Being reliable is the single key factor that you should look for in a web host. Webmasters and online entrepreneurs rank reliability as number one in importance when surveyed.

But "reliability" is not a simple thing. If you assume for the moment that most web hosting companies are technically competent, have been consistently upgrading their systems, and have products that are reasonably priced, then a major part of web hosting reliability comes down to good old fashioned "customer service".

Having issues with your website is never fun and normally all you want is a no fuss solution to the difficulty at hand but with many web hosts a quick fix to your issues can be a big hassle.

A web hosting company is likely to have thousands of clients. Problems often come in waves. This floods their technical support call system. You may have noticed that technical support customer service representatives often handle multiple calls at one time. Unfortunately, this can make technical support conversations very frustrating.

Often, technical support staff will believe from the beginning that you are to blame for the problem. They will generally give you their normal response, "You've tried this? You've done that?" to suggest that you are at fault for your difficulty.

In a lot of cases this is the best approach, because the problem is occurring on the user's end of things. Unfortunately, a lot of cases does not equal all the cases. When the problem is not on the user's end, and the user has spent a lot of time only to find the problem was on the server's end, it can be frustrating.

Historically, it has been very inconvenient to change web hosts. Therefore, web hosting tech support people have had little incentive to provide high quality customer service. Too often, they seem to consider themselves employing their clients and not the other way around. No surprise, their customer service has been inferior.

Many hosts will assist you if you want to transfer your domain to their system. Alternatively, there is now enough step-by-step information available for you to change hosts on your own. This is definitely a welcome change.

Unfortunately there is no completely fool-proof way to know in advance where you are likely to get good, reliable, customer-friendly service.

It is hard to find honest reviews or comparisons on the various web hosts. Most of the comparison sites are not reliable because they are trying to promote their own site and may even doctor "reviews" to be favorable to them. Public opinions that are posted may also be may be fictitious and praise the site they are posted on and criticize their competitors.

Additional information may also be available through web scan hosting forums. Although such sites may also be vulnerable to the types of manipulation mentioned above, they are usually pretty trustworthy. Remember to check web site dates, however, since some postings are not current and thus are perhaps not too helpful.

It is a good idea to look at the host's website. A very complicated site full of technical descriptions shows a lack of communication between the host and clients. This can be a bad sign. The technical support may be difficult to access, and the support staff may not answer your question in a way you can understand.

You can tell if a company is customer focused by their website. You are looking for a simple layout and products designed for the customer, combined with a support system that is easy to work with. Contact customer service before you have a problem, and see if they are willing to work with you.

Check for comments from real web hosting customers, also. Names and web site addresses must be clearly identified. In addition, it may be helpful to actually contact some of those people directly.

Of course none of this is fool-proof. But given the highly competitive nature of the web hosting business, all other things being equal, a simple, straightforward customer-focused approach is what you should be looking for in a web host.