There’s no need to worry, however. If you consider some (not even asking for you to consider all of it) of this information when choosing your Web hosting provider, you should be on your way to success on the Internet, and at the very least, get your website up and running. So, without further ado! Here we go, Best Top 2009 Web Hosting.com. ENJOY!

The first step of picking your Web hosting provider is to step back. As always, you should ask yourself the simple questions of who, what, why, where, when, and how.

1. Who is most qualified to search for Web hosts in your Small business? Does your office manager know about gigabytes and email accounts or does someone else? Consider asking whoever sets up your computers, network, etc. to help you find the right Web host. Though technical expertise isn’t required, it’s always helpful.

2. What are your requirements? Do you just want a simple web site to provide information with the basics like email, or do you want a full featured e-Commerce website? Another good question is about is your budget, how much do you inted spending per month?

3. Why are you looking at Web hosting? Do you want to simply provide information to prospective and existing customers, partners, etc.? Do you want to have company email addresses or do you want a full featured e-Commerce website that allows you to sell your products over the Internet.

4. Where are you looking to host your website? Do you prefer a local company or is your view as long as they do a good job, I don’t care where they are based? Local companies may provide more personal attention, but hosting likely isn’t their core business.

5. When are you looking to get started? Do you have 1 year, month, or day to choose your Web hosts? Like with anything else, the more research you do, the more you will learn, and the more likely your chances of choosing the Web hosting provider that’s right for you are.

How do you want to get started? Do you already have a domain name for your Small business or you need to buy one? Do you need any special features? Some hosts offer these features, other do not.

Now that you’ve stepped back, here are some things to consider that can help you choose the right Web host for your Small Business. Keep them in mind when scouting hosts and you should be on the right track to choosing the host that is right for you.

? Look and feel. Though there may be good hosts with bad websites, they’re few and far aplenty. Established Web hosts almost always have good websites that are easy to navigate, provide information, and are visually appealing. Check out a demo of a control panel the host uses. Is it user-friendly or is it clunky and hard to figure out? If you can’t figure out how to navigate their website or control panel, you may want to stay clear. Also look for things like how easy it is to find a phone number or email address. If they hide it, they may not be the host for you.

? The service. Customer service has become one of the leading differentiators between hosts. Before testing out the service, step back and think of what your service requirements are? (Be honest) Do you want someone that can hold your hand when you need it or are you pretty confident that you won’t need much help? Make sure the web hosting company has experienced, helpful support staff that is easily accessible when you need to make contact. Be sure you can call someone and get a real, live person if you need help or have questions.

When looking for disk space, try to get as much as possible for your money. Even if you think your site won’t use even close to that, it’s good to have it as a backup so you can expand your website as the business grows in future without worrying about running out of space.

A typical graphic or picture usually takes up about 150-200KB, so multiply that times however many graphics you’ll have, and you can quickly see how much this adds up. A video clip uses around 1-4MB, so keep this in mind when determining what kind of space you’ll need.

Bandwidth is also essential for Small Businesses. In fact, this determines how many visitors, or hits, your website can support. Some web hosting providers charge people fees if they go over their allotted bandwidth, so it's important to look into this issue as well.

Many newer companies are now offering unlimited bandwidth as part of a package deal, so try to find this feature to avoid problems later on down the road. The possibilities and available web hosting companies out there seem endless, so make a checklist with the features you need, price range you’re looking for, and feedback that others have given. This will help to serve as a guide in making a decision.

Speed is another very important issue when it comes to web hosting services. You want your visitors to be able to see the website almost immediately. A good server will provide this without any problems. Lost time is lost business, so speed is very important.

You can ping your website to get a better idea of how fast it’s moving. When you ping a website, information hits the server and then refracts it back. The speed shows you how much time has gone by before the data comes back to you after going to and from the server.

More advanced web designers use scripting when creating their site. Be sure your web hosting provider does not have any kind of script limitations or is not able to process certain scripting programming language.

