If you have an online business or maybe even several like I do, web hosting can be a significant expense not to mention the fact that reliable web hosting is absolutely crucial to the success of your business. All it takes is a server going down during a big marketing promotion and your reputation suffers. In this article we will explore some of the things to look for in a quality web hosting company for a fair price.

First off let?s get some basics out of the way for those who may not fully understand what web hosting is. Web hosting is simply the place that your website?s files and documents are located which allows your site to be pulled up on the internet. This is why it is crucial that the web host be reliable, if there server isn?t working neither are you.

When you are looking for web hosting online there are so many to choose from that it can be an overwhelming task to try to hone it down to a handful to consider. You need to keep a few things in mind before you get started however, and the first is don?t just go with the cheapest because of that reason. They are the cheapest web host because they aren?t giving certain features so you need to identify basic features that you need before you start shopping.

Some of the basic features that you will want from your web hosting company will be a choice of programming languages, databases, email addresses, bandwidth allowance, disk space and how many domains you are allowed to host. You will also want to know what kind of server and administration or control panel is offered, basically your choices will be Linux or Windows based servers. I prefer Linux servers with Cpanel installed because I am familiar with it and it makes my job a whole lot easier. Linux systems are usually less expensive than comparable Windows web hosting services plus they will offer the MYSQL and PHP programs that you will need for your online business. Most Linux based programming and databases are free, which is another reason why servers offering Linux are less expensive.

It is nearly impossible to find inexpensive web hosting with a Windows based server due to the fact that it cost the hosting company so much to get it in the first place and like anything else in life, that expense is passed on to the end user. To get a Windows based system at the same price as a Linux one you will probably have to give up many features so bear that in mind as well.

When assessing the reliability of a web hosting company do a little research on them, don?t just take their claims of 99% up time on their sales page as gospel. There are many web hosting companies out there that allow spammers to operate on their servers and they end up causing problems for everyone on that server, especially if you are on a shared server that is also sharing a block of IP addresses. You could end up having your site delisted and banned and have your emails blocked because of something someone else is doing.

One way that I like to check out hosting companies support is to either email them or if they have it enabled, have a live chat with them and ask them all my questions. If you email a web hosting company and it takes them awhile to get back to you when you are a prospective client what kind of service do you think they will give you once they have your money?

One of the factors that many people forget about when they are looking for a web host is email. The types of accounts offered along with sizes and limitations are as varied as the web hosting companies are themselves.

Every web host should provide you with the ability to have several email accounts, most will offer up to 10 with a basic low end account. Another feature to look for is a company that offers an account that will accept and hold any email sent to your domain that does not match an email address. This is due to the fact that many people misspell names and such and therefore emails get lost.

You basically have three different email services available to you. The first is probably the one that most are familiar with, the POP or post office protocol works like a normal inbox such as your Outlook Express. You will be given a certain amount of storage space you are allowed but generally can only access from one computer.

The second choice called IMAP or internet message access protocol will allow you to use your email account on many different computers so that you can access it at work and home.

The third choice you have is a web based email which is of course the most flexible, allowing you to access your email from anywhere on the planet with a computer and an internet connection though a web browser. I like having all the options.

The next consideration that you have is on the size limit of storage you have. Nearly every web hosting company will have some sort of restriction on the size of account you can have as well as on the size of messages that can be sent. This is especially crucial if you are using your email to send pictures or documents. One key thing you want to do if you are using outlook or outlook express is to select the notify option for when your email is opened so that you know it was received. Many times if a file is too large you will have no other way of knowing. If you don?t get the notification then you know they didn?t receive your message.

Now, back to actual storage space, you should pick a web host company that offers a reasonable balance between the bandwidth limits and the size of the mailbox storage. For example if you have an account that offers 500MB of bandwidth but only a 3 MB data storage for email accounts.

Another important issue to look for is outgoing email limits. If you are using your account for business you may need to send emails out to a large number of people several times a day, if the system automatically flags that as spam you will not be able to send them. Check the limitations on outgoing mail and be sure it suits your needs.

Having good, capable and reliable web hosting is an extremely important part of running a successful website. When you choose to entrust someone with hosting your website you are depending fully on them to host your website effectively with little or no downtime and fast connectivity so that your visitors can benefit most from what your website has to offer. A bad web host will lead to little up-time so that your website is not always available to see, and slow loading time of your pages, in some cases so much so that your visitor will become so frustrated and bored that he or she will click off your page without looking.

All websites are different and you need to think carefully about what type of website you are trying to run. Is it a website which requires a large amount of web space and monthly data transfer (bandwidth)? Does your website require the use of programming languages such as PHP and CGI/Perl? You need to think carefully about what requirements your website needs, and if you do not know, then find out by doing some research or asking the advice of a professional.

However, there are certain attributes that a web hosting provider should have so that you get the most out of your website and have as little problems as possible. Before considering buying web hosting, make sure the web host has these features.

- A good online support system. Check that the company you are looking to host with will reply to your questions promptly, because particularly if you are new to the internet, you will have many questions to ask and you?ll want answers quickly so that you can progress quickly and efficiently. Additionally, in the event of a problem with your website, you need it to be fixed quickly because 3 days of down-time on your website could lead to missed visitors and sales.

- A 100% money back guarantee. This is important because often a web hosting deal can look great from the outside, but when you actually buy the hosting it disappoints you and does not work efficiently with your website. With a money back guarantee, you can easily reclaim your money and look somewhere else without any financial loss.

- Good server up-time (the percentage of time the server is active and displaying websites onto the internet). This is extremely important. Always look for server uptime of 99.9% and nothing less, because server downtime leads to missing visitors, hassle, and losing profits.

Here are some other things you should be thinking about when choosing your web hosting provider ?

- Does that web hosting provider support the necessary internet languages your website?s needs. If your website has any complicated scripts, such as ecommerce systems then make sure that your web hosting provider supports PHP and CGI/Perl.

- If your website requires the use of PHP then you will probably need access to a number of MySQL databases so make sure that your web hosting provider gives you plenty with your package.

- If you are running multiple domain names on the internet at the same time then think about choosing a web hosting provider which will host all your domains in one account. This will make your businesses and websites a lot more efficient and less time consuming.