If you are really serious in earning money online then having your own website is a must! For those who started out blogging, just like me, they know how addicting and how fast your online experience can be. And if you have been doing your homework, youll know how massive the earning potential is online. Soon you will no longer be contented with a blog, you will realize how it can be limiting in terms of your earning potential. That is when owning a website comes in and just as important is choosing the right host. A poor web host can very much affect the potential of your website. To help you in choosing the right host, look out for these characteristics.

Versatility - Your web host should be compatible with windows, linux and mac, if theyre not then that means they have a poor system. Go ahead and choose another host.

Reliability and Support - Uptime is of utmost importance! No matter how great the features are if theyre always down then its useless. Ask around in forums for a feedback on your chosen host. If the web host themselves have their own forum then that is great, that means they are confident enough to be open for criticisms. 24/7 support is a must for providers, if they dont. DONT!

Web space and Bandwidth - Web space is important so youll know how many pages you can have in your site, for beginners smaller web space is ok but if youre business is growing then youll need a bigger space, so right from the start go for those that offer larger web space. Bandwidth determines how much traffic you get, its the amount of bytes transferred from your site to your visitors. As your site becomes popular you are going to need more and more bandwidth. So again, right from the start go for those that offer larger bandwidth or else youll get charged extra for exceeding your limit.

FTP Access and Website Builder - Creating your own website can be a difficult job especially for beginners (just like me). Having a website builder is an added plus which I think is important but this has its limitations as well, as you become an expert in building websites these free website builders might not have the facility you need, so an FTP access is a must so you can upload your pages.

Domains and Sub-Domains - How many domains and sub-domains will you be able to host. The more, the better.

Scripting - PHP, CGI-BIN, .htaccess, SSI, TELNET, CRONTABS, mySQL. Make sure that your host supports all these. CGI-BIN is used to run scripts like counters, guest books etc.. If you want to add a database on your site you will need mySQL/PHP support. .htaccess is needed so you can customize error pages, cron jobs are needed for those programs that are run periodically.

E-commerce Readiness - Youll never know when you might think of setting up a store. If youre host does not support this then youll go through the hassle of choosing another host for your store. SSL is required so you can collect credit card information from your site, a shopping cart and oscommerce would be nice.

E-mail, POP3, Mail Forwarder, Auto responder - Most redirect your emails to you. Having a POP3 allows you to connect directly to their servers and get your messages.

Nice to haves - like fantastico install popular scripts in your site like blogs, portals/CMS, discussion boards, image galleries etc..

These are the must haves when choosing your web host and this need not be expensive. There is no perfect host but whats important is, how they treat you as a customer, how willing they are and how fast they are in fixing any problems that you might have.

I made some comparisons and chose 5 web hosting companies to recommend. I researched on them and compared features with other providers. Check them out on my website and do some comparison yourself. Whichever company you go to, will be a right choice.