Obviously you want to get a fair deal and not overpay. The trick is to strike a balance so that you get a good deal that matches your needs. There is no point in paying $50 a month if a $5 a month plan would be more than enough, but you don't want to pay $5 a month if you need a $50 a month plan to meet your needs!

The availability of your website is the most important factor in your customers visiting it. It is important to note though that all web hosts have downtime from time to time. If you have a mission critical e-commerce site where every minute of downtime results in lost revenues this can be an especially important factor. Anything over 99.5% uptime is excellent.

Your web disk storage (or data storage) is where HTML files, graphics, audio clips, e-mail, and all other files that make up your web site are stored. The amount of disk storage you need depends on what your web site will be used for. If you will only be publishing text, 1MB of storage is equal to approximately 100 pages of text. However most Web sites include graphics and as your online business grows, you may also include interactive customer features which use significantly more storage. Another reason you may need more disk storage is if you are offering software or audio/video files for your visitors to download. You would then need to store these products within your allotted disk storage space.

Data transfer is the amount of data transmitted over an Internet connection in a given time. It is used up by traffic to your Web site and also sending and receiving e-mail. The amount of data transfer that you will need depends on two factors: The size of your site and the popularity of your site. If your Web site provides large audio/video files, computer programs, and audio / video downloads then you should consider a package with a large amount of data transfer. Flash Web sites and Virtual Reality (VR) sites require the most data transfer of all.

The number of e-mail boxes and the features that you are given with these boxes are important features to compare. Some features could include virus and spam protection, Web Mail, POP and SMTP access, e-mail aliases and e-mail forwarding.

If you will not be downloading your email using a local email software program such as Microsoft Outlook then you will need to make sure that your provider will you give you enough storage space for your emails.

Web server log file analysis programs enable you to monitor your Web site's performance and can be used to produce usage reports that can be viewed in a standard Web browser.

For security purposes, it is a very good idea to use a host that carries out regular backups of your website and database and that will do restorations as part of their technical support service.

If you have chosen to use a backend programming language in the development of your site you will need to make sure that your hosting provider you will be able to place your site on a server that supports the technologies you have used.

If you have chosen to use a database driven site then you will need to make sure that your hosting provider will be able to provide you with such a database and that the databases will be big enough to support the amount of data that you wish to store.

So that your website will be readily available you will want to find a hosting provider with a good network infrastructure and with suitable backup procedures in place such as uninterupted power supplies (UPS) and backup generators. If data protection is important you will also want a provider that uses appropriate security procedures.