As the VPN marketplace becomes more competitive, it is getting harder to identify the best VPN service providers. This isn’t because the gap is closing between the best and rest, but rather because middle-tier VPN providers are becoming more recognizable and lower quality services have amped up their advertising and marketing efforts. The trick is to find out which services will be reliable over the long run and consistently yield satisfactory results.
The Best Services Are Constantly Expanding
Elite VPN services are not only gaining new customers, but also keeping current customers satisfied. To keep up with the growing number of VPN connections their servers must handle, they are forced to continually expand. There are two different phases of expansion to look for. The easiest to track is server locations. The best VPN services not only provide a variety of server locations to choose from at the outset, but continually add new server locations over time. A growing number of server locations are an excellent sign the service is expanding to increase customer satisfaction.
A more difficult type of expansion to track is the actual number of servers per location. In most cases, the only way to uncover this information is by following the service provider’s blog, press releases, and industry news websites.
The Best Services Offer a Free Trial
Another great sign a VPN provider is confident in their service is the availability of a free trial. Free trials are only financially feasible for VPN services which know most of the people who give them a try will actually sign up for a paid account. Plus, since users have the ability to try out the service before buying they can gain hands-on experience. Actually trying a VPN service is the only sure-fire way for a customer to know if they will be satisfied before committing to a paid plan.
Elite Services Have Complete Control over Their Infrastructure
A surprisingly small number of VPN service providers have complete control over their own infrastructure. Most VPN services rent bandwidth and servers from a larger third party hosting company. They also rely on third party software to maintain the network. The best services own all of their servers and use customized software which was developed in-house. By owning and maintaining the infrastructure, elite VPN services are more reactive to their customer’s needs. This is an essential ability to provide long-term customer satisfaction.
The Best Services Go the Extra Mile for Current Customers
One characteristic which is difficult to measure is how much a service provider really cares about current customers. Lower quality providers know that most of their customers won’t be around for an extended period of time. This forces them to focus all of their efforts on recruiting new customers rather than keeping current customers happy. Small things like quality customer support, online tutorials, step-by-step setup guides, and 24-7 support are all signs a VPN service has invested resources in keeping current customers satisfied.
As it gets more difficult to separate the best services based on features alone, customers must take a closer look at what is really being offered. By paying closer attention to characteristics which are often overlooked, savvy customers can find elite VPN service providers with the ability to provide quality, long-term VPN access.
Fred Orwen is a writer with an interest in various internet services and technologies such as the VPN service in China noted above. His articles provide information on online security, privacy, and freedom.