this seems to be another strong point with holderhost.
Spelling/Grammar & Professionalism – (10 out of 20)
As stated earlier in the review I did notice quite a few spelling and grammatical errors. Not only were there a few on the main site, within each article on the site there are errors here and there. I'll first start with the main site, since viewers and potential customers always see this first.
The scrolling images and descriptions are no doubt the very first part of the site that grasps the reader's attention. Though there aren't too many errors on the first two slides, the last slide has a few errors. The first grammatical error I came across was from the final slide's title. "Web" and "Hosting" are missing a space between each word, and the letter "H" is capitalized in the word "hosting" which looks strange.
Next while viewing the main site I noticed another small error. The sentence " You will get lot of features with holderhost." looks very unprofessional. First off, this sentence doesn't really roll off the tip of my tongue well, probably because the letter "a" is missing right before the word "lot". Second, even the sentence "You will get a lot of features with holderhost." in general doesn't sound professional at all. Adding a more professional sentence, for example "You will receive tons of great features for your site if you choose holderhost's wonderful hosting plans." can grab the reader's attention more, making them more willing to buy your services. Of course this is just an example but re-wording a few words can really help. Finally while looking at the main page I noticed a very small typo. Underneath the "280+ Install Scripts" header, the word "shared" has been misspelled as "Ahared".
The announcement pages have a few errors here and there as well. The "Payment Processing Issues" page has a few spelling errors. Within the first sentence, the word automatic has a small typo, it is spelled as "autmatic." Again on the VPS Node Offline page there seems to be another small typo. The letter "i" is missing from the word "is" in the very first sentence. Since these are older announcements they may go unnoticed but it's always best to proofread your posts before publishing them.
Total Score - (57 out of 80) (71.25%)
Final Remarks:
Overall looking pass the forum issues, and with a few more spell checks holderhost can be a more professional hosting site. Even with the slight grammar, and spelling issues I thought each page described the services offered at holderhost in a professional way. Before fixing the spelling and grammar issues, the forums should definitely be brought back online for those potential customers to ask any pre-sales questions or any other questions for that matter. The number one key to having a successful product is to hear from your potential customers. The forums would be much easier for current and future customers to post feedback.
Strengths:
- - The site is easy to navigate.
Weaknesses:
- - There are quite a few typos, spelling, and grammar errors.
- The forums no longer work.
After reading your review, please click here to rate your review.
