Whether your focus is affiliate marketing, niche marketing or any other online business, now more than ever – as Internet grows by leaps and bounds – choice of a reliable Web site hosting provider is absolutely critical.

Cheapest ... biggest ... smartest ... newest ... oldest – with thousands of web site hosting companies vying for your attention, it’s easy to get confused. And, heaven forbid, if you make wrong choice, it could cost you dearly in time, effort and money. Transferring a site from one host to another host is nightmarish at best – if it’s even do-able. So ...

How do you pick BEST host for your web site and online business needs -- very first time out?

You can start by going through following checklist:

[ ] What is Initial Set-up Fee?

[ ] Is cost of a domain name included?

[ ] How much bandwidth (data transfer) will you be allowed each month?

[ ] How much disk space (data storage) is provided?

[ ] What features are provided on website control panel?

[ ] Are you provided with unlimited email accounts?

[ ] Do you get unlimited single and multiple sequential autoresponders?

[ ] What is level of shopping cart compatibility?

[ ] Are website analysis tools provided?

[ ] Are tools provided for traffic analysis, tracking reports?

[ ] Are search engine submission tools provided? Ranking reports?

[ ] Do you have access to your own cgi-bin directory?

[ ] What web design tools are provided, as part of a complete web design capability?

[ ] Are web site design templates included?

[ ] Are there any ezine publication tools?

[ ] Is there a Spam check tool?

[ ] What kind of technical support is provided?

[ ] What security measures are in place? Offer your clients ease of mind with SSL (Secure Socket Layer) for selling from your site.

[ ] What is speed of web host’s Internet connections?

[ ] Is there 24-7 customer service? How does company rate on support?

[ ] What is hosting cost per month?

Pricing, of course, is a key consideration in choosing a web host that’s right for your needs. Just remember, as with everything else in life, you’re going to get what you pay for. There are 3 general categories of web hosting providers readily available, ranging from $0 to $75 per month. (More expensive solutions are for really big companies and beyond scope of this article). Let’s take a look:

FREE Web Hosting

Tempting as it sounds, $0 cost hosting is best reserved for casual use – for a hobby or other personal purpose not related to making money on Internet. Among disadvantages: Low bandwidth, poor technical and customer support, excessive downtime, slow connection times, poor or no search engine positioning.

* A company brochure: explain to customers (or potential customers), suppliers and shareholders more about business

* Product news releases: distribution of pricelists, product specifications & photos

* Information releases: downloadable brochures, documents, forms & marketing material

* Lead generation: allow customers to contact you directly via phone, fax, email or SMS.

* Sale generation: complete a transaction on website (eg. Purchase a book, magazine subscription, etc.)

The above list is ordered from most simple to most complex website. Generally, if you want customers to buy your product or service via your website, your website will be more complex - including a shopping cart, secure payment gateway, customer record management, product/stock management and automated customer service. And generally, more complex a website, more time it will take to develop, and more it will cost.

However, I recommend that if you're taking time and effort to build your business website, you may as well build yourself something decent. So I always recommend business owners plan for a website that will generate fresh leads or sales.