You have a website to launch and cannot decide which web host to choose. Web hosting companies have mushroomed all over the world making it difficult to choose between them. There are several types of web hosting services that range from free to very costly. Which one is good for you? Will it offer value for money? Which hosting service is reliable? Whom should you ask for help in case of trouble?

All these questions are bound to come to your mind when you have to get your site online. We will find an answer to all of them here by giving you valuable tips on choosing the best web hosting service. But before that you must work out your requirements and decide which kind of hosting you need. Moreover, it would be helpful if you have a list of features that you expect your web hosting service to have. Once this homework is done, you will precisely know what to look for while choosing a good web hosting service that fulfills all your preferences and budget too.

When you start out to search for a reliable ‘web hosting’ service, you will naturally try to find one on Google or some other search engine. The results are mind-boggling in number and you cannot possibly browse through all those 2, 24, 45, 897 results for finalizing a web hosting service! To narrow down your search you can try keying in specific keyword phrases in the search box for better results that you are actually looking for. For instance, if you have decided on ‘managed dedicated server’ hosting, then enter this key phrase for a search. Another option is to browse through the Open Directory’s ‘web hosting’ category.
Of course, friends and co-workers might be helpful in such cases for advice and recommendations. You can benefit from their experience with various web hosting services and then take a decision. Sometimes it so happens that the company which you are thinking is reliable from the first look at their website might have given a tough time to your colleague for his website. So it is always better to consult others who have launched their website for business or personal purposes and then consider a web hosting company.

This exhaustive search will lead to some refined results. You can visit the company’s website and get an idea of how they work and the various services offered by them. While you are doing this, keep the list of your requirements handy so that you can check out which company offers everything you need in features, budget and other aspects. Some of these companies also offer a free quote so try that and see the response. It is possible that you have the names of about at least ten web hosting companies at this stage that you think are good to work with.

But how can you know if they are trustworthy? What is the guarantee that the company actually has the 99.9% uptime that it claims to have?

There is one solution for this — Forums and newsgroups. Yes, you can know a lot about several hosting companies by taking part in discussions on forums and newsgroups. There are people who have been a customer or are presently using a hosting company’s service on such forums. You can ask them about their experience and opinion of a particular company. However, you should remember to participate in a forum that is independent. This means that is not related in any way or sponsored by any web hosting company. If it is supported by a hosting service, there are chances that the views expressed there would be biased and favorable to the company’s goodwill. So if you are looking for frank opinions and unbiased reviews, an autonomous forum is the way to go. All you need to do is search for the hosting company’s name using the list you have created on these forums. Check out whether these companies enjoy a respectable position in the industry.

Here are some suggestions of reliable forums and newsgroups that can be of use to you:

-> WebHostingTalk Forums: These are one of the oldest forums and resourceful too.

-> Web Host Directory Forums: If you are looking for forums that have user experiences of several web hosts, these forums are perfect.

-> Alt.www.webmaster newsgroup: This is a newsgroup where you can share everything concerned with managing a website. You can also get good advice on web hosting here.

So after your tryst with these forums and newsgroups you will get a fair idea of which company can be trusted for your website. The next thing to consider is the physical placement of the web server. Many times it has been found that though the hosting company is in your country, their web server might be located elsewhere! Also, web hosting is economical in the US than other countries of the West. If your website is going to have users and visitors majorly from the US, this is beneficial.

On the other hand, when you need technical assistance for your website, this turns out to be a costly proposition as you have to spend a lot on international phone calls. Moreover, if your email is hosted on this web server, or if you require using SSH often, a web server located in your country is always helpful. This is because it will take lesser time for processing requests.

All these efforts will result in a list of a few selected prospective web hosting companies. At this stage you must contact the company’s sales and technical support executives via the toll-free number, if any, or through the website. Remember to ask all your technical queries to them before you actually buy their service. Evaluate the time taken to respond and quality of their response. Also find out how eager they are to help you out as a probable customer. If you are happy the way they deal with you, then do choose the company as your web host.