Figuring out the best web hosting companies means figuring out the best web hosting companies for you, not just anyone. Every website is different, every project is different, and no two customers are going to want the exact same web hosting experience. So, before you start shopping around, let’s determine exactly what you’re looking for.

Settling on a Price Range

Your ideal price range might be anywhere from “free” to “Money is no object”. Again, it all depends on what kind of site you want to have hosted. The bottom line is that your website should never be an expense. It should, at the very least, pay for itself, and a small business site or an ecommerce site should turn a profit.

Ironically, this means that free sites are usually not the way to go. If you want all of the costs of a site to be covered by the site itself, then you need a pay host, one that will not put their own ads on your site, as most free hosts do.

On the other hand, if all you want to do is run a fun little personal site, then it is up to you whether to let your host run the ads, or to pay for the site yourself with ad revenue.

Storage and Bandwidth

Okay, the very least you should demand from a web host is unlimited storage and bandwidth. Unless it’s one of those free web hosts, there is no reason to pay for a site that puts artificial caps on you.

Once upon a time, it made sense to limit storage and bandwidth. Today, they put those caps on you mainly so they can charge you to upgrade. This should be a bare minimum qualifier no matter what kind of site you want.

No Hidden Fees

You need to be on the lookout for hidden fees and costs. A lot of hosts like to hit you with them later on down the line. It should be easy, though: just make sure that you know exactly what you are getting for your money.