IP Address - Often, a web host will cram dozens or even hundreds of websites onto one IP address. This is not good for your business. If one or more of these sites sends out SPAM, the IP address and domain of that particular website will be placed on a blocked list which means that any email from this site will be blocked, deleted or filtered in some way. If your site shares the same IP address, your email may also be blocked, deleted or filtered! Don't risk it, make sure your site has its own unique IP address. It may cost extra or be available only with higher priced plans, but the security is worth it. You do not need to be worrying about what other sites on your server are doing!
Upgradability - Ability to upgrade to a plan with more web space and bandwidth as well as the ability to upgrade to a dedicated server if your business should go through the roof.
Secure Server - Ability to purchase and install your own security certificate to use for your shopping cart or secure forms.
24/7 Tech Support - Support methods such as support ticket area, email and chat should be some of the methods available 24/7, even better, get telephone support 24/7.
Telephone Support - A good host will have a toll free phone number where you will be able to talk to someone should you need to. Let's say you plan a huge promotion campaign with pay per click services and Sunday afternoon, your site goes down. You NEED a phone number to call and be able to notify your host immediately and ask them what is going on. Sometimes the host may not notice that your site or other sites are down until you let them know, even though they should be monitoring their servers!
Knowledge Base - A knowledge base or FAQ area with answers to the most frequently asked questions, control panel help, startup help, FTP help and other information.
Forums - The host should have public forums where support questions may be posted publicly and where news and announcements can be read. This presence of this feature generally means that the support of the company is above average and that they will be more attentive to your needs since the posts in a forum are made available for other customers and potential customers to see. This keeps the company in check as far as their support.
Good Reputation - Check web hosting review forums. Do a search for the host's name to find any threads talking about the host. Few hosts will have 100% excellent feedback, but any host you consider should have generally very good feedback that is also recent. Also, check with the BBB and other consumer complaint companies to make sure your host is not listed. Some hosts have a VERY bad reputation for dealing with customers, so it is best to avoid these at all costs.
Spam Filters - Every business deals with SPAM. Make sure your hosting plan features some way to filter your email and that you have control over this. Sometimes the SPAM filters will be too strong and may not allow email from certain customers to come through. Make sure you have the ability to turn the filters off completely if needed so that you can make sure you are receiving all of your email. Then you can use a program on your computer to filter or sort the SPAM from legitimate emails.
Control Panel - You should be able to see a demo of the control panel you will be getting with your hosting plan. Try it out and look at the features. Make sure it is easy to understand and will be easy to administer for you.
This article is straight forward and to the point. It is a result of lessions learned over the past year of launching many websites. You can find a wealth of information about web hosting at Web Hosting Home, http://www.webhostinghome.com
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