When you choose a business to host your web site you are entrusting them with the responsibility of keeping it online 2/7/365 – if your host fails to deliver an acceptable level of performance and reliability your customers and potential customers will blame you for the failure!
Unfortunately, anyone can be a host – there are almost no barriers to entry. So while many web hosts are honest and reliable there are also many who are neither. So how can you avoid the liars, the incompetents and the kids who’ll close down their hosting “company” at the end of the summer vacation?
Choose an established business
Know your own needs
Don’t be too cheap
Learn your proposed host’s reputation
Look for long-term uptime records