Here's a checklist you should use to get you started on the right path?.

1.Have they got fast servers if you need a website for business reasons you really don't need a slow loading webpage, people on the internet don't have much patience and if it's too slow loading they ain't gonna hang around.

2.How much web space are you going to get. Although starting off you may not think you'll want need all that much but as time goes by and more and more content is added to keep your website up to date, it can all start to add up. Check out the fine print first, how much will that extra cost you. You don't want the inconvenience of having to uproot everything and have to move it somewhere else!

3.Have you access to the raw server logs. You need unrestricted access to these logs to answer the following questions. Where are your costumers coming from? Where did they come from? What pages are they hitting? What pages are they leaving from? What's your daily traffic?

4.Will you have full e-mail service? Are they providing POP mailboxes and email aliases? These are a standard feature almost everywhere so don't be surprised if you're offered these, you should be.

5.What are their downtime reports like? Is it 99%, 100%, although its hard for any company to say that they have 100% uptime, you really need to know that your website will be up and constantly running because if its not there nobody's going to be able to buy from you and it can make you look a bit unprofessional.

6.Send them an e-mail first before setting up an account. How long did you have to wait for a reply? If things go badly and your websites down you need to know that someone is there for you to help solve your problems!

7.How long do you have to sign up for? Is there a minimum length of time, for example month to month? If things start to go wrong at least you know you can walk away from them and start afresh somewhere else.

8.How long have they been they been established? You really need to know that you can trust their services. When you really think about it if your business was a bricks and mortar business, you'd really look around first before just renting out any old building!!