1. Disk Space.
Nowadays the availability of disk space is not an issue as generally the entire web hosting companies are offering quite enough amount of disk space. If there is a simple website, then it only requires 50 MB space where as a web site that hosts lots of images or video and sound files, then it requires a few hundred MB of space. If a user desires to store his/her emails on the server he/she will requires more space.
2. Bandwidth.
Generally most of the websites only requires 2 GB of traffic per month. If one’s website is a high traffic site, then he/she should look for more bandwidth. One should also confirm about extra charges and also about their policy regarding crossing the provided limit.
3. OS.
At very often circumstances one wants to choose a UNIX based system. These systems are generally very steady and more secured than their Windows counterpart. Generally some users use Windows hosting only if they require it for ASP or ASP.NET scripting or for some other cause.
4. Speed.
Before going for any of the company users should check out that what type of connection they have to the Internet as well as what kind of services they use to provide their customers. Users should ask them for their sample sites in order to check the loading time.
5. Reliability.
User should go for the company offering maximum uptime guarantee in their hosting packages. User should not sign up with package that offers the uptime less than 99.99%. Any kind of problem can arise any time such as the problem with the server and so on, but it is important to watch out how quickly these complications are resolved. User should check out the past work history of that particular company.
6. Shell Access.
If anyone expects that he/she can need shell access, then he/she should check its availability. There are many web hosts that are not able to provide this feature.
7. Scripting Languages allowed and Databases.
Before going for any of the package user should check out that is the package is having all the required features or not. Make it confirm that does it have CGI access. If one wants to install a script, then he/she should make it sure that the hosting package should supports the language as well as the user should also check out the type of database to be used. Most UNIX based plans should have CGI, PHP, Perl, MYSQL included and most Windows plans should have ASP, ASP.NET, MS SQL and support Access databases.
8. Statistics.
The hosting package one is going to choose should also provide the software to see statistical information. User should directly ask from the company about the services they are offering as well as he/she should also investigate whether they contain all the information he/she requires.
9. Support.
This is very crucial factor to look at. User should check for both phone and email/ticket support methods. If phone charges are an issue, then user should ask for a toll-free number. The most important thing to look for in the potential Web Host is the time it takes for solving the technical problem. If this issue is not sorted earlier then it will be too late to check or complain about this, once a problem has occurred. A company is said to be a good company if it responds quickly. Most of the support departments do not belong to the user’s web design reference section so they used to charge to fix design mistakes.
10. Server Location.
The location of one’s server play’s a very crucial role in the access speed. It is very important that the server of the user should be at the place from where the user is working. Suppose if the user is in U.K then his/her server should also be in U.K.
11. Price.
The last but not the least factor is price, as one should always get what he/she has paid for. If one is spending less than $10 a month, then he/she will get the services of that level only. If any site goes down as due to the issue regarding the server, then one should not expect that the hosting company would pay even a single penny. If a user has got a high revenue website, a shared hosting plan is out of the question and he/she should look for a custom package with redundancy built in.
