The following parameters will help you to evaluate a web hosting company and help you in your decision in finding a great web host for your next website.
Reliability It is very important that your website remain up and running all the time, and is accessible to visitors around the clock. If you are serious about your website and conduct business via the same, less uptime means less visitors which means less business and poor credibility. It is very important that your web host guarantee maximum uptime, so your website stays online all the time.
The best way to find who's reliable is to know what their users have to say. User reviews are by far one of the best ways to weed out the best hosts who deliver, from all the rest. Web host reviews can be found on the Internet and via word of mouth from co-workers and friends or family.
Speed
Speed is of paramount importance. It is critical that your pages load fast or else the visitor will simply move on to another site. No one likes to wait for pages to download.
Bandwidth
Having limited bandwidth is just like closing the doors on customers just because you don't have any place to seat them. You must be able to upgrade to more bandwidth should the need arise anytime in the future. It's better to know the costs beforehand.
Technical Support
Problems do arise and not having someone to talk to and resolve your problem is indeed frustrating. Make sure your web host can be reached fast and at anytime. You shouldn't be the one calling them again and again, but once your complaint is registered it should be their duty to follow up with you and resolve the issue as soon as possible.
Cost
Even if a web hosting company charges a bit more than the rest, you should make sure that you are getting value for your money. Be it in terms of reliability, speed, bandwidth or plain comfort.
Money back Guarantee
Should you want to terminate the hosting agreement, you should be able to get 100% money back - no questions asked.
Companies like Godaddy.com, and Bluehost.com provide reliable and inexpensive web hosting. For dedicated and managed servers you may want to check out www.softlayer.com.