If you ask a friend or a group of people/companies with websites for a suggested ISP (Internet Service Provider), you will get as many recommendations as there are those replying. You may also hear horror stories about some of the hosts that others swear by. So, how in the world can you ever choose? In this article, I share my thoughts and opinions on ways to make a sensible choice, but with a happy and prosperous outcome free from disasters.

How do I choose? Price can vary from as little as $3.00 a month to more than $100 per month. (Warning: what follows are the opinions I have formed from my experiences with several different hosts!)

I check to see how long a company has been in business and what corporate backing and rating it receives. Some of the very new hosts may be great, but you dont want one that comes and goes quickly after you have paid for a year or two of hosting (I never sign up for more than one year at a time).

I make sure that the host offers an excellent statistics package. It is important to know all about your traffic, and especially important if you are designing for others. Their boards and bosses want to know how well the site is doing.

If it is a personal site that I use just for hosting sites on which I am working at the time, then I dont worry as much about the features, but I do want a site with excellent uptime.

And probably, for me, the most important feature is the amount and professionalism of the technical and customer support. I want to be able to reach a live, polite and knowledgeable person at 3 a.m. in the morning on the weekend, who will solve my problem with ease and pleasure (over a toll free line). Even though most of the hosting companies brag about this feature, many do not follow through to my satisfaction. The only way to find out is to try them.

There are a variety of reasons for choosing your ISP. Write down what is important to you and/or your website designer, and go from there. Happy Hunting!