Everyone who wants to have a presence on the web (and if you're in business, that means YOU) needs to host their site somewhere. I explained why that is so in a recent Web 101 article on hosting. So, you know you need one, but how do you go about choosing one? After all, you see ads for web hosting all over the Internet with prices ranging from a few dollars a month and up (and up). Which one is right for you?

First of all there are really only 3 main categories of web hosting: dedicated hosting, virtual dedicated hosting, and shared hosting. Dedicated hosting means that your site and your site alone is the only one that resides on a single physical server. The benefits are that you often get to configure the server in a more custom way and the only activity and traffic that affects your site is your own. That being said, dedicated hosting is very expensive (usually $80/month and UP) and not something the typical small or solo business owner needs. Virtual dedicated hosting gives you the administrative power of dedicated hosting without being the sole site on a given server. Pricing for virtual dedicated servers are in the midrange ($30/mo and up). Shared hosting, on the other hand, is just what it says -- multiple sites are hosted on a single physical server. This is the hosting most people use because it is very cost effective and can start as low as $4/month for a small, basic package. The only conceivable downside to shared hosting is that what one site on a server does (traffic, etc.) can affect others. However, it has been my experience that for most small to medium size sites it is sufficient assuming you choose a good hosting company.

What makes a hosting company good? In my opinion there are key services you need from your host in order to effectively and reliably house your business' Internet presence.

Reliability and Monitoring

If your site is not up and available you are not in business on the web. Therefore, your host should have a very high uptime statistic (like 99% or above). Any scheduled outages should be well communicated, short, and at off-peak times (think middle of the night US time). Unscheduled problems should be resolved quickly and efficiently. In addition, ensure that the hosting company monitors its servers 24X7. In this day and age of pagers, automatic performance monitoring, and alert systems, you shouldn't be the one having to call them and inform them of a problem. They should know the minute it happens (or before) and be handling it ASAP. Let's face it things can and do happen, you just want to make sure it is a very rare exception and is handled promptly and appropriately.

24X7 Free Support

You should have access to your host's support team not only via e-mail or live chat but also by telephone 24X7. You shouldn't have to wait an eternity in the queue either. Personally I consider waiting any more than 10 minutes to be a total joke (and I'm being generous). When you get someone on the phone they should be knowledgeable, easy to understand (as in speak plain English without techno babble or an accent so thick that a ginzu knife couldn't cut it), and willing to do what it takes to help you. (Before you start commenting that I am taking a dig at diversity, I love all the exciting differences that fall into the big melting pot. I just don't think phone support is the best way to leverage the skills of someone who doesn't have strong communication skills.)

Sufficient Space and Transfer

Most hosting plans say something like 20 GB space and 500 GB transfer. What these numbers represent are the amount of file storage space you get on the server and the amount of data transfer (space used when someone visits your site) you can use per month. File storage space is the grand total of the size of all the files that make up your site. For most sites, this is relatively small, especially if your site is properly designed with web optimized graphics and images. The exceptions are audio and video files. These can be very large. So, plan your space requirements accordingly based on how you'll be using your site. As for data transfer, the math gets confusing and complicated. Your data transfer is the sum of all the page sizes (the actual HTML page plus any images, etc) delivered to visitors over the month. To come up with an estimate you can multiply the size of your biggest page with all the graphics by the number of impressions your site is getting, or will get. For example: 50 Kb X 10,000 = 500,000 Kb; in other words you'll need 500 Megs if your site generates 10,000 page views monthly. Rule of thumb; don't settle for less than 1GB. If you have to settle for less, don't fret because most hosts will let you seamlessly upgrade to a more deluxe hosting package should you find your requirements exceeding what you previously purchased.

Communication and Personnel

Technology is cheap and prevalent. Most hosts (including the Mom and Pop shops in someone's basement) can handle the technology demands. What are most lacking these days are the people skills: communication, support, etc. Even if something goes seriously awry, as a customer, I can understand if and only if the people handle it to my satisfaction. The lack of support and people who cared was my #1 reason to recently leave my long-term host and go elsewhere.

Functionality You Need

Depending on what you want your site to do will determine what you need. If you want a plain, basic, static site most basic hosting packages will suffice. If you want to do more interactivity (forms, mini-applications, blogging, etc.) you will want a site that supports databases and programming languages (ex: CGI, PHP, etc.). If this terminology confuses you, consult with a web guru to truly define and determine what you need.

Control Panel

You should be able to log into one area of your site to manage the details. A control panel will give you access to configuration information, default settings, web statistics, databases, email addresses, and the like.

Email

Your hosting account should come with a minimum of 5-10 email addresses (POP Accounts). What this means is that you can have an email address(es) that say "you@yourdomain.com". If you're in business you want an email address that uses your domain. Don't even think of using your Yahoo, Hotmail, or other free/personal email addresses on your business card or website. It simply looks and feels unprofessional.

Statistics

Your host should offer some sort of web statistics and reporting. This will enable you to assess what kind of traffic your site is receiving and how people are finding you. Hosting statistics used to be a very big deal and often the reporting was of limited value. The good news now is that one of the best free bit of web statistics can be had regardless of where you host. I am a big fan of Google Analytics and you can incorporate this into your website no matter where you host it.

Money Back Guarantee

Last but not least, any host should give you your money back if you are not satisfied; no questions asked and no hoops to jump through.

Those are the basics to choosing a web host. Depending on how you choose to use your site you might want to do more (shopping carts, autoresponders, secure server, etc.) All the technology and marketing hype in the world is useless to you if you can't get the help you need when you need it, so choose wisely.