One of the most important decisions that any business that would like to have an online presence makes is choosing the best hosting provider. These days, there are plenty of web hosting providers around - so how do you go about choosing the best one for your requirements?

Like any industry these days, there are always going to be providers that are trustworthy and reliable, while some are just a pure nightmare. In addition, with many great sales people and marketing campaigns out there - how do you separate the good webhosting companies from the bad companies? As a result, it can be a difficult task to figure out which web host is the best.

Below are some ideas on what you should be looking for when choosing your web host:

Disk Space: A web host service provider will assign you a particular amount of space on their server. Beware of companies who claim they provide unlimited amounts of disk or web space, because there are usually hidden terms and conditions related to it, or they just do not live up to their promises. You will need to make sure that you have enough space for your business requirements. Some companies may just need a simple website, while other 'heavier' websites such as e-commerce websites or those which use plenty of graphics and videos would need much more space.

Data Transfer: Also known as bandwidth, you need to ensure that your web hosting provider will provide you with enough bandwidth for fast and efficient data transfer.

Speed, Reliability and Security: These 3 issues are very important for the success of any online business. After all, you will need to ensure that people can access your website fast otherwise it will be frustrating to use. It is important that it's both reliable and secure, and that customer details will not be easily hacked into or leaked. As a result, you should choose a reliable web hosting service to ensure that this will not happen. You may be wondering how you are supposed to choose the right web host that fulfills all these 3 categories. In this case, you should consider looking for feedback from friends or family members who may be familiar with web hosting providers.

Support: Can you imagine living with a web hosting provider that provides terrible customer service? Some companies do provide basic 24/7 support, however more technical issues would require a few days to investigate. Do you prefer talking on the telephone to someone, typing over live chat, or would you prefer email contact? Some companies do provide all three, but smaller companies may only provide one or two contact options. If you need 24/7 technical support, you would most likely need to pay a bit more due to the cost of labor.

Price: The pricing plan is one of the major factors when choosing a web hosting provider. It is not necessarily true that more expensive web hosting providers are the best. In fact, many of the smaller web hosting providers are just as good as the bigger companies.