BUYER'S GUIDE: OTHER FACTORS IN SELECTING WEB HOSTING PLAN

Once you've decided whether you want to host on a shared computer or one dedicated to your web site(s), you will need to consider a whole range of other factors which may influence your choice of a hosting service provider and plan:

ADDITIONAL FEATURES

Software. What will you be using? The web hosting provider often installs some software, but this is usually not enough for the normal operation of your website. Check that you will be allowed to install extra software. If not, make sure the web hosting provider provides everything you need.
Access. How will the web site be accessible? Try to determine whether you'll need ssh, telnet, FTP, pcAnywhere or any other type of access. You should also decide whether you will provide your visitors with the ability to connect to the site securely (via https).
E-mail access. What kind of email (mailing lists, CGI-email, etc.) will you be using? What will you be allowed to install? What comes already installed?

REPUTATION

After finding a short list of plans that satisfy your needs as described above, you should do some basic background checks on the providers you are considering. For providers featured on our site, we already did some research for you and included company information that we found - its size, employee base, revenues and so on.

YOUR PROVIDER's CONNECTIVITY

The quality of the connection and the existence of redundant lines are another top priority. You should avoid those companies that don't disclose their network capacity (i.e. the total bandwidth available through their networks) and those whose capacity falls below the T-3 level (roughly 45 Mpbs). Most large providers have significantly better connections.

SUPPORT AND CUSTOMER SERVICE

The quality of customer service and the responses of other clients are also worth looking into. This may not be easy to predict in advance, especially since the sales team and the customer support team are often completely separate (in other words, the friendly salesman you talked to will usually not be the one on the phone when you have a problem or a question). That's the area where small providers may actually have a slight advantage - at least, you are more likely to deal with only one or two people. On the other hand, smaller companies may not be able to provide 24x7 support.