Web Hosting companies are facing a tough time, these days. While the demand for web hosting has been continuously rising, the competition is rising much faster. On top of this, consumers are becoming more savvy, demanding and price conscious. So there is cut throat competition and web hosting providers have dropped their rates like never before. So much, so that now a fairly decent hosting plan costs just about a couple of bucks per month, or even less. Unfortunately, the bad news is that more web hosting companies are folding and closing shop then ever before. In such situations, how do you know whom to sign up with? While I won't be recommending any particular webhost, I'll certainly give you some pointers for what to look out for:

First of all, you should check with your known friends and associates and ask them who they host with. If their rates are reasonable and they're hosting with them for a long time, you should enquire about their uptime and support turn around time. While you won't be able to control this, you should also check out what type of support is offered. If you're a computer savvy person and won't require much support, you can opt for a cheaper host. But if you're trying to design your own website and will require a lot of hand holding support in terms of HTML errors, help with getting around using their control panel, etc, then you should opt for a host that provides this type of support. Just don't expect them to come cheap.

Think of it – suppose someone buys one of your products or services after a lot of haggling around with the price and also turns out to be very much demanding for after sales support, how will you feel? The same will apply to hosting providers. And since most people who purchase a web hosting account do so after checking out some rates, comparing them and finally ordering online, these web hosting providers don't usually publish negotiable rates. This also means that you should check out what the competition is offering and compare the rates with the ones you have earlier inquired with.

Having said that, you need to do your due diligence by googling the web hosting company's name and check if they have a bad reputation. Remember, not all the bad info you find may not be true as some of it may have been posted by their competitors. So if these is a little pounding but a lot of praises, you can take a chance.

Another thing you need to check out is their money back guarantee. If they have a 30 day no questions asked guarantee, read their terms of service before signing up. If you need a host that offers 24 by 7 support, test them out. You can do this by enquiring during their “night time”. Send them emails and even try calling them up and see if someone picks up the phone.

Having said that, you need to understand that web hosting is a very critical business and they have to bear a lot of expenses in terms of support staff, server administrators, ISP costs, etc. A 99.9% uptime guarantee is a very decent one, but check the fine print. Some hosts exclude lots of stuff that isn't covered, like hardware failure, network failure, etc. Additionally, don't just jump on hosts that offer unlimited plans; you won't be requiring it if you're just starting. Ideally, if you're planning to signup for a yearly plan, you should select a plan that has at least 40% more than what you require. Check if the host also has easy upgrade / downgrade options, so you won't require to be stuck with your initial purchase.

I hope you found this information useful. I wish you good luck in your online business!