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Choosing a web hosting company is a decision that you have to make carefully while taking into consideration factors other than price. If you ever decide to move to a different web host after your site has been established, it may take considerable time and effort to move your site to the new server. There are literally thousands of web hosting companies that exist today so this makes it even more confusing to the uninitiated webmaster.

1. Focusing only on the cheapest price.

The trap that many aspiring work-from-home small business owners fall into is shopping for a web host based on the one that can provide the lowest price. This is understandable given the desire of the business owners to save money. However, the money spent on web hosting should be seen as an investment that will provide a return once the business is established.

2. Not considering the responsiveness of technical support.

Another aspect to consider is the responsiveness of the technical support. Some companies offer a variety of ways to contact them for support including phone, email, ticketing system, and even live chat. You should find out if there is personal support during non-business hours. Imagine if you have a problem on a weekend and no one can help you until Monday morning. If you are running an e-commerce site, you could be losing a lot of sales.

3. Is there such a thing as unlimited bandwidth and unlimited space?

The short answer here is 'No'. Many web hosts promise unlimited bandwidth or unlimited storage even on shared hosting packages. The term bandwidth here refers to the amount of data transmission used by your site. All servers have a limited amount of storage and the wires or optical fiber that carry data have limited capacity. So it is unreasonable to expect unlimited storage space or bandwidth. You should estimate how much storage and bandwidth you need for your site before you start shopping for a web host. Be wary of the web host that offers unlimited storage and bandwidth for some ridiculous price like $5/month.

4. Not thinking ahead. Can you upgrade to a different package?

Plan ahead for your hosting needs as your business grows. While a shared hosting package may be sufficient for your current needs, will you be able to upgrade to a virtual private server or even a dedicated server as your site traffic grows? How difficult and complicated will the transition be? If your web host only offers shared hosting packages, they may be a reseller. Looking ahead with a view of long term growth, it may be wise to select an upgradeable package from the start.

5. Not making sure that the company will be around for a long time.

This is tied to the last point about having a long term view. You can do some investigation into the background of the web hosting company. How long have they been in business? Who are the owners of the company? Will they still be around in 5 years? It would be an inconvenience to have to move your site to a different server every so often. A little research in the beginning will pay off in the long run.

So as you can see, there are many factors to take into consideration when you select a web host. One last thing is to try asking current customers of the particular company about their experience with them. In general, if there are a lot of disgruntled customers you should probably avoid that company. Remind yourself of these pointers every time you look for a web hosting company and you will save yourself a lot of grief.

About the author:

Hock is interested in all aspects of internet marketing. If you enjoyed this article, you will find more reviews of internet marketing tools at the Marketing Tools Review blog where topics such as pay-per-click advertising and generating an income through affiliate marketing are discussed.