Network Solutions:Products&Price

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If you’re looking for a well-established web hosting company that is experienced in helping its customers start, manage, and grow their online business, look no further than Network Solutions.

Many hosting companies assist with the first two items: creating a website and getting it online and hosted. Network Solutions goes further with a set of digital tools designed to help you capture leads and conversions.

What is Network Solutions?
Network Solutions was founded in 1979 as a technology consulting company focused on programming services using IBM’s environment. Since then, they’ve evolved along with the technology industry.

A few years into their business, they began working with the federal government on domain names. At the time, they were the only contractor to bid on the National Science Foundation’s project!

Domain names have comprised a fair portion of their business since then, and through several ownership changes, they have ended up as a publicly-owned company that offers a host of services related to web development and hosting, as well as digital marketing.

This is quite a shift from the early 2000s when over 90% of the company’s revenue came from domain registration services.

Features and Ease of Use
Network Solutions will help you get your foot in the door online with your own website with the following features:

99.99% Uptime
Free .com domains
Multisite hosting with up to unlimited domains
Free Xpress SSL certificates
Host up to five WordPress websites and unlimited other sites
CodeGuard backup solutions
Up to unlimited storage space
Unlimited data transfer
First of all, Network Solutions can do way more for you than just provide hosting. It also offers website design, SEO, and even E-commerce setup services. You can have the vendor build and set up a complete website or store for you and then host it on its servers for a completely hands-off approach.

For cloud hosting, you can also ask Network Solutions to install whatever CMS you want, or even use the beginner-friendly website builder available. The company has also partnered up with great providers like CodeGuard and SiteLock that can give a powerful backup, performance optimization, and security tools.

A standout feature of the hosting is that all packages come with unlimited bandwidth. The storage is slightly low with the entry-level plans but gets better with some unlimited options as well. With SSL certificates, domain registration, and even email hosting, it seems to tick all the boxes when it comes to hosting a modern website.

Pricing and Support
You should find it easy to pick a package with Network Solution’s simple range of cloud-based and WordPress hosting plans. While the prices aren’t the cheapest around, it’s still within reach for those looking for low cost, entry-level hosting. Don’t be alarmed if you add a product to your cart, and you see a lot of other charges in your order. This is just because Network Solutions breaks down the pricing of everything that makes up a hosting package.

So, although it technically charges you for an SSL certificate, SiteLock, and possibly some other features, this is included in the pricing you see on the website.You also receive a free domain for the first year of hosting if you choose a term of at least a year. Long-term hosting is also discounted; only slightly for normal shared hosting, but heavily for WordPress hosting.

For what you pay, the pricing is worth it, although I feel it gets more worth it the more expensive the plan is. There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee on all hosting packages as well. If you want a easy-to-use drag-and-drop builder with an all-inclusive hosting plan, you can also go with the website builder packages, which are very affordable.

Support can be a little confusing, as a lot of it seems to be handled by parent company, Web.com. It also provides a huge number of email and phone channels to contact specific departments for specific reasons. The service itself is neither here nor there, the response times are decent but not great (between a few hours to a day), and the staff are helpful and polite, while not going above and beyond. However, as they are developers themselves, they tend to be quite knowledgeable. They just sometimes fall short when it comes to replying to all support queries.

Domain Registration Services
Apart from its free domain offer, Network Solutions provides a variety of domain-related services.

Network Solutions does domain registration so your unique domain name is reserved for your use.

The next step is uploading your information into a global domain database. The WHOIS database is a public directory containing the details of the owner of the domain. To protect your personal details, Network Solutions offers an add-on to hide your details on the database.

When you purchase your domain, you must renew it each year – or risk losing it. If you’re running a small business site losing your domain name could cost you dearly. To prevent this, Network Solutions offers its Domain Name Expiration service that reserves your domain name for your use for up to a year after it lapses.

Customer Support
Network Solutions comes with basic customer support. You can reach customer support by phone or email. They promise 24-48 hour response time. You can log a support ticket via the Web.com website.

Self-service support options include user guides. The guides appear updated and cover the key tasks you may need help with.

If you’re willing to pay extra you can opt for the web host’s MyTime support feature. For a set monthly fee you’ll get 24/7 technical support via phone and live chat.

An online search reveals a fair amount of negative customer reviews across the range of this web host’s services.

Is There a Money-Back Guarantee?
Yes, Network Solutions has a 30-day money-back guarantee.

The Network Solutions Package That Is Right for You
The biggest differentiators between Network Solutions’ shared hosting plans are disk space allocation, the number of email inboxes, and the tools and programming languages supported. As such, the first step in determining which package is right for you is to identify the needs for your site based on its traffic levels.

According to Network Solutions:

The Essential Web Hosting package is designed for small business owners who want a simple online presence and who plan to interact with their customers via simple forms or a blog
The Professional hosting package is for small- to medium-sized businesses whose site contains some dynamic content (such as images or videos) and who communicate with their customers via complex forms or a frequently-visited blog
The Professional Plus hosting package is for small- to medium-sized businesses that want to manage multiple high-traffic sites using just one platform. These sites tend to have resource-intensive features — high-resolution images, videos, and other dynamic features — and high traffic levels.
However, do be aware that there are differences regarding the security features offered to those who select the Essential Web Hosting plan versus those provided to the Professional or Professional Plus plans.

The Essential Hosting plan only includes rudimentary security features, so if you are planning on collecting or using any sensitive personal information such as names and addresses, consider upgrading to a higher-tiered plan so that you get security features for your site that you don’t have to implement by yourself.

Is Network Solutions Right for You?
Network Solutions is a well-established company that stands out from some of the competition because of its “soup-to-nuts” program designed to help you start, manage, and grow your online business. The majority of online businesses fail.

Your business’ digital marketing plan can be part of the problem or part of the solution. You will need to think it through carefully.

While the overall number of packages Network Solutions offers is low, and they don’t offer anything for those who need more than what a VPS plan can provide, the company offers good options for small- to medium-sized businesses looking for a simple, no-frills web hosting solution.

The company does include a lot of conditions regarding the contract, so be sure to read all of the fine print so that you aren’t surprised by what you do (or don’t) receive or what fees you are charged on a month-to-month basis.

Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.)
Finally, some Q&A on Network Solutions.

Does Network Solutions offer specialist WordPress hosting?
Yes, Network Solutions offers three separate WordPress hosting packages designed to help you make the best use of the content management system. These packages are entitled WordPress for Entrepreneurs, WordPress for Growing Business and, WordPress for Professionals. Each comes with varying amounts of storage space and other features.

Which types of hosting are available from Network Solutions?
Network Solutions offers a wide range of hosting options for your business including shared and VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting options for you. Small-scale operations or those with a low budget may be best suited to the shared option, while expanding operations may prefer VPS services. Specialized WordPress hosting is also available.

Can I design a website using Network Solutions?
Network Solutions offers both DIY and professional web design services. If you prefer, you can use the firm’s built-in website builder to get your website up and running within minutes. However, if you’d prefer to leave the business of website creation to the pros, then they also offer a web design service.