There are literally thousands of Web Hosting companies on the Internet and they each offer different options and variations of things like cost, reliability, storage space, customer service, and security.

With so many hosting companies to choose from, how do you know which ones are OK and which ones to avoid?

First of all, you want to go with a company that has been around for awhile and has a good reputation.
Secondly, getting the lowest price is not always the best deal. Lower prices can mean lower quality of service, especially customer service.
I would not recommend using a business that is run by an individual who acquired some Server space and is trying to rent it out for "bottom dollar" in order to make a little money. Why not? Because you want a company that can give you quality support and somebody working our of their basement is not going to give you great service
Mainly, you want a company that can provide 24/7 quality technical support and good, reliable customer service. Unless you are willing to have your web service down for a couple of days while the company tries to figure out what is wrong, you'd better look elsewhere for a good service provider

Seven Things You Should Find Out About a Hosting Company

When you consider a hosting company, you need to ask some questions. By doing this, you'll get a feeling of how easy they are to work with and how good of a company they really are:

Response Time:
How quickly do they respond to your questions, either by phone or email. Can you get a real person on the phone or online immediately? If you can't get an answer within 24 hours, then you'd better look for another company.
Adequate Information:
How complete are their answers to your questions. Does the support person seem to know what they are talking about? Are they able to answer your questions, or do you have to keep asking the same question, or similar questions in order to get enough information?
Understandable Information:
How understandable are the answers? Do they have poor language skills? If you can't understand what they say or they use so much techno-jargon you don't know what they are talking about, then how helpful do you think they'll be if you have a real problem and really need their help?
Is there Negative Criticism:
Check out Blogs and Discussion Groups on the web, as well as searching for the Company name in one of the search engines.

This is a good way to get some opinions on the company. Look for negative criticism. You have to be careful about depending totally on Good Opinions from online people because they might be promoting a particular company as an affiliate. Meaning, they get a commission from the company if they can get you to sign up for services, using a link that they provide.
Basic Services:
Can they give you the basic services you will need for your website? The most important thing is that you can get the services you need. You don't want to have your website almost ready to go online and then find out that you can't get a particular service that is critical to the success of your website. Like a shopping cart.
If you plan on using certain programs and languages on your website, then make sure their hosting set up can provide them.
See the page on Web Servers and Hosting Services to see the kinds of services you may need from a hosting company.
Extras:
You should also be aware of the extras that come with their hosting package, like Blogs, Statistics and Photo Albums. Do they give you everything you will need? Different companies offer different extras. This is where checking out more than one company can give you something to compare.
Reasonable Price:
And finally, the cost. Can they provide everything you need for a reasonable price. If you are new to hosting services, then you should compare the prices of at least two, and preferably, at least three other companies to see how the prices stack up. The company you decide to go with doesn't have to have the lowest price, but they shouldn't be the highest either.
If you see a price that beats the pants off of everyone else, be very cautious. Remember, you usually get what you pay for and a rock bottom price could mean that you will get sub-par services.

Still Undecided?

Travelling the Internet road to find a Web Hosting Company If you are uncertain about who you should choose as a hosting company, below are three companies that meet the criteria. They are Reliable, Well Known and can be Trusted. They are all full-fledged Hosting companies that are in the business of providing a full range of dependable Web Hosting services, products, and 24/7 support for a reasonable price

I would not recommend any company that I would not use myself and I am not making any money off of these recommendations.

Hostgator - www.hostgator.com
GoDaddy - www.godaddy.com
Register.com - www.register.com

NOTE: Many hosting companies will offer two different monthly prices for the same plan. The higher monthly price is what you pay if you pay them once a month. The lower monthly price is what it costs you if you have a minimum one year agreement, although you don't pay the lower price by the month, you pay for the entire 12 months up front.

This list is just to give you a few suggestions to start with. There are many good hosting companies on the web. But, before you decide on any company, go to their website and check out their latest details. Plans change quite often.

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