iPage Review

iPage has spent more than two decades in the web hosting industry and despite their questionable marketing tactics, they must be doing something right at least. Their shared hosting plans start from rock bottom prices that are very hard to find even in this competitive industry that it finds itself competing in.

Buyers should be aware though that once the honeymoon period is over, rates go up significantly. However, even before that you’ll get a chance to glimpse their strong upsell capabilities as trying to sign up for a plan will lead to iPage bombarding you with ‘optional extras’. The problem is that they phrase these items in such a way as to resemble basic crucial website needs such as backups and website building tools.

Veterans will be able to see past these gimmicks easily but newbies beware. The optional extras are exactly that – options – and you get many of the basics to those items even without buying the premium versions that iPage is trying to sell you on. Although not technically incorrect, this marketing strategy is sneaky at best.

iPage does give you some decent start-off stuff though, such as access to a limited website builder tool, free SSL certificate, and even a free domain name. You can also make use of their support for some eCommerce tools to setup an online store using this host.

I think the biggest problem with iPage is that they tend to rely on word play too much and this creates a sense of distrust and / or confusion for many new customers. Unless you specifically know what you’re looking for and search for it, you won’t know if iPage offers it with your plan or not.