Web hosting is available from many businesses, and the quality of service varies widely. Your website is only as reliable as your web host. If the host’s server goes down, your website goes down. That is why you need to select your host very carefully to minimize problems and frustration. Read this article for some advice on what you should think about when choosing a web host.

First, think about much file space your website will need. Do not just stop at what you need now. You need to project your future needs as well. Things like image and video files will require a lot of space. Look at what your web host plan offers you, and determine if that is enough.

Also look at how much data transfer is included per month in your hosting package. Every time a web visitors visits one of your webpages, data is transferring as your web page content loads. That includes text and all image files. If you have any sound or videos on auto-load, that data will be transferred as well. All this adds up to the total data transfer in term of bytes per month. If your website was especially busy and you go over your plan’s data transfer limits, you will probably be assessed an additional charge.

Ask your host if their servers run on Unix or Windows. Since this runs at the server level, it probably does not matter to you if the servers are operating with no problems. However, Unix servers are known to be more stable. That means more uptime for the servers and less chance of your website going down.

A good hosting package should include tools for you to manage many aspects of your website administration. Such tools are often made available through your web account’s control panel. You should at least have access to uploading and downloading of your web files. A backup utility should also be included. A control panel can include many popular “nice to have” features, like an easy blog installation, email list management, even a shopping cart function.

If you are going to be selling products from your website, you will need to make sure that SSL is available from your host for the secure transmission of your customer’s information.

Another thing to consider is whether or not the servers and tech support are in-house. Many hosts actually outsource these. When you call or email tech support, you could be conversing with someone from another country. If the servers are not in-house, troubleshooting may take a little longer.

Ask your host about its backup protocol for its clients. In the unfortunate event that your website got corrupted, a backup can be used to restore the original files.

These are things to consider when you are evaluating a web host. Make your comparison carefully, and do not just go with the one offering the cheapest rate. You get what you pay for. For something as important as the website for you company, you should select the best one that you can afford.