The web hosting industry is incredibly competitive today, and they know that users are becoming increasingly sophisticated, so they have no choice but to provide their clients with better and better service, or else risk losing them to any one of the waiting pack of others. We are going to discuss some of most important features below, and explain briefly why they should be major factors in making your decision.

1)Type of website to be hosted
If it is personal and just for fun, there are many free hosting options available for you, with a few small catches. You will most likely have to display some banner advertising on your page in exchange for this service. If your site is business-related, then you should by all means find a good commercial host. You should also have your own domain name and IP address. Free accounts are not for anyone even half serious about doing business on the web.

2)Affordable Price
The cost of web hosting ranges anywhere from totally free to thousands of dollars a month for a dedicated server, depending on the features you need and the options available on the particular package you choose, check if there is a requirement to sign up for a minimum period; and if your package is scalable, meaning that upgrades will not be a problem or burden for you when the time comes.

3)Choosing the Platform: Linux or Microsoft Exchange
The choice depends on what kind of website you have and what you need to be served, if you're putting up a basic site with standard HTML, without any server side scripting or database support. For most people just starting out, a Linux server is fine; but if you plan to use databases or ASP on your site, then you should go with Microsoft Exchange.

4)Space and traffic requirements
Space and traffic are often the basis for many web hosts rates, whether or not this has any basis in reality. I say this because the majority of sites require only a few megabytes (MBs) of space and the amount of traffic they will receive is rarely an issue.

5)Bundled email accounts
This is an often underrated feature of web hosting packages, since emails are essentially the lifeblood of an online business. Be sure that your package contains enough emails and aliases for your business, preferably an unlimited number of both. Be careful from the start and choose a package that meets your needs.

6)24/7 customer support
Many Web Hosts offer both email and phone support while others are available only via email. A competent host should offer 24/7 toll-free technical support provided by experienced, professionally trained technicians.

7)Maximum Up-time
Many companies will say they're up 99.9% of the time when the reality may be quite different. Look into this as much as possible and again, check with as many references as possible to find out their experiences.

In the end, choosing the right Web Host really depends on your individual needs. Subsequently, what may constitute the perfect Web Host for one person may not meet the needs of another. It is up to you to decide, through a combination of logic, research skills, and a dash of intuition.