Php and cgi are two common scripting formats, and most web hosts are able to process these. See about how many SQL databases you can use as well. Databases are really helpful for storing your scripts and programming for easy access later on.

Now that you know the basics of what to look for, here are some key elements you should keep in mind when choosing a web hosting service:

What kind of security is provided? Find out how to know if unauthorized users attempt to access their server or internal websites. Come up with some scenarios that you feel might be a threat to security, and then ask the provider what they would do in that situation, or how they would go about preventing it from happening.

Getting an insider’s look at how the service provides proper security is a good way to tell how they will deal with potential problems. It also speaks volumes about how advanced they are, and what they have to offer their clients and customers.

Small Businesses need technical support . Look into the types of technical support that is provided, as well as how accessible it is. If you run into an issue with your site at two o’clock in the morning, will someone be available to call that can help you get it up and running again? What level of support is provided?

If you call and only get vague answers, or if the response is, “sorry, I can’t help you with that,” then you’re not getting the support you are paying for. Find this out in advance so you can prepare for the worst or be aware of how to get the help you need.

Compatibility is the key. Know in advance what platform and operating system you plan to run your website on. Also, determine how much memory and/or bandwidth will be needed. These things are the absolute key to making sure you choose a web hosting service that will fit your needs. If you end up signing onto a year contract with a provider who charges

overage fees, or who does not function with your FTP software or other platforms, you’re paying for something that is essentially useless to you. Make a list of must haves, and include things that would be nice perks, and then base your decision from there.

Domains rule the domain. Look at how many domain names you’re allowed. Some e-commerce sites like to use a few different domain names in order to garner more business. If your web hosting provider allows multiple domains, make sure you know how much memory is included with each.

Some will split the memory up per domain, while some offer unlimited domain names. Be aware of the different requirements ahead of time, so you can fit the website’s needs in with your plan.

Value, pricing, and contracts: Find out if you have to sign a contract over a one year period, or if your plan allows you to pay month to month, or by usage. Different companies have different policies, so be aware of this before you sign on the dotted lined. You don’t want to get locked into something if it doesn’t turn out to be the plan you want. Also, make sure you’re getting the most for your dollars. While price is important, the quality of service and the capability of the web hosting provider’s servers is also important.

Look into other factors like penalty fees if you cancel an account, any maintenance fees that might appear to be hidden, and what happens to your web content if you do leave the provider. Be sure that your website information and content are private and that they remain your property, regardless of the web hosting service that you choose.

Emails: A professional website has emails that fit their domain (for example, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it looks much more professional than This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if she works for Tetley).

Look into how many domain based emails you are allowed. If you have a staff of several people, you want to be sure that you can provide each of them with an individual email address that goes with your domain or website.

Find out if there are additional costs for each email address over a certain limit, or if you can even add those email addresses over the limit at all.

The type of web hosting matters. Shared web hosting can be inexpensive, but it can also cause a lot of problems. For one, this type of hosting often doesn’t offer the web designer much room to expand and grow.

These are also more apt to be victims of security breaches or even fraud. This is why it’s so important to look into the security measures offered by your web hosting plan. Dedicated servers are absolutely the way to go if you’re planning on having an e-commerce business website.

Since you will hope to have a lot of traffic on your website, you will need the best bandwidth you can get to avoid crashing the website. In addition, if financial transactions are taking place, it’s essential that the web hosting plan has the best security measures available to avoid any problems.

Price is not everything. While you obviously want to save as much money as possible with your web hosting plan, remember that price does not always dictate the level of service you will receive.

For example, if you find an unlimited plan for $19.95 per month, it may offer everything you need and more. If you find a plan that costs $400 per year, it might not have the same required memory and support that you received from the less expensive plan.

In other words, price does not always determine the quality of the services you will get. Be wary of free hosting, however, as this is almost always advertisement driven and won’t give you what you need.

Once you’ve decided what your service requirement is, test the host.