Without good hosting, it really doesn’t matter how good a website is. It is necessary to find a good web host right at the start, rather than risk jumping around from host to host after the site is operational. Listed below are some tips that’ll help clarify the factors involved in making this decision.

Reviews: Positive reviews posted on the internet are what keep a web host in business. There are so many hosts and review sites and thousands of reviews, so finding all the reviews for a specific host is a bit tricky. Easiest way is to google a host with a query like “xyz hosting reviews” or related combinations. Read many reviews before making a decision, because one review is never going to reveal everything about the host.

Price: Since needs vary, the price is also subjective. Some sites might need more bandwidth and space than the host offers in a standard package. The usual website can make do with shared hosting, but some might need a dedicated server. There are plenty more options that can vary, such as the number of email accounts, or domains and sub-domains that a site needs.

There are plenty of add-ons such as eCommerce tools, design tools, etc. These things may be essential for some websites, in which case the price goes up with each new requirement. It might be a good idea to shop around and find a web host that offers everything required inclusive in the base price.

Windows vs Linux: The server OS is an important choice that need to be made, because it’s hard to switch once the site is operational. Some scripts such as WordPress don’t run on Windows servers. On the other hand, Microsoft’s ASP won’t run on Linux web hosts. If all this doesn’t make much sense, it’s best to look it up now because it gets pretty hard later on if a website needs a blog and it’s hosted on a Windows server.

SEO: Anyone who has run a site for some time on multiple hosts will tell you that search engines respond differently to each host. It’s not some insider game, but simply a result of how the search algorithm responds to certain factors related to the web host. This is why it’s important to know about page loading speeds, Class-C IP addresses and sites hosted in bad neighborhoods. It needs a bit of research and stuffy to understand these concepts, but it is important for those depending on search traffic.

Features: Whatever the needs or price or package, some things should always be available. This includes FTP access, control panel with cPanel or Plesk, email accounts with webmail, script functionality (CGI-BIN, PHP & MySQL), web analytics and access to log files. There are many more features that each host offers, but these are the main ones that most people will need, and if a host if not offering these, then find another one.

In summary, it’s not enough to simply find web hosting at the cheapest price or one that offers a 24 hour support hotline. Choosing a web host is a complex issue, based on price, the website’s purpose and needs, and the reputation of the web host.

We’ve got the inside scoop on how to choose a good webhosting provider now in our complete email hosting guide.