There’s much debate as to whether a Client looking to host their website online should cater to their own needs or succumb to their Designer’s needs. In this article we’ll take a look at a selection of scenarios, their adverse pros and cons, in the hopes of shedding some light on the different opportunities available to Clients.

Scenarios:
1. The Designer offers their own hosting services to their Clients
2. The Designer offers a list of hosting options (and/or information) to the Client based on their past experiences along with the Client’s needs, budget, etc.
3. The Client offers the Designer their hosting preferences or selections

Though there could be many more scenarios, the three aforementioned are the most likely in a variety of situations. They all have their pros and cons, which will be outlined in more detail below.

Scenario #1 – The Designer’s Hosting
The Pros – The Designer has readily available access to hosting, so there’s no need to spend hours/days/months looking for an external supplier or service. This may be good for a Client looking to have their website published in split time. The Designer may also offer lower prices, depending on how many other Client’s are being hosted on the same server/domain (profit sharing between clients – the more client’s the less each client has to pay).

The Cons – The Designer, as part of a contract or under strict working conditions, may force the Client to use their hosting services only, regardless of price and additional options the Client may need. The Designer can literally price gouge their Clients if their obliged to use the Designer’s service and no one else’s. Also, depending on how much the Designer knows about their hosting service (or how reliable the hosting itself is), it may not be the most reliable source or service out there – i.e. no guarantees that the Client’s website will be online 100% of the time, have adequate storage room or unlimited bandwidth options.

Scenario #2 – Co-Operative Hosting
The Pros – The Designer uses their knowledge and expertise (and/or past experiences with hosting providers) to offer the Client a list of hosting options based on the Client’s specific website/project needs and budget. This can be very helpful to the Client looking to get the most from their website for a price they can easily afford. It also makes for a great trustworthy and solid working relationship between the Client and their Designer.

The Cons – There could be disagreement between the Designer and Client based on which hosting is best for the Client’s project or website. From the Client’s perspective it’s more about the financial needs and less about the technical details, while from the Designer’s perspective it’s more about what the service has to offer in the way of technicalities, support and reliability.

Scenario #3 – The Client’s Hosting
The Pros – It gives the Client the opportunity to research a variety of hosting providers, comparing services and prices; thus making the Client more knowledgeable about hosting in general. It also, in some cases, reduces the Designer fees in the time consumption department, as the Designer would be spending most of the time designing instead of researching (great if you’re paying by the hour!)

The Cons – The Client may know nothing of hosting and select the wrong service or type of hosting for their website/project needs. If the Designer has no previous experience working with the hosting service, provider or company a variety of problems could ensue, including the Client’s website not being published and/or having to transfer or switch hosting providers frequently until the right match is met on the Designer’s end (or the Designer could be fired and replaced by someone more knowledgeable in the hosting service field).

Should a Client opt for a hosting service provided by their Designer, select a service based on their Designer’s knowledge or from their own research? The answer, lies within the Client’s own knowledge of their specific situation (what they need and what they can afford) along with a trust in their Designer.