Liam Eagle: LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

In 2008, in our inaugural Hottest Hosts guide, I wrote that we were exploring a new format with the first in-print directory of web hosting services. And last year, I discussed the project in the context of an ongoing project, and a growing tradition here at the Web Host Industry Review.

The objective, however, is not to repeat ourselves, but to help the directory evolve into a more valuable resource – something that’s going to help you with your purchasing decisions, and something you’re going to hold on to for the duration of the year.

If this isn’t your first WHIR publication, the most obvious difference between this and previous editions should be quite obvious: the directory you’re holding is a smaller format, and it is substantially longer – 80 pages versus about 56 in the past. That, we hope, is one big step toward giving it a lasting place on your shelf.

One of the really interesting aspects of this guide as a resource has to do with the nature of advertising. Because the WHIR in general is an ad supported publication, it is built generally on the premise that advertising has an acceptable place alongside really useful content. In order for advertising to be useful to our advertisers, it has to be relevant to our readers.

And because our publication has such a specific focus on the hosting business, and the needs of hosting providers (and because the needs of hosting providers often translate directly into products that happen to be for sale) our advertising takes on another role, in which the advertising itself is a kind of content.

This is up to a point, of course. I’m just saying we’re not trying to sell you cars while you’re trying to watch a basketball game.

I bring that idea up to help illustrate the nature of this guide, which, in case it isn’t clear, is a paid-inclusion listing, in the tradition of something like the Yellow Pages. Paid inclusion means that we can afford to create and distribute the guide, and I really believe that the listings within are inherently interesting as a crosssection of businesses that want hosting consumers to be aware of them.

My great hope here is that we’ve put something together that will be useful to you as you seek out a hosting partner, but also as your website grows and you pursue additional services.