Choosing a Web Host – What should be the criteria?

Choosing the right web host is most critical task of web site development. Once you develop, upload and add your site to search engine, its difficult to move to another host. It's always good to do the thing right at first place. Our visitors ask us all the time, what should be the criteria of picking a web hosting company. We have created a checklist. Almost all web host servers and plans that are listed in 100 Plus Cheap Web Hosting Directory (www.100PlusCheapWebHosting.com) met this criteria but it's always good to cross check with hosting company which you are planning to choose.

Price and Features

Price and features are always a major factor in choosing web host. Are you getting the features that you are suppose to get for the price you are paying? Higher price do not mean that you will get best host. On the other hand don't fall for any plan by just looking at the low price. Do the homework first, make list of features that you need for your web site. Now hunt for the plans that meet your requirement with economical budget. Many hosting companies offer low price web hosting plans that looks very attractive. In return they provide very less bandwidth and disk space, or very few features. You may be charge additional fee for extra bandwidth, disk space or any particular feature you need. If you add up these additional fees you may be paying than you would if you had signed up for a plan that included more features and bandwidth. Use our price and feature compression of 100 Plus Cheap Web Hosting to select right plan for you.

Support
Technical support is another big factor in picking a host. As i said earlier higher price do not mean that you will get best host in the world. However, higher price mean you may get a good chance of getting better technical support because they have money to hire people to provide round the click (24/7) technical support. Also consider what level of technical support hosting company is providing, toll free or round the clock (24/7), and email support or just only online manuals. Ask yourself, how comfortable are you with company that provides only online manual as technical support? Hosting companies that do not provides technical support is not worth considering.

Uptime
If you are running a web business or commercial website you would not want to take any chance. Bad support and downtime would be the worst nightmare for you. Many visitors ask me what is the meaning of 99.5% uptime guarantee? Its simply mean your site will be up and running for 99.5% of the time and if it goes down more then 0.5% of the time, hosting company will refund you money for down period. The best is 100% uptime (which I don't think any company can offer). Most of the hosting company offers 99.5% uptime but anything lest then 99.5% is not worth considering.

Reviews and Feedback
Use this directory or similar directory to find out feedback about web hosting companies. Lots of unsatisfied customers means there is some issue with technical support of hosting company. Try to gather as much information as possible.

Money Back Guarantee
It's nice to have money back. If you are not satisfies you can always take you money and go to some other company. Most of the company offer money back guarantee of 2 weeks to 3 months. If any company that meet all the above criteria and offer money back guarantee, definitely worth considering.

Conclusion
Selecting the right hosting provider for you depends on your individual needs. A hosting account that is perfect for me not be suitable for you. There are thousands of host and each company offer different plan with varying features. If you sincerely do you homework, figure out your requirements and need and evaluate companies based upon above criteria, you should be satisfied with your hosting company.

And finally..
Good luck for choosing a right web hosting company